I want to buy an insane archery set up and start filming my hunts. I think it would be awesome to have some footage from my hunts as well as the trips I take. I was wondering what sort of camera do you guys use? I really don't want to spend a whole lot on it, and I'm hoping I can get a digital camera with a good video recorder to use.....any suggestions?
I use consumer grade type cameras you can buy at Walmart. HD is pretty much the way to go now, cause everybody is switching to that format. Some will tell you that yoyu need to spend a ton and get a pro-grade camera but no matter what you get your going to have issues and need repairs if you use it in hunting weather. When we used pro grade we had to send it in for repairs at least annually and at a minumum of $400. If you buy consumer grade you can buy another camera for that price. And regardless of my cameras, my footage has been used on several TV shows. Things to think about would be zoom capabilitys, and by zoom I mean optical. If it says digetal zoom disregard it completly. Digetal zoom is useless and just magnifies the picture making it blurry. Also consider the size oif the lens, larger lense's gather more light and can be used later into the evening, or earlier in the morning.
Sony HandyCam with a 30 gig or so hard drive coupled with a lower end camera arm work just fine for the novice. I'd argue that as long as you knew how and when to bounce to manual focus that for it's size I'd rather use it than a pro grade larger one. I have a gorilla arm that I bought for 30 bucks that works well. I will likely upgrade to a muddy or a LW for 100 or 150 for next year. That said, you can have a great set up for under 400 bucks.
Thanks for the info...I was hoping to use a bow mount from insanearchery.com and then attach the camera to that....I will most likely try a few out at the store. Thanks for the help!
thank you for all the help guys. I was talking to my one buddy that knows all the tech stuff and he sent me to this site gopro.com....these cameras are pretty sweet, really durable, and they are only a few hundred bucks. I may try these guys out.
With the bow mounted cameras you arent going to get good footage of the shot. Also the gopros dont zoom in much if at all. It would make for a great second angle camera.
I personally like the Kodak PlaySport Zx3. It's a great camera and supports 720p (60/fps - slow motion!!) and 1080p. I would highly recommend shooting videos at the 720p so you get excellent slow motion. Another nice fact is that the camera is also very lightweight and water proof (not water resistant). You can actually shoot video under water so harsh weather or the elements won't hurt this camera. Oh yeah… the camera can be bought all over the internet for about $125 brand new! I can assure you that you can, and will get great video with a camera attached to your bow. Just like any other equipment you put on your bow... you have to practice using it to get good at it. There are a ton of customer videos on the InsaneArchery website that prove this. Here is one I just put up on the site. The only negative with this video is that the lighted nock did not come on!! Be sure to watch it in HD too. Send me a PM if you need any other information on the InsaneArchery bow mount. Good luck and happy hunting!! [video=youtube_share;PeOVF-chkF8]http://youtu.be/PeOVF-chkF8?hd=1[/video]
By all means its cool footage but to see where you made the shot this would not be the best way due to vibration. It would be awesome to use along with a normal set up on a tree arm. I have thought of doing this with my droid and then my normal video camera for better close ups!
I have the Insane Archery mount and a Kodak Playsport X5 and love it. What I like about it is that when a deer comes into your area all you do is hit one button to turn it on and hit one button to record. There isnt any worrying about zooming in and moving your camera. I have enough things to worry about. I dont have the time or want to make the movement required to do that. This is simple, easy to use, waterproof, and inexpensive. I paid $109 for my playsport at Walmart.com and picked it up at the store after I got out of work. Sure it has its limitations, but I am not a professional hunter and I am more worrried about shooting a deer then getting it on camera. Getting it on camera is just a neat side benefit.
I understand where your coming from. I am not arguing with you that it is a neat product and one that I would use and probably will next season. Its a good and easy way to start self filming.
Yes, it has a 4x zoom. Just be sure NOT to be zoomed in on the animal when you shoot or you'll probably miss the flight of the arrow and the impact because any movement of your bow after the shot will be exaggerated when it's zoomed in.
It gets very grainy when you zoom because it it a digital zoom so I dont recommend zooming in. Here is a video of a buck I shot this year. It was my first one so I need to get into the habit of pointing my bow at the deer after I shoot, but that will come in time. This was shot in 1080.
I heard the zoom is digital though so it isn't the best quality. the gopro camera doesn't zoom but you can while youre editing it if you want and it would be the same quality as a digital zoom.
