The idea of buying a new camera for BMX or action sports in general can be a little bit
Overwhelming at first with all of the options that are out there
What specs do I need how much I spend where do I even look?
they're all questions that you might have but if you keep a few things in mind your search will get a little bit easier, so
When you're buying a new camera
There's a few options that you have to look into you can buy new you can buy used you can buy inexpensive
Or you can buy the most expensive top-of-the-line professional equipment, but when you're buying a camera for action sports video
There's one thing that you need to make sure that you get that is 1080p 60 frames a second. That's it in
2017 that's the standard for action sports video and all of the cameras that I'm going to talk about today shoot 1080p
60 frames a second so before we start talking about specific cameras. There's a couple other things that I need to mention
buying a new camera should be based on your needs and what you're going to do with that camera if
You're a beginner. Just starting out chances
Are you have a cell phone that already shoots 1080p 60 frames a second?
This is what I shoot most of the videos that I upload in all of the videos that are just
Normal riding videos that I upload to my channel because all I have to do shoot a video with it is
Pull it out slide over and I have the camera open
I don't have to dig into my camera bag pull my camera out change lenses
Turn it on make sure the batteries are charged make sure I have a memory card all of that
I just pull my phone out start recording
It's just convenient so before you go out and spend a ton of money
If you're just starting out check your phone it might shoot 1080p 60 frames a second
And it probably is good enough for what you're doing now save your money and buy something good
Whenever you have the money to do it
there's no sense in going out and spending a hundred dollars on a camera that you're not going to be happy with and
You're gonna. Just buy the camera that you need it anyways later on and spend more money, so
Check your phone. It could be worth it for you so the first camera
I'm going to talk about is the Sony nex-5n this cameras a few years now
But you can buy this camera on Amazon used right now
body only for
$230 and if you look in other places like eBay
You can even find them for like a hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars if you get lucky
I have a friend who uses this camera
And he loves it the quality on it looks great it shoots in 1080p 60 frames a second just like I mentioned earlier
And I even have a couple clips from this camera in my last video part that I have uploaded on my channel
The main thing about this camera that makes it stand out from the others aside from price is
Its size this camera is tiny so if you're looking for a compact camera that packs a huge punch in
Quality this could be the option for you another camera in the same category and price range as the Sony
Nex-5n is the Panasonic g5 it's another interchangeable lens camera that shoots 1080p
60 frames a second, and it's around the same price right now on Amazon. They have one for
$220 used I put this in the same category as the
nex-5n because with both cameras you get similar features like
60 frames a second video and the ability to shoot in RAW with your photos and
They're around the same price
the only
Difference really is the fact that the g5 is a little bit more substantial in the hand so if you can't have a tiny camera
You're afraid you might break it. Maybe the g5 is a good option for you so the next camera
I want to talk about is the first camera that's not an interchangeable lens camera that is the Panasonic
fz200
This camera is a super zoom camera, which means that the lens is built into the camera itself
And you can't interchange it as you can with the other two cameras that have talked about the main selling point for this camera is
The lens on it. It's got a constant F 2.8
aperture and a focal length equivalent to 25 millimeter all the way to
600 millimeter the constant F 2.8
Aperture means that no matter where you're at in that 25 to 600 millimeter focal range your aperture does not change
with most other zoom lenses for interchangeable lens cameras and
super zooms and other compact cameras
The aperture Changez as you zoom in so when you zoom in you'll notice that it gets
Darker this camera does not do that and that is the main reason why it's on my list
It's also only like two hundred fifty to three hundred dollars
And you might even be able to find it cheaper than that so with this camera you're getting
1080p 60 frames a second you're getting a focal range of twenty five to six hundred millimetres
And you're getting it F two point eight all the way through and you're getting that for two hundred fifty to three hundred dollars
To give you an idea of how crazy this really is let's take a look at what it would cost
You to do this with any other camera on the list
I know I didn't list any Canon cameras
But I'm going to use Canon lenses as an example because they're the most widely used and well-known
Lenses that have constant apertures so the Canon 24 to 70 millimeter F 2.8
Constant aperture lens is around eighteen hundred dollars new in the Canon 72 200 millimeter lens F
2.8. Constant aperture is around
$2,000 new so without even buying a camera and only going from 24 to
200 millimeter focal range with two different lenses costs around four thousand dollars
That's just an example of the value that you're getting with this camera
So the only real drawback to this camera is the fact that you can't take the lens off and put a fisheye on but you
Can screw on fisheye lens adapters just like you can with camcorders the same person?
I know who has the NEX five and now
Used to have the predecessor to the FC 200 which was the FZ 100?
He used to use screw on fish eyes all the time, and I talked to him before I made this video
and he said that it worked great and no different than whenever you would use a
Camcorder so if you don't think that you need to change lenses, and you don't mind using a screw-on fisheye
This is definitely the camera for you because it's only
250 to 300 dollars for the whole package from there all you need to buy is maybe a battery and a memory card
And you're good to go
None of the other cameras on this list can do that the next few cameras that I'm going to talk about are those
high-end cameras that really should only be
looking into if you already have camera experience or
You have a ton of money to burn and plan on learning how to use a camera in depth
These cameras are the Panasonic gh4 which I'm shooting with right now or the sony a7s and a7s2
Well a lot of the differences between these cameras have to do with preference also the fact that the gh4 came out before the sony
a7s and that means that some people
Already had migrated to the micro four-thirds eco system and once you buy all of this equipment
You're never going to get all of your money back
So it's just not worth it sometimes to sell your gear and then move over to something like the sony
There are a few key features though of the sony that might make it more appealing to someone shooting BMX or action sports video
The fact that it has incredible low-light performance and goes up to something like 500
Thousand iso or something like that and up to like two hundred fifty six thousand iso is like usable it
Basically lets you see in the dark a lot of people shoot at night
Whenever it comes to action sports, so they need that high low-light performance
Also, the Sony's have internal stabilization this means that when you're moving the camera around the camera is moving
the sensor within
Within the camera to compensate for your movements
so if you're running around filming friends and shooting handheld the camera is gonna compensate for that somewhat and
Give you better stability and smoothness in the shot whereas something like the gh4 won't give you that I prefer the gh4
Mainly because I got it before the a7 s came out the a7 s was like
$2,000 when it came out the gh4 is only fourteen hundred or something like that and
I started with the Panasonic gh2 and I loved this camera so
Naturally whenever a groundbreaking camera like the gh4 came out
I wanted it really before you buy a camera like this
You should be doing your research and using the camera first find a friend who has it go to a camera shop
Test it out film some for yourself
Take the footage home look at it
And there's also test footage from all of these cameras online
You can download and look at for yourself
You should never just be buying a camera blindly and hoping that it comes in and you like it
You're spending thousands of dollars. You should be sure of your purchase first the last camera
I'm going to talk about is the successor to the Panasonic
FC 200 and that is the Panasonic FZ
300 the FC 300 keeps the same constant F 2.8
Aperture through the 25 to 600 millimeter focal range of the FC 200 and adds
4k video and internal stabilization all for around
500 bucks so for literally half the price of a gh4 or a seven s and one quarter of the price of an a7
S2 you get the internal stabilization of the a7 s's you get the internal 4k of the gh4 and the a7s2
you get 1080p 60 frames a second and
720p
120 frames a second as well as that F 2.8 constant aperture
25 to 600 millimeter lens, this is a tremendous value for only
$500 whereas you have to spend thousands to get the
Equivalent with all of the other cameras that I mentioned the last
Aspect of buying a camera for use with action sports that I want to talk about is the fisheye lens
This is something that you absolutely have to have if you're going to be shooting a lot of action sports video and photos
There's not an action sports
Photographer or videographer out there who does not have one of these in their bag, and even if you're just starting out
They make fish eyes that clip-on or screw onto a case for your iPhone that makes your video
It just brings it to a whole nother level while I wouldn't recommend using one of these all the time a fisheye lens is
100% the easiest way to up your production value when it comes to making action sports videos
all of the cool shots and the skating and BMX
videos that you see are
Usually done with this because it it's easy to do
It's easy to make things look good with a fisheye lens whereas a long lens is much harder to make something look really good
So without a doubt if your buying a camera for use with action sports a fisheye is something that you absolutely
Have to look into and buy if you can you won't regret it so to sum all of this up if you're on a limited
budget
And you're looking for a compact camera that you can change lenses on and can also produce a professional
Quality result I would recommend the Sony nex-5n if you have a little bit bigger of a budget
And you're not as worried about cost and you want one of those higher end cameras
I would absolutely recommend something like the gh4 or the a7 s or the a7 s - I would just recommend to do your research
Test them all out find, which one you like better and make sure that when you make that big purchase
It's going to be something that you are happy with
Now if you're just beginning out, or you've been shooting on your phone for a while
And you feel like you're ready for a camera, and you don't mind not having that interchangeable lens
then the absolute best value for your money for action sports video is going to be the
Fz200 from Panasonic that f 2.8 constant aperture through 25 to 600 millimeters is something. That's just
Unmatched for 250 to 300 dollars you would literally have to spend
Thousands to meet that with any of these other cameras except for obviously the FC 300 this camera is something
That's going to be good in low-light
because it's got a
Wider open aperture on the lens and you're going to be able to zoom
And get that great looking zoom with the video and you can get an inexpensive screw-on fisheye adapter
And it's going to look just like you're using a camcorder this camera is absolutely the best
camera that you can buy for 250 or 300 dollars for
Action sports video and get 1080p 60 frames a second video that is great quality
so that's it for my picks on the
Cameras that will give you the absolute best value for your money for BMX or other action sports video if you liked the video
consider subscribing
If you already subscribed I'd be interested in hearing what you guys think of the content that I've been putting out is there anything
Specific that you want to see and any other comments questions concerns leave them in the comments below
And I'll be sure to reply to them so thanks for watching and we'll you in the next one
You