Camera to video sailing

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stranded

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Hope I can get away with posting on here by including sailing in my title - should really be in the lounge but its not exactly jumping over there. I know there are some pretty mean videographers in our midst and I am after a recommendation for a handycam type thing that I can indeed use on the boat when it is dry (and preferably if there is just a weeny bit of spray around too). I plan on getting an action cam, but I really want something more, well, handy, with a decent optical zoom, anti-wobble, good at capturing watery things, preferably removable battery. Full HD but not bothered about 4K. And to display the level of my ignorance of these things, if it could take filters (polarising in particular), that would be very good. plus any other features that I don't know that I should be looking for. Have a probably nowadays somewhat optimistic in things Sony, but don't mind too much. Prefer not to spend more than £500 or so but if there is a killer solution up to a grand I might be persuaded.

Oh, and promise not to bombard the forum with shite videos.
 
Had a small Sony for years then brought a small JVC brilliant no bigger than a .250 slab of butter, the latter used a small film cassette, which I can still get from Maplins, but recording today can be done in many ways, the main feature you need is a good lens, that might break your budget, mainly when you use it in confined spaces ie your front room, inside your boat, go for HD with a hard drive. Best of luck, your sure to get a few posts on this one.
 
I've got a Nikon 1 AW-1. It's a bit of a special snowflake, as it looks like a standard camera, but is waterproof without a housing (which makes for great slack-jawed crew moment when you rinse it off in the sink after a sprayful voyage). It has an exchangeable lens (Nikon 1 system), but only the supplied 11-27.5mm lens is waterproof. This is a pretty good general-purpose lens, although the tele is a bit weak for far away ships - in this example I couldn't quite zoom in as much as I wished: http://photos.marinetraffic.com/ais/showphoto.aspx?photoid=2038099

Picture quality is excellent, and was one of the main reasons I opted for this over the Olympus/Pentax waterproof ones. Video quality is also great in up to 1080p - here's an example, although slightly mangled by Youtube recompressing it shoddily (waves are hard on video codecs): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxWR-nKlqzs

The lack of housing also makes for good sound quality, quite unlike some action cams. It also has built-in GPS (eats more battery though) and optional wifi accessory (not waterproof).

Downsides are that the firmware limits video recordings to 30 minutes at a time and the fairly high price.
 
I highly recommend a Sanyo Xacti (or modern equivalent) for use on a boat. This was filmed using one:


I also now have a Panasonic HC X-900. Its a great camera, but it's not waterproof.

Pete
 
Thanks for the suggestions all.

Pete - I am quite attracted to the HC X920 which I presume would simply be an update of yours - so you would recommend (at £599)? The waterproof I think will have to stay with the action cam - seems impossible to get waterproof with a decent digital zoom and image quality.
 
Our resident video guru D Winter (presently diverting himself in the lost world of Scottish heraldry) would support Halcyon Yachts, I think; the Xacti type is a good camera. It has all the optical zoom needed for practical usage, is waterproof (if you pick the right model) and snips jolly good quality video and sound.

I bought a brand new used one (sic) on the 'Bay for 100 pounds. They seem to be a popular gift that becomes unwanted, so come up regularly in as new condition.


Camera buying often seems to be an end in itself, if the job can be done for under 200 quid, that's the solution for me.
Forgot to say, the thing I don't like about the Xacti is the feeble tripod mount on the bottom and the fact that it is almost impossible to improvise any better support due to the streamlined and rounded shape of the thing. A point worth making for use in problematic situations but possibly irrelevant for general boat stuff.
 
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this is the distillation of everything I know

http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/blogs/cameras-and-steady-shots/

the xacti - now called a panasonic WA is a brilliant little camera

I never leave home without it

if it went wrong I would buy a replacement in an insatnt

the batteries are cheap, they last for ages, the camera is waterproof, it zooms, does good stills, it does sound

D
 
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ohmaggie said:
Thanks for the suggestions all.

Pete - I am quite attracted to the HC X920 which I presume would simply be an update of yours - so you would recommend (at £599)? The waterproof I think will have to stay with the action cam - seems impossible to get waterproof with a decent digital zoom and image quality.
Click to expand...

Yes. If you've got the money, and waterproof is not an issue then go for it. Excellent image stabilisation, great in lower light levels, nice functions etc...

Pete
 
Thanks one and all - Panasonic 920 ordered. Oh and I fibbed - you can be sure I'll be postinhg a couple of sample videos on here!

Bob - I will get a go pro or more likely a less expensive but inherently waterproof action cam as well but while they are fantastic for what they do, they do have limits - the handycam is for more control and usability when ashore as well.
 
What's brilliant about that Lily is that it takes a common application for a helicamera and creates an application layer around the toy that does exactly that. So the unskilled - like me, perhaps (well, if I could afford it) - can take video of me sailing my boat.

What's not so brilliant is that as the only objects it's aware of are the ground layer and you (you carry a GPS transmitter so it knows how to orientate itself towards you), it can't see your boat's sails or rigging and it'd likely crash itself into the boat on its way home.
 
ohmaggie said:
Thanks for the suggestions all.

Pete - I am quite attracted to the HC X920 which I presume would simply be an update of yours - so you would recommend (at £599)? The waterproof I think will have to stay with the action cam - seems impossible to get waterproof with a decent digital zoom and image quality.
Click to expand...

I am still using my xacti waterproof as recommended by Dylan Winters. It is old now, but I look after it so still waterproof and good HD. Does everything I need it to and the noise suppression is good on a windy day. Not sure who sells them now. Dylan would possibly know.
 
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