Camcorder advice

[Danattherock]

This will be my holiday gift to myself and one to my golfing buddy.

I got the Casio FH-20 for $269 on Amazon last week. After reading up on the subject, seemed to be the perfect way to record the golfswing. It is a nice camera from what I can see and has tons of options for recording. Someone at Casio must be a golfer. Not many cameras out there with this attention to slow motion video. Ordered a book by Mike Breedlove (msp) about recording your swing. Picture Perfect (or similar title). Amazon had it. Just went to Amazon and grabbed the link... http://www.amazon.com/Picture-Perfec...0874005&sr;=8-1

[golfheaven]

Hi Dan,
Bought the EX-FH20 for myself last week and the Zi8 Kodak for my golfing colleague.
Now we'll hopefully be able to lower our handicap. Good luck.

[Danattherock]

Cool man. Pretty awesome camera. Used it for the first time today and on the 210 fps setting. Worked great and it was cool to see my swing. Hard to believe, but in 20 years, I have never seen my own golf swing. Very cool! I got a Gorilla Pod (tiny tripod) and attached it to my golf bag. Check out these tripods on Amazon or other places. They are bendable and can be attached to nearly anything. Worked great. I got the SLR size which was about $44, but the $23 smaller version would have worked well I am sure. Nice tripod for this purpose. I am now looking into software to take full advantage of the videos. Also got a book, Picture Perfect, by Michael Breed (Golf Channel "Golf Fix" show). It talks about using a camara to record the golf swing and lots of other info for after the fact. Great book and it looks like a great item to have for anyone putting their swing on video. Also, I emailed V1 software asking some questions. Below is the info they sent me. I am looking at their V1 Golf software ($89). The software and the book look like a perfect companion to a video recording of your golf swing. Got Michaels book on Amazon. Below is the email from V1...





V1 Golf is a "video enhanced" version of the V1 Home software. Both versions have essentially the same capture and analysis capabilities.

V1 Golf includes video content examples that help fix common swing faults. It contains a window where you select a particular swing fault, it will show you what conditions could cause that fault and step you through examining your own swings for these issues. Once a fault is identified, one or more video drills to help correct that fault will be unlocked for playback. There is over an hour of video content built into V1 Golf. V1 Home has only the capture and analysis functions, it does not step you through the analysis process.

V1 Home runs in a resizeable "window" while V1 Golf runs in a fixed 800x600 "fullscreen" mode. This means V1 Home is better suited towards HD video as the window can be enlarged to fit higher resolution videos. It's also the better choice if you have a widescreen monitor and do not want the 'letterboxed' effect from the 4:3 V1 Golf window.

V1 Home 2.0 is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2000, ME and 98se

V1 Golf is compatible with Windows Vista, XP, 2000, ME and 98se but not Windows 7.

The programs are purchased outright, there is no recurring charge to use them. The optional V1 Golf Academy function is separate from the software- if you decide to send a swing into the site for analysis by one of the online pros, you will be billed that instructor's analysis fee each time he accepts, analyzes and returns one of your submitted videos.

The FH20 is best used at the 210fps setting.

-jim

V1 Technical Support (support@ifrontiers.com)
Interactive Frontiers

Purchase your V1 Pro Advantage Membership today:
http://ifrontiers.stores.yahoo.net/v1tesu6mo.html
(Includes priority Phone & Email Support.)

[golfheaven]

Hi Jim,

Glad to see your enthusiasm is leading you to look into how much more the V1 will improve your swing analysis. Curious to see, if in fact you end up purchasing it, exactly how much the slow motion of the EX-FH20 is improved and if the software will allow you to increase definition? I'm sure you're looking into this and I know for one that I would appreciate hearing your results.

I picked up a Velbon tripod w/quick release head from B&H; at 29.95. I haven't used the FH20 yet as the cold weather prevents me from getting to the course.

I imagine after the holidays that the Casio EX-FH20 will probably enjoy a price decrease since the FH25 is slated to replace it. Not sure if the FH25 will present anything more to those of us who are primarily interested in the slow-motion aspect of the FH20.

Keep us informed of your progress. Perhaps the best thing to happen to golf since the advent of GPS. Good luck!

[iammpspeer]

Any good software for a mac user? I have Snow Leopard currently.

[iacas]

Any good software for a mac user? I have Snow Leopard currently.

QuickTime Player

That's about all I've ever needed to use. Though once I used xScope to measure an angle... oftentimes I'll just put the mouse over a point or even hold up a business card (straight line).

[FHopper]

I just pause it in quicktime and step forward or back to see things.

[Kellfire]

I never did end up getting one, but now that golf is back for the year, the ZX1 is the top contender!