For the camera experts :

[Bille]

I took this from :
Re: Do you think you jump high?

Nah, fdvj's jump is no more than 25 feet. Funny thing about wide angle lenses
and slowed down video footage, they make even good jumps looks truly mega.

So the question is, what is the widest angle lens you can get away with
before what --sq22....-- is saying, starts to come into play ? I don't really
like that distorted image either, and want a water-proof camera that gives
a far amount of field of vision, but at the same time doesn't over-do it .

Any suggestions for an HD camera that's water-proof and doesn't weigh a bunch
where the field of vision doesn't look so dramatic ?

Bille

[Kamikuza]

Fujifilm XP-series are waterproof and do HD etc etc. Not an action cam though... pretty sure GoPro3 has selectable FOV.

[Erlend M B]

What you are asking, is impossible. The focal length that is closes to the human eye perspective is 50mm for 35 format (the 35mm format is the benchmark for photography). I think the gopro lens is about a 15mm in 35mm format equivalents.

50mm is a narrow field of view, and is no good for a pov camera.

If you want to get more confused over focal length, see here:
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/forums/thread106.htm

[Peter_Frank]

Erland is right

But you dont write how you are gonna use the camera...

As a POV on your board or you or a few meter up the lines ?
Or as a kitecam (mounted on the kite) ?

Two completely different lenses needed.

For a POV, the super wideangle maybe 15mm or less, is good (needed actually)

For a kitecam I typically use something around 35 to 55mm, and sometimes 25-30mm


Have had many cams, and the preffered one now (watertight, as I also use normal small cams as kitecams now and then, as how often do you get the kite all wet ?) is Sony TX20.

Small, has half an hour of HD video capacity in one take (maybe more outside Europe), and its datastream is higher than any other cam I've seen, which means still images from video are better.
It has a lens zoom range from 25 to 100mm, but in video it is 27 to 108mm.
Optical lens stabilization and last but not least, extremely small !

The best thing is, that it works awesome as a normal point and shoot cam for every given situation too, so not only used as a kitecam

Downside is battery life if used for full HD takes - so buy one or two extra batteries, they cost nothing at all.
And the colors are not as saturated as some other cams - maybe more realistic though, but not as "glamorous" immediately.


The other choice could be Panasonic TG4, which has more manual settings and a 1min timelapse also.

Have tested both neck and neck, but found the TX10 and 20 (exactly the same in terms of pictures/video) to be better when used as a kitecam - giving more detailed pictures.
You can NOT know how a camera will react, when put up in a moving kite - only by testing
The manual settings are a big plus, but the downside is its size - it is "chunky".
But pictures are even better than the Sony's. Video is behind.

Both come as newer models now, TX30 and TG5, but dont have any of these, nor tested or checked what differences there is...
Pentax Optio were great cams back in the days, as they got everything we could wish for, 5 or 10 seconds timelapse, manual settings, small, and good video.
They have suffered in quality since the WG60 days, and ALL the newer ones are really bad IMO, in terms of picture and video quality, compared to the competition.


TX20 video capture 27mm: http://pfx.dk/Foto/BY20130707_06.jpg

Tx20 video capture maybe 40mm: http://pfx.dk/Foto/PF20130201.jpg

TX20 video capture 73mm: http://pfx.dk/Foto/CT2012a73mm.jpg

Just to give an idea.

Peter