Topic: TSKB: Video cameras for marching band shows (football stadiums)

[voltronic]

Hello, community:

I am asking for recommendations for dedicated video cameras to be used for recording marching band performances.  I am the media person for a local band, and while my audio is always great, video from my phone is no longer meeting the band's needs.  I am lobbying the director to purchase a dedicated camera to get him much higher quality for student feedback.

If you don't have any experience with marching band, imagine needing to capture an entire football field all at once from a fixed angle, at night.

Requirements:
- Low / mixed light performance.  These shows are all at night in high school football stadiums.  We have huge contrast ranges between the lights from the opposite sideline and the darker parts of the action on field.  Dialing down the exposure on my phone camera doesn't cut it.  I know I need a bigger sensor.
- Wide-angle capability without significant distortion.  Filming locations are restricted to either just left or just right of the press / announcer box, and I want to be able to capture the entire width of the football field without panning.  At the very least, as wide as both 10-yd lines.

Would be nice:
- 4K

Not needed:
- Waterproofing.  I can always hold an umbrella over the camera.
- Any kind of decent audio.  I run this separately and replace camera audio in post.
- Timecode.  It would be nice to have, but these shows are under 10 minutes so drift is almost imperceptible.
- Still photo quality.  This would be a dedicated video camera.
- Long optical zoom.  I will mostly be running this wide open.


On the low end of the price scale, I am reading good things about this one, except for low light:
https://www.amazon.com/Canon-VIXIA-HF-R800-Camcorder-Black/dp/B01N7OAH3I/

On the higher end:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A60SYRE/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R5LH9G0/

I am also curious about these cheap GoPro knockoffs like the one below that do adjustable recording angles without much distortion at wide angle, but I have not seen examples of lower light recording.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JR1XZ78/


I am not very knowledgeable about these kinds of cameras, so I appreciate anyone willing to share their expertise and recommendations.

[jerryfreak]

it may not be the be-all-end-all but used eos rebels can be had on ebay for $300 and are certainly up to the task

[voltronic]

it may not be the be-all-end-all but used eos rebels can be had on ebay for $300 and are certainly up to the task

I was looking for something a bit more compact than a DSLR, but this is something to consider.

[goodcooker]

I have the Canon R600  the previous version of the one you linked and it is okay for the price. It struggles a little in changing light conditions like a rock concert but does well in fixed lighting as long as it's not too dark. Not bad for what you pay. One nice thing is that it has a mic input so you can take a line out of your deck and put audio on while shooting and skip a step in post.

I also have a Nikon D3200 DSLR. If I was only going to shoot for 10 mins at a time I would probably go the DSLR  route. It's main shortcoming is a 20 min time limit and heat generated by continuous shooting.

I've seen really nice footage from the Lumix series of cameras. There's a couple of threads about the different models.