Express Action Sports

Canon VIXIA HF S21
What all will I need for it as in accessories and equipment?
Im thinking like a shotgun mic, a stabilizer, and some sort of lens/light guard, list some names and models if you suggest any thing.

The camera will be used to film 4×4 truck racing/sports.

Personally, I would not depend on a AVCHD compression (consumer) camcorder to get good high-quality fast-action video. For fast action, you *should* be using a low-compression video format (like DV, HDV, HDCAM, XDCAM, DVCPRO-DVCPRO HD).

I also prefer stereo separation with audio – and while shotgun mics are good for dialog (like interviews), using them when a race – and the associated audio – moves from one side to the other will be… um… interesting (and decent stereo shotgun mics are expensive – check Sennheiser and Audio Technica).

The Canon HF S21 is a fine consumer-grade cam. Using flash memory, there are fewer moving parts so the battery lasts longer than if the video storage media is miniDV tape. But an optional high capacity battery from Canon is a good idea.

A stabilizer? Like a shoulder mount or a "SteadiCam" or "Glidecam" vest system? Or just the handheld stabilizer?

A "lens/light guard"? Sorry – I don’t understand… a lens hood? I don’t think that is necessary for this level of camcorder. It won’t do much to improve the video.

Where will the camcorder be located?
How will the lighting be? Are all races during good, bright, daylight? You need to plan for the worst lighting conditions.

What is meant by "semi professional"?

I do video for a hobby – and use a Sony HDR-FX1…

Thanks you 100fps, 1920x1080i, 1 & half hour of space, handle, mac compatible with out loosing quality, and light, film action sports with
I want a HD 1080i video camcorder that I can film Action Sports with and has a handle on it. I also want to be able to upload the footage on the camcorder to my MAC computer and edit in final cut pro with out loosing any of the quality! I would like it to have an hour and a half of film space on it at least thanks and if possible 100fps! Thanks you 100fps, 1920x1080i, 1 & half hour of space, handle, mac compatible with out loosing quality, and light

The only ones that come close are the HDR-HC9 and Canon HV40. They do not have 100 fps video capture. Record time depends on the miniDV tapes you use – a standard 60 minute tape saves 63 minutes of HDV format video. I would not suggest any high definition flash memory, hard disc drive or DVD based consumer camcorders because they all save to very compressed AVCHD format. AVCHD compression and fast action do not get along well.

Handles (Scorpion, GlideCam StuntBar, Opteka X-Grip) are sold separately.

Unless you can afford to move up to a Sony HDR-FX7 or HDR-FX1000… or Canon XHA1…

And this assumes your Mac is NOT a MacBook Air or one of the versions of MacBook with no firewire port. The computer must have a firewire port to import HDV format video.

If your Mac has no firewire port, then the Canon HF S200, Sony HDR CX500 series and JVC GY-HM100…

I know this question has been asked before but I’m looking for specifics. I’m looking for a camcorder that has a great Image Stabilization (Panasonic) it doesn’t have to be HD but HD would be nice. It need to have manual features also. My price range is up to $500 but can go higher if needed.

Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder

(+)Records crisp high definition video directly to two removable SD memory cards
(+)Genuine Canon 10x HD Video Lens
(+)Canon 1/2.6" 8.59-Megapixel Full HD CMOS Image Sensor
(+)Canon DIGIC DV III Image Processor
(+)Dynamic SuperRange OIS corrects a full range of motion

Review: I’m generally more of a still photographer at heart, but I finally decided to purchase an HD video camera, and after considerable research, I chose the Canon HF-S200. It seemed to have the right mix of features, size, price and quality – and so far, it’s measured up.

From an ergonomics point of view, I found the camera about right for my hands. The controls seem logically laid out, and it fits naturally in my hand in a way that lets me hold it steady without feeling awkward. Still, even though the camera is barely a pound in weight, to get the best HD quality, you’ll want to consider a monopod, tripod or some other support. I use a Kirk shoulder harness borrowed from one of my still cameras, and it works well. Otherwise, the controls seem to be where I’d like them and it took fairly little effort to get to the point where I could operate most of the features without fixating on the camera itself. Also, because of the memory card architecture, there are no moving parts in the recording system (there are of course moving parts in the lens, focusing mechanism, zoom, etc), making it quick, responsive and – best of all – totally silent in operation.
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The camera also has all the right connections, including HDMI input/output, LANC remote controls, and connectors for outboard audio or microphones. The camera also has a shoe mount for things like video lights, and it can connect to some of Canon’s cool accessories like their DVD burner (which I don’t own, so I can’t comment on).

The camera includes a 10x zoom Canon lens, plus an additional digital zoom feature. I found the lens to be very good for a camcorder, producing bright, sharp and detailed videos with good color and contrast. Still, if you look at the output frame by frame on a computer, you can tell the lens – while impressive – is no match for a top quality DSLR lens. Plus, you’re getting only an effective 6-8MP – pretty low by today’s DSLR standards. I’m not so sure this is an issue, but I guess I don’t shoot serious video with my DSLR, and I wouldn’t shoot serious stills on my video camera. In 35mm terms, the range is about 43-435mm…good on the long end, but not quite as wide as I might like overall. Still, it’s a fast lens and focuses close (about a foot, depending on zoom setting). A final nice feature is that the lens takes standard photo filters (58mm), and I find it handy for instance to screw on a polarizer sometimes.

I find most of the other features Canon includes to work well and to be thoughtfully designed. The 3.5" LCD panel is sharp and clear, although not always readable in bright sunlight. Auto-exposure and focus seem very fast and accurate, and even when there’s a lot of fast motion, I usually find all the critical parts of the scene to be in sharp focus and properly exposed, aided by Canon’s face and scene detection capabilities. When you want to, you can override exposure and focus to get a specific effect.

From an overall image quality perspective, the Canon offers the best image quality I’ve seen from a consumer product, period. HD images in 1080p are simply stunning, as good as anything you’ll find anywhere. The image stabilization helps ensure you don’t get "bumpy" scenes, and even the audio channels (which are capable of 5.1 recording with an add-on surround microphone) are quite good for such a small device. Overall, I was blown away by the video quality – it was much better than what I thought I could get at this price point.

Great camcorder – highly recommended and worth the price.