Well, it is time for me to start videoing my daughter's team club team games.

Does anyone have any experience with this they would care to share as far as equipment and tips?

I don't have iphones so a setup requiring that would be a lot more expensive for me.

Right now, I'm leaning to towards the new gopro hero 7 which does have an option of live streaming (not sure if I would do that but would be a nice option). Obviously some kind of sturdy tripod set up that can elevate the camera to a nice height. I'm worried about traveling with it though since we will do a few out of state tournaments.

What other equipment would I absolutely need for a given weekend's worth of games? batteries/memory cards/laptop?

Just throwing stuff out there. Any tips are appreciated!

I'll talk to my SO. She is a high school and club vball coach

wangus12 said:

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I'll talk to my SO. She is a high school and club vball coach

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Thanks. Appreciate it.

We've been in the club seen for several years now. I take pictures but need to do video starting this year. Not that my girl has any chance to play D1 but might be fun to try anyway.

I've obviously seen many different setups. I want to see which kind works for me.

Would you be interested making videos like this?

I think in general, the camera would be stationary with no panning.

Being able to add the score text would be really nice though!

Indoor volleyball is tough. Three rec league championships, one 7th grade championship and one club team down for us. I've got the go ahead for a Sony a7iii with a 70-200 mm f2.8 next fall, with one club team to go between now and then.

Full frame, 10 fps, 70-200 2.8 with fast autofocus. The Sony is great for video, but I don't want to shoot video. You will have five matches on a weekend. There will be dark gyms and no spot to film from. There will be massive amounts of data to deal with.


Middle school teams are much easier, two teams, two games each. The tournaments are in nicer gyms with better lighting.

Good luck!

What little I know, I learned from Guitarsoup's thread ( http://texags.com/forums/30/topics/2821283 ) and a year of shooting indoor volleyball with an unworthy camera. I've found everything Guitarsoup said to be accurate...d8)

Video is a bit more forgiving than stills.

If you're not going to process slow motion stuff, 30fps 1/60 sec shutter speed is plenty for video.

Used micro 4/3 camera like Panasonic with a kit lens is plenty. Or consumer grade Canon DSLR with kit lens should suffice. And these can be found for a good price. And a decent fluid head tripod shouldn't cost too much.

Video is more about processing. I use Vegas Pro but there are more cost effective options I'm sure.

Yeah, guitarsoup helped me with my current DSLR set up. Been taking really good pics for the past couple years already.

Not really sure if I want to go with another DSLR on a tripod for video. I might be lugging around my 70-200 as it is.

I'm researching the new gopro hero 7 black. Seems simpler and rugged. Any thoughts on those?

I don't know about hero 7 but I have a 4 and I can't imagine trying to record a sporting event as field of view or focal length on a gopro is very wide. Almost like Fisheye.

I have never recorded anything meaningful with a gopro.

I don't think I'd go DSLR/mirrorless. If you look at the various video operations equipment of college athletics, you'll see Panasonic and Sony pro camcorders. You probably don't need 4K, so I'd look at 1080P/60. Here's a link to those pro camcorders at B&H:

Pro Camcorders

See if you can find someone in video operations at a smaller D1 school and email them. The reason I say smaller is that they'll likely be shooting in a gym with less lighting than, say, ours. That's what you'll find yourself shooting in. Also, there's little reason to buy new. These things get updated frequently by pros and you can probaably get a good deal on used equipment. I don't know if they are available, but see if you can find something with dual SD cards in case one fails.

As far as accessories, you'll need to talk to those who run tournaments to see what lighting they'll allow. Get the fastest memory cards you can find. These aren't necessarily the absolute fastest, but I got a few prior to our Grand Canyon trip this spring:

Sandisk Extreme Pro

You've got to think about your whole backup process. I was shooting (stills and video) with gear that had only one card slot, and shooting on location without other equipment, risking some data loss. I took my laptop with me on the trip though I didn't really want to. When I got back to the hotel, I uploaded the cards to the laptop, then backed up the laptop. You may or may not be able to do that on location so just come up with a workable solution for your workflow. There are portable SD backup options out there.

I just ordered the Sony A7 iii with the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III RXD Lens. ETA 11/20.

That's not enough reach for what I need, but it will have to do until the Tamron 70 - 200 mm f2.8 comes out. It will be good for sideline and team photos and those are most of the pictures I take in club vball.

Thank you Farm Credit patronage distribution (AKA Santa).

Quote:

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Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8

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I have a Tamron 24-70 with a canon mount. I can't envision it being very useful to film volleyball.

I'm eager to see a sample video.

I got it for stills. I have to shoot about 55 mm with my current camera to get enough light. Club plays in giant gyms with the courts crammed in side-by-side. The stands at best are at the ends of the courts. The only way to photograph is from the sides. I'm usually behind the ref at the net.

As soon as Tamron cranks out an E mount 70-200 mm 2.8, I'll be using that. Hopefully by the 8th grade season, next Fall. Those gyms have at least side line seats.

After using a luminex fz1000, the a7iii is mind blowing. The volleyball teams are in practice/sorting mode through the end of the year. Still settings were so easy to configure and save, I just might try the video.

Pretty cool taking 1/1000, f2.8, iso 32000 photos indoors at night and they look good. I did set the max iso to 16000. Portrait quality at 6400. Wow, big upgrade. I wish I could retroactively apply this to some match point hairnados taken with the luminex.

Just got an email from HUDL. They use an iPad.

https://www.hudl.com/ipadkit?utm_source=uSAV&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=clubVolleyballSales

Thought about it but I don't think an ipad is wide-angle enough to record club volleyball. You don't get to set up a camera from the stands. You have to be right next to the court. Also if someone knocks over your ipad, well, time to buy another.

I decided to do the gopro on a light stand at 10' controlled by my phone. It's more out of the way, wide angle. Not sure if I will like the fish-eye look but I can set it and forget it while I take regular photos with my SLR.

Following...

My brother-in-law recorded all of my niece's club and HS games with a gopro/tripod with great success.

nm

@AggieDruggist89 - What camera did you use to shoot that basketball video you posted?

YouTube error

flintdragon said:

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I think in general, the camera would be stationary with no panning.

Being able to add the score text would be really nice though!

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I know you said you don't have iOS devices, but I'll throw this out there anyway. The Apple app store has an app called Scorecam that allows you to embed the score on the screen. It has a remote control app as well that allows you to control (change score/start/pause/stop) via bluetooth. I've never found an Android-based (on non-smartphone) solution to embed the score. The new version of Scorecam will also support live-streaming, although that feature is currently in beta.

Through 7 seasons of club volleyball, I've cycled through several options for video. I have 2 setups that I use depending on the gym. If I shoot from within 15' of the court, I use a GoPro Hero 5 on medium FoV. This is my least favorite option, because the GoPro remote control connection is flaky, and it is difficult to get good quality video in the crappy lighting of most gyms/convention centers. If I can shoot from a little further back, I use a dedicated iPod Touch 6th generation with 128G of storage. The iOS devices do better in low light than the GoPro IMHO, and allow me to use the ScoreCam app to control and embed the score. The remote control is much more reliable over Bluetooth than the WiFi of the GoPro.

For mounting, search for a photography light stand as opposed to a tripod. I use a Cowboy Studios 9' light stand for local tournaments, and their collapsable 7' stand for travel as it will fit in a carry-on. I mount the GoPro/iPod onto the light stand with a Wasabi Power Clutch. This keeps the device charged the entire day, and has the GoPro mounting interface which gives a ton of mounting options for the camera device.

I wouldn't count on streaming from the GoPro while at large tournaments. I've never found the connection from GoPro to phone reliable in those settings, especially with the Hero 5. Maybe the Hero 7 will be different in that regard, but YMMV.

I've spent WAY too many hours researching/experimenting to find the silver bullet solution for volleyball video.

Here is a sample shot at GJNC in Detroit this past summer.

WOW, this video looks fantastic!

Thanks! That's exactly the kind of info that I was originally looking for. We kind of got side-tracked but that's cool.

That power clutch is intriguing because I've been trying to figure out how to keep the thing charged to use between 3-5 games a day.

I do know about Scorecam and there is not an equivalent on android... boo
I think my thoughts are that at least with gopro, I can video family activities outside of volleyball such as skiing. So kind of a bang for my buck think. I know many people don't like the fisheye look of gopro but as you've mentioned, if you are close to the court, you kind of have to use it.

purchased the wasabi power clutch and canceled some batteries/charger I had on order.

How long can a gopro record with the clutch?

flintdragon said:

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purchased the wasabi power clutch and canceled some batteries/charger I had on order.

How long can a gopro record with the clutch?

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Recording time will depend alot on your camera settings. The LCD screen and WiFi use a lot of power, so if they are on all the time your recording time goes down


But regardless, the stock battery for the GoPro 5/6/7 has a capacity of 1220 mAh. The clutch capacity is 5200mAh, so you should get an additional 4x the battery life with the Clutch. We've had days where we had 5 matches and it didn't fully discharge. I use a skeleton housing to protect the camera while being able to access the USB-C port for charging.

The clutch does make the setup more top-heavy, which is where using the light stand (vs. a tripod) makes a big difference.

awesome. yup, I got a cheap but highly rate light stand. It's no manfrotto though.

I like this setup. You saved me some $$ too.

That is some seriously good volleyball.

welp... my first attempt at gopro recording during a tournament was pretty terrible. As mentioned above, connection issues galore. The "smart" remote that costs $80 barely worked. The android app was slightly better but still pretty flaky. Many sets involved me lowering the device, starting/stopping and hoisting back up when minutes before, it was working. Also sometimes when I think the connection is good, as soon as I hit record, nothing happens or even worse, freezes. I'm using recommended sd cards too.

The first day, for some reason the video was very orange. 2nd day, looked ok.

I really want to use and keep the gopro though (use it for skiing, etc) so I'll exchange and try it again.

flintdragon said:

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welp... my first attempt at gopro recording during a tournament was pretty terrible. As mentioned above, connection issues galore. The "smart" remote that costs $80 barely worked. The android app was slightly better but still pretty flaky. Many sets involved me lowering the device, starting/stopping and hoisting back up when minutes before, it was working. Also sometimes when I think the connection is good, as soon as I hit record, nothing happens or even worse, freezes. I'm using recommended sd cards too.

The first day, for some reason the video was very orange. 2nd day, looked ok.

I really want to use and keep the gopro though (use it for skiing, etc) so I'll exchange and try it again.

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Unfortunately, I've never found a solution for the crappy WiFi connection between the phone/remote and the GoPro in a crowded venue such as a convention center. I got to the point that I'd set up with the GoPro low enough to be able to start/stop it by hand. And it seems to get worse every time they update the firmware and/or GoPro app.

I can't believe it is this bad though. This is my first gopro so I'm a bit taken back that this is top of the line. I might as well have bought a cheap knockoff.

flintdragon said:

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I can't believe it is this bad though. This is my first gopro so I'm a bit taken back that this is top of the line. I might as well have bought a cheap knockoff.

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Any camera using WiFi for the remote is going to suffer from this problem in a crowded setting like these tournaments - I don't think it would be limited to GoPro. It's like trying to carry on a conversation in a loud room. With all of the phones and GoPros talking in the 2.4 MHz band with no coordination is just too noisy for it to be reliable.

Just confirming, this video is recorded on your Apple iPod Touch? If so, it seems like a no brainer to use the Apple instead of the gopro-no?

Camb said:

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Just confirming, this video is recorded on your Apple iPod Touch? If so, it seems like a no brainer to use the Apple instead of the gopro-no?

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Yes - 6th Gen iPod Touch using Scorecam app.

the power clutch proved to be one of the sources of my issues. Basically I believe the output power is insufficient for the gopro hero 7 black. most of the time, if I start a recording, the gopro would just turn off. Using one of my better powerbanks, it works with no issues. I've tried two different clutches now.

Dang, I really wanted it to work.