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Which camera to use?

Posted By: Bill Riles
Date: Wednesday, 3 September 2008, at 2:58 p.m.

In Response To: Which camera to use? (pfeifrot)

My suggestions -- now based on one year experience of recording.

Videorecorder with internal hard drive storage -- easy to download and no extraneous components like tape, cartridge, etc. I have 30 gig Sony camera and, at medium recording rate (certainly fine for backgammon), I can record a whole weekend of backgammon without downloading -- but downloading is very simple too. Some cameras come with 40 gig and 60 gig hard drives. I've seen Sony, JVC, and Hitachi cameras used.

Sufficient battery so you don't have to have an electrical cord connected -- there are larger 5-6 hour batteries, but I just use to 1.5 hr batteries and rotate them, charging one while using the other.

Almost everyone uses a small tripod set on the table at one end of the board. As you are shooting along the length of the board the camera can be rotated on the tripod so the longer aspect of the frame is aligned with the length of the board. I have seen one person use a floor based tripod but this can create a larger footprint on the floor to get the adequate height, and easy for someone to trip over it or knock into it. I think there are even C-clamp style monopods which would take up even less room but they are probably a bit less stable.

Some people use wide angle lenses, other have just normal lenses. You just really need to test your proposed arrangement over your board to make sure the camera, lens, tripod, and board combination are compatible to fit in the whole view. I also use a flip scorecard on the opposite end of the board which is very handy in knowing the score at any point in the recording -- such as if you're going back to find a specific game and position.

I usually like to set up the camera so I am on the bottom side of the picture just so it coincides with the way I like to set up Snowie for entering. However, this is not a real big deal.

I'm probably forgetting something useful, but ask if you wish to know more.

Good luck.

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