Videoing football matches

Ramalama

Ramalama

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Does anyone have any experience of videoing football matches with a DSLR?

I've been asked to do a video of a kids cup final next week (they don't want photos) and because I've no experience of it, I said that all proceeds from sales to parents should go to charity.

I'm getting fairly experienced at videography, and I know that normally the rule of thumb is that if you're shooting at 25 frames per second the best shutter speed to use is 1/50.

So my question is does this apply to sports as well or would it be better/sharper with a higher shutter speed?
 
Never used video on a DSLR so might be talking out of my backside but my own logic would say the shutter actually remains open all the time youre recording
 
Gary Coyle said:
Never used video on a DSLR so might be talking out of my backside but my own logic would say the shutter actually remains open all the time youre recording
Click to expand...

No, the mirror stays up, but the camera records a series of still images (frames), so 25 frames per second is the camera taking 25 still images per second.
We're used to seeing video that has a slight motion blur into the next frame or still image, and for 25 frames per second it's recommended to use a shutter speed of 1/50th of a second. If you're shooting at a frame rate of 60 frames per second then it's recommended to shoot at 1/120th of a second to keep the same ratio.

However my logic says that if you're shooting fast moving action, would it be best to keep the frame rate the same, but use a higher shutter speed to freeze the action a bit more (as its moving faster).
 
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Are you sure, thats going to be 270,000 shutter actuations by my calculations for a 90 min footy match

I'd certainly be wanting to be paid if i were putting that many actuation on my body
 
Would be better to use a video camera? I've seen chaps doing that at matches, but with a 'proper' video camera.
 
Gary Coyle said:
Never used video on a DSLR so might be talking out of my backside but my own logic would say the shutter actually remains open all the time youre recording
Click to expand...

Just done a bit more research and yes you are correct, the physical shutter opens once to engage live view and then an electronic shutter takes over to do the 25fps. So it's only one on the shutter count.
 
Can't help with technical questions as I have no experience of it but could you not go to a training session and have a practice to see what works best.
 
Ramalama said:
I don't have a camcorder, I have 2x DSLRs and a canon point and shoot. I'm not going to go out and buy a camcorder for one kids game that I'm doing for charity.
Click to expand...

Well, hope it works out well. I've only ever used my dslr video for short clips. Can't imagine 45 mins x 2. You'll need a tripod! Let us know how you get on.
 
Photodiva said:
Well, hope it works out well. I've only ever used my dslr video for short clips. Can't imagine 45 mins x 2. You'll need a tripod! Let us know how you get on.
Click to expand...

It's an under 9s game which is 50 mins, my Canon 70d does half hour bursts so is good for both halves, I'm just experimenting with the other two to see how long they go for, I was thinking of setting my compact up to do general long distance of one half of the pitch and my 600d on the other half while I follow the action with my 70d and tele. I've also got two gopros that I can set up behind each goal if I can get someone to look after them, which record an hour and half each so they're no problem.

Maybe I'm over thinking it :) :)
 
Remember to keep all your pitchside cameras on one side of the pitch.
 
Gary Coyle said:
Never used video on a DSLR so might be talking out of my backside but my own logic would say the shutter actually remains open all the time youre recording
Click to expand...
Ramalama said:
No, the mirror stays up, but the camera records a series of still images (frames), so 25 frames per second is the camera taking 25 still images per second.
We're used to seeing video that has a slight motion blur into the next frame or still image, and for 25 frames per second it's recommended to use a shutter speed of 1/50th of a second. If you're shooting at a frame rate of 60 frames per second then it's recommended to shoot at 1/120th of a second to keep the same ratio.

However my logic says that if you're shooting fast moving action, would it be best to keep the frame rate the same, but use a higher shutter speed to freeze the action a bit more (as its moving faster).
Click to expand...

No, if you do that the video will look incredibly jerky. The only way to get less blur is to increase the frame rate (which is why broadcasters want 100fps+ in the UHDTV spec)
 
Football grounds have their movie cameras elevated up scaffolding. I just wonder how much useful footage you will get from ground level. If you follow the action with the camera, would that be better than just static cameras running and then having to edit out the useless bits and stick it all together later? Seems like a huge amount of work for an U9s game. Be good to know how long it takes you to set it up and finalize the footage afterwards.
 
If you are filming the whole game - would agree with the one static location. At halfway line - tripod if possible.. and the you can pan in on the action and zoom in where/when needed.
As you mentioned, you are fairly experiences in videography ..
So a 70-200 lens, tripod, halfway line.. (if you can stand on something to elevate yourself a bit - that's a bonus!). If you can .. stand on the roof of your car if there is possibility to park it close enough.. but not too close ;-)

The downside of filming a whole football game on a DSLR is that your file size will be ... large.
But guessing you knew that already :-)
 
GooGaBu said:
If you are filming the whole game - would agree with the one static location. At halfway line - tripod if possible.. and the you can pan in on the action and zoom in where/when needed.
As you mentioned, you are fairly experiences in videography ..
So a 70-200 lens, tripod, halfway line.. (if you can stand on something to elevate yourself a bit - that's a bonus!). If you can .. stand on the roof of your car if there is possibility to park it close enough.. but not too close ;-)

The downside of filming a whole football game on a DSLR is that your file size will be ... large.
But guessing you knew that already :)
Click to expand...

Yes, the other downside is my 70d records for half an hour, the compact does 15 mins and the 600d does 12 mins. So I'm going to have to keep an eye on recording times and switch off and on again when there's no action.
It's at Ilkeston FCs ground, there is one fairly high stand but it only goes from one corner to the end of the penalty area, so I'm in two minds about whether to sit up there or go pitch side on the halfway line, I guess it will depend on the weather.
I've been on the local park (I hope no-one saw me filming a football match with no players :) ) and I think my 18-135mm STM would be better as my main camera on the 70d, more manageable than the 70-200 and quicker/silent focussing.
 
Don't envy you - with needing to use three bodies to record one event...
Good luck!!
 
Great information. Several days ago, I was asked by my brother to film his football match next week. I'm lucky I can find some information here. Thanks.
 
update on how it went on Sunday:

I'm very pleased with the footage, it was a very bright sunny day (early morning kick off) and the TV scaffolding tower was the side of the pitch pointing into the sun, so very contrasty. I set a gopro up behind each goal with mics on.
Unfortunately there were two ball boys behind each goal so the mics picked up a bit of their conversations, but it's something I'll have to live with.
The goal pros gave a good replay angle for the two goals, and the goalie celebrating at the other end.

On the gantry I had two wide view cameras pointing at each half of the pitch on monopods tywrapped to the scaffolding, and my main camera (70d) on a tripod. I decided to use the 70-200mm because we were a little back from the pitch, at first it was a bit difficult to follow the action, an u9s match is very difficult to predict where the ball's going to go, but I started backing the zoom off a bit to give me more leeway and in the end it looked quite good.

The post production has been a bit of a nightmare, trying to balance the colours and line up the footage from 5 cameras, I've spent about 20 hours on it so far and haven't got to half time yet!
I've never done a video this complex before, and it's really taxing the laptop, I'm having to edit and render down four minutes at a time to keep it ticking over, but I'm sure I'll get there.
I think everyone will be pleased with my efforts (except me, I guess, I'm never satisfied).

One thing I wish I'd done is have my main camera set on 50 fps, I've tried doing a slow motion replay of one of the goals, which looked really good on the review screen, but wouldn't render down, I'm guessing because it was recorded at 25fps.
 
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