Night football Video
 

I'm looking for a camera that will shoot good night football videos in so so stadium lighting. I almost bought a canon xl-2 a couple of days ago, but thought I had better wait. Any advice would be highly accepted. I also thought about the xh-a1s also. There really isn't anything to be found on this type of information.

Thanks in advance,

Pete

If the players can see the ball then the XH-A1 will see it a bit brighter, even at full frame rate. The XL-2 will have lighting problems first.

Friday Night Lights
 

I have had excellent results with my XH A1 shooting High School football under so-so lighting.

Pete,

I've shot two seasons of high school football on the A1s. Even with so-so stadium lighting, the A1 picture looks brighter than real life. I shoot in manual mode with low gain, wide aperture, and manual focus to keep it from "hunting" proper focus.

I don't know if you're on a tripod or handheld, but it's a bit of a learning curve getting good at shooting fast-moving action with a light handheld like this. I did most of the second season on a monopod which worked out very well for sideline shooting.

Here are some example videos:

Tivy v. Beeville on Vimeo

Tivy v. Dripping Springs on Vimeo

Tivy v. Burbank - Playoffs on Vimeo

EDIT: The A1s are only the sideline shots. The press box stuff was a different camera.

Night Football Video
 

Awesome input! Is there any other camera that is recommended?

Thanks

Night Football Video
 

Aaron, thanks for the video samples. I think our lighting is less than what you have.

Pete

By the way, awesome videos!

+1 for the A1s. I shoot motor racing under lights nowhere near as good as lights at the average high school football stadium and I get good stuff. I'm at the low end of the usable light at +6dB of gain, but it works. That doesn't, however, stop my from pushing the track to upgrade their lighting.

There are other cameras with better low light capabilities, but I don't think they're HD nor are they in the A1s's price range. If you can go for a bigger spend, there are other options.

Night Football Video
 

Thanks....You've all answered my question.

Thank you