This could probably go in the videos section too, so if you want to move it go ahead. It's been snowing here, I have nothing to do, and I thought this might help some people who are new to cameras/fingerboarding.
So you want to film your totally radical maneuvers on you fingerskateboard? You wanna make cool edits like Mr. Schneider? Before you do any of that you might want to know a few things.
The first off, is what camera you're using. You can use just about anything for filming fingerboarding, whether that be a little Handycam, and iPhone, a DSLR or even a VX. There's 2 types of cameras, those that film in HD, which are those that generally film in 720p or higher.
HD quality is going to look more clear and will usually film to an SD card or some sort of hard drive. For example, your mom's handycam that she bought in 2011? Probably HD. Your iPhone? HD. That big ol' 60D you've somehow acquired? HD. That being said, not all HD is created equal. For instance, a Canon 60D is going to be a lot clearer than your iPhone.
here's some HD footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83VkHxlNWyQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpSRzUbkLpghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgf14nTQXQc The second type of camera, films in SD, or standard definition. SD footage is filmed at a lower resolution that HD, and is usually filmed on to tapes. Why would anyone want an SD camera then? Well some people prefer the look of SD footage. (myself included) This is one of the reasons why people love the VX1000, which is one of the most popular cameras for filming skateboarding. It's used in fingerboarding too, but not as much. SD also has some artistic value to it. For example you really can't recreate the warm colors of the VX on a HD camera very easily. It also looks a bit older, and some people really like that look. If you're interested in a SD camera, a TRV900 or 950 are great places to start, as they're relativly inexpensive and can still create that "SD Look" you might be going for. Here's some examples of some SD footage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY6WdIy15O4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB4U7HMQeYshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDBN1wLK8eg Ok, so the next pretty important part of filming fingerboarding is the fisheye. The fisheye is a lens you put on your camera, which gives it an extremely wide angle, and adds distortion to the sides. It's kind of hard to explain, but once you see it you'll recognize it immediately. It's kind of a staple in the skateboarding and fingerboarding world, so if you're serious about making videos, it might not be a bad idea to get one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxslE3N5vaYThere's a quick little video to show what a fisheye does. Anyways, what you're probably wondering, is what fisheye can I get for my camera? Weellll, the most common fisheye you see being used in fingerboarding is probably the Baby Death. This fisheye will fit most camcorders, not iPhones or DSLR's. The Baby Death is a really wide fisheye, and is pretty much the best thing you can get for a camcorder. It's about 50-150 dollars, depending on who you buy it from. The Baby Death usually comes in a 37mm thread size, but you can get a step up or down ring to make it fit your camera. If you're using an iPhone, there's plenty of fisheyes on Amazon for pretty cheap, I think Century Optics makes a really good one though if you're going to go all in with your phone. If you're using a DSLR, there's a few different fisheyes you can use. Now this is kind of a touchy subject because people argue all the time about what fisheyes best for a DSLR. I use the Rokinon 8mm, which is alright, but it's not very wide at all (which doesn't really matter for fingerboarding, but it does for skateboarding) This is pretty much the same lens as the Opteka, Samyang and Bower Fisheyes, which I think are all either 8 or 6.5mm fisheyes. But they all look pretty much the same. The only fisheye that looks different, is the Peleng 8mm, which is a bit wider, and from what I can amass, better. Here's a comparison:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV6SwfODu8kIf you''re using a GoPro, you've already got a fisheye built in.
The next thing you're going to want to know are your camera's settings. I'm not going to go into your aperture and exposure and color boosting and all that because that's a whole different thread. A good place to start is to figure out what resolution your camera films at. Next, figure out how many frames per second (the amount of "pictures" that are in each second) your camera films at. Most cameras will default film at around 24 frames per second. This is good for cinematic stuff, but if you want to film fingerboarding, your image is going to look a bit smoother, and your slo mo's are going to look a lot better if you can raise your FPS. Usually you can raise it to around 60, which is great for fingerboarding. The newer iPhones will actually film in 120fps (i think) which will give you awesome slow motion. Keep in mind that if you raise your FPS, you're going to usually go down in resolution. For example, if your camera films in 1920x1080p at 24fps, and you raise your fps to 60, it's probably going to make your record in 720p instead. Which is perfectly fine, your quality will still be really good. Do some research on how your camera works, and figure out how you can use it to its highest potential. Remember that at the end of the day, people are going to care more about the fingerboarding than the camera.
I think I've pretty much covered everything. I'm by no means an expert on this, but I thought this might help some of you guys learn the basics of filming fingerboarding. The most important thing you can do is watch a lot of fingerboarders videos, and learn from them. Alright I think that's about it, if you have any questions go ahead and ask, I'll be glad to help you.
