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I'm a computer science engineer with no experience and very little knowledge in camera and video processing.

I would like to record boardgame sessions (timelapse for example) and record boardgame rules description for my friends.

I'm therefore looking for a camera and I'm a bit lost. There are plenty of different camera on the market with lot of specs and I don't really know what I need to have to record boardgame sessions...

I think it has to have:

  • HD capabilities
  • A good microphone input both to catch my voice or multiple voices during a game
  • No specific spec related to frame rate
  • No waterproof capability

Could you help me with other different parameters I would need to care about when buying a camera?

Thanks for your help and precious advices

Random example :

P.s. I'm not looking for a shopping list here...

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There are two approaches you can take based on budget. The first is to record audio in camera, the other is to record audio to a dedicated audio recorder and mix it with the video after. The former is cheaper, but the latter will generally produce better quality.

As far as features, beyond HD, you are mostly just looking for good performance in whatever lighting conditions you will have and then looking for good color and video quality. Best bet is to look at sample videos from them to find one you like. I'd also recommend taking a look at the GoPro, it's one of the better, cheaper video cameras available and would probably work well for your needs.

If you want something more general purpose, you could also look at a DSLR with video capabilities such as a Canon T4i which would allow for high quality stills as well as high quality video.

Your best bet for narrowing down your choices is really going to be to think about what else you might want to do with it and how much you would like to spend, then look at what is in your price range.

If you do want a dedicated audio recorder, the Zoom H4n is a reasonably cheap and decent option that will allow external microphones to be used for recording audio.

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  • Is there any reason why the video and the stop-motion must use the same camera?
    – horatio
    Commented Jul 30, 2013 at 17:23
  • The DLSR option is not possible because I already own a canon eos 450d and I don't want to change (at least for now)... I thought about GoPro but It seems to me it's a cheap camera for people who want to record themselves during sport session... Maybe my jugement is totally wrong........
    – Andy M
    Commented Jul 30, 2013 at 18:01
  • I've already created a timelapse with my 450d and a laptop to trigger the shots... A bit heavy solution... But it works well... I want to record proper video though...
    – Andy M
    Commented Jul 30, 2013 at 18:03
  • @AndyM - unless you are looking to spend considerably more money than the cost of a GoPro, it is one of the better quality video cameras for the price. Many professional videographers use it when a small, cheap camera is necessary or when they need an array of cameras. It won't beat a mid-range DSLR's video, but it's also a lot cheaper than a mid-range DSLR. It is competitive or superior to a cheap DSLR in terms of sensor quality, but of course has the limitation of a fixed lens.
    – AJ Henderson ♦
    Commented Jul 30, 2013 at 18:11
  • @AJ henderson Which model of the gopro do I need... Example : do I need 60 fps for this?
    – Andy M
    Commented Aug 8, 2013 at 18:47

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