# What type video camera do you use?



## Daydreamin (Jun 20, 2008)

I am curious about your experiences withvideo cameras for recordingyour catch and release? I heard vhf chatter for the Mobile Billfish classic about "dropping off video" and I was wondering what features are essential for recording catches? I have seen some of the "new" pocket size cameras and was wondering if things like image stabilization help the auto focus (in my case auto unfocus!) trying to record on a moving boat with all the chaos of trying to leader a billfish. Do you guys have a person hold the camera or just mount to the boat and aim at the cockpit? Turn off auto focus? WHat works...what doesn't? Any tips are appreciated!


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## daddytime (Oct 1, 2007)

Just bought a sony HDR-XR200v for filming family events, Wills football, fishing and hunting excursions. It worked great on our last 2 fishing trips. Both times we filmed by hand from the bridge. I bought a mount last night on ebay that will let me clamp the camera to the tower. It records to the hard drive and in HD. Other cool thing is it allows you to take pics out of the video (20 pics/sec of video). 

I got a package deal that included a wide angle lens. With the new mount, we are going to put on the WA lens, turn on at hook up, and let someone on the bridge adjust as necessary. Should be able to pull off decent video coverage with min. 4 man crew. 

I'm sure I have not answered all your questions, but I hope this helps. :usaflag


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## Daydreamin (Jun 20, 2008)

Thanks for the response! You said you were using it handheld from the bridge and when I looked at several different units in the store it seemed like when I moved the camera a small amount all of them would try to refocus so everything went blurry for about 2 seconds. I would think that standing on a bridge and holding the camera by hand would result in a lot of movement and hence a lot of focus adjustments which would yeild a whole lot of blurry frames. That's why I was curious about features like stabilization and maybe turning off auto focus. I was leaning toward a hard mount to my t-top or frame and doing what you describe (turn recordon at hook up). Did you have issues with auto focus?

I was also curious how people fishing tourneys give their video to the tournament officals? If you have a card then you turn in the card or you give them the camera? If your camera has a hard dirve then you have to give them the whole camera?


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## daddytime (Oct 1, 2007)

When you hit the record button, be sure you are zoomed out, then zoom in to the cockpit, fish, whale, whatever. If you spend a little more money, the sony's come with anti-blur and stabilizing mechanisms built in. Our first video was of a blue marlin we caught earlier this year and once the camera man zoomed out and found what he was trying to focus on, there was never another blur on the film. 

Guess we'll record to a card in a tournament. Good luck


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