What camera do you use?

RightWingDad wrote:Great series of Didier Drogba on your website. How close to the action were you?

I am on the field, behind the ad walls that surround the playing area.
That's the best part of my hobby, is that I have worked my way in to shooting soccer for the Dallas Morning News soccer blog so I am able to get credentials to some great games and have a great view.

this is what my view was of Real Madrid v AS Roma at the Cotton Bowl last Summer:



Depending on the venue, sometimes we are limited to only the areas behind the goal, but in Frisco I can go behind either goal and up and down the field across from the benches. We are not allowed on the bench side during the game.

fatherofoneplayer wrote:

legitsoccermom wrote:

ballhead wrote:

fatherofoneplayer wrote:I did the Nikon for the first couple of years and had a hard time keeping up as I would find myself lost in the game and not getting very good shots. Some people are better at it than others. I did end up with one of the 25 foot tripods later on and video every game. Much better investment for me. The DD and I both sit and watch most games a few days later.

They are two very different things, for sure.  I really enjoy watching videos of my kid's games and have been known to watch and re-watch them many times.

That said, nothing, in my opinion, captures the soccer athlete like still photos that show the facial expressions, the looks of determination, the one on one competitiveness of the action, etc.

I wish I had both for every game.

Me too...I am now very much undecided between Camcorder or Camera investment...urghhh

Just as an FYI, my HD camcorder only set me back $299, the tripod on the other hand..........

I'm torn here as well. What tripod did you go with? Would you do it again? I see the professionals at some games and it looks like it keeps them busy. Do you have the whole pan & tilt set-up as well?

I went with Hi Pod, an outfit out of Southern California. They were more willing to negotiate than EndZone out of Houston.

I would recommend an entry level DSLR that also shoots HD video. I am a "Nikon" guy...so I'd direct you to the D3300; D5300 or D7200 - depending on what you are willing to spend. I typically shoot with a 55-300mm or 400mm lens and hand-hold my rig for all but night games, where I'll crank up the ISO and use a Mono-Pod. I shoot 90% still photos and only shoot video on occasions. These cameras are smart enough to get you great results on auto settings (you don't need to be a master of light; ISO; Aperture and Shutter Speed to have great success). The beauty of digital photography is that I can go shoot 500 pics per game...and weed thru the good vs. the bad shots, then post to our team's Flickr site for easy, full-resolution sharing. And as others have alluded to...your investment into a good DSLR can pay dividends beyond soccer. It can be used on vacations; at family events; and many other situations...and don't be fooled, an iPhone does not compare to 24 MP DSLR images.

fatherofoneplayer wrote:I did the Nikon for the first couple of years and had a hard time keeping up as I would find myself lost in the game and not getting very good shots. Some people are better at it than others. I did end up with one of the 25 foot tripods later on and video every game. Much better investment for me. The DD and I both sit and watch most games a few days later.

I use Sony HDR-CX190. Probably paid around $300, couple of years ago.  Camcorder takes okay quality video of soccer action in my experience.  I use it with out a tripod. Close to the action comes out really great, zooming to farther distance is somewhat okay, not the best. Some of it could be due to

• Me not being able to catch up to the action that is happening at farther distance by pressing zoom knobs fast and smooth on the camcorder
  
• Limitation of the camcorder as not being able to capture action from far
  
• Possibly, What you get is what you pay in this particular case
  

I still have not tested whole lot of scenarios to prove it is the camcorder or operator technique to land on the best approach.

@fatherofoneplayer What Video camera do you use? How has your experience been.  Does tripod, make the process little easier to record and help work the camera better to smoother transition shots, do you use remote along with it? Or do you use tripod only for taking steady shot and to remove any shake.

I do not want to sacrifice being in the moment watching and enjoying the game versus lost in recording the video.   It will be a compromise in the end between those two, effort and cost. Love to know your thoughts on what worked for you.

Use a Cannon 60D and it works great, until I can buy the 1DX.   

The lens is probably more important and I use a Cannon L 100-400 Zoom.  With the older kids the field is big and I find you need a decent zoom.  Using center focus only helps reduce the number of out of focus action pictures.  I rarely use the video feature.

The girls may not want to wear the arm band but if they don't mind it, this is a good way to get your video or camera shots and not miss a minute of the game....

soloshot.com