I'm planning a documentary on marathon running and am wondering how the Canon XF305 with its long GOP will handle movement of the runner's legs and arms?

Anyone have any video they can share?

Would it be better to shoot in 60p?

Bob,

The XF305 is just as suited for shooting sports as any other HD camcorder. The same general principles that apply for shooting sports also apply to the XF305. You'll have no problems shooting motion with any of the camera's codecs, and anything bad you've heard about long-GOP is outdated.

Unless you're going to shoot with slow-mo, I'd recommend using the camera's 50MBps 1080/30P settings.

Here's some waterskiing footage I shot with my XF305. Not exactly the same thing as runners, but at least it's fast-moving action. Most of this footage was shot 720P/24 @ 60fps because I wanted it in slow-mo, and that was the only reason I shot with 720P. If the XF305 could do 1080 @ 60fps I would have used that instead.

Slo-Mo Water-skiing with the Canon XF305 on Vimeo

David,

Thank you for your example. It's not the same as shooting a runner, as the skiers are moving all the parts of their bodies together. But the splashing water does not show any weird artifacts.

Was the water skiing footage shot at 1/120th shutter speed?

Bob, I think your hesitation about shooting sports with the XF camera is sort of misplaced. The codec does not have a problem with motion, it is the CMOS chips that people do not like for sports. The main reason being skew.

Skew shows up more on the telephoto end and when you have to pan the camera at a decent pace (like shooting a hockey game).

So the best thing to do is to go shoot some runners and try to put yourself in the worst possible panning situation (runners at a 90 degree angle running past at a distance) and see if the camera performs up to your tolerances.

Let us know your results!

How about the 305 for motorbike racing? We plan to use this camera (x6) dotted around the circuit.

According to the description this slow motion montage was filmed "...mostly with a Canon 7D, 1D Mark IV and an XF300."

Macau Moto GP 2010 on Vimeo

I am hoping to get an XF300 for motorsport use.

Rallycross and Autocross, both shot at 1080p30:

YouTube - New England Region SCCA - Ocean State RallyX 2010 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqX175bUR0c)

YouTube - Autox - NNJ SCCA - September 2010 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N7lWd2tGrg)

Shooting water skiiers, motorcycles and autocross is not the same as shooting runners.

The reason is that all the parts move together as one unit.

Runners, on the other hand, have legs and arms that move independently of their body.

I'm concerned about blurring of the arms and feet.

Does anyone have any footage of runners they can share?

Bob, are you planning on purchasing a camera for the project?

Do you have any cameras now?

I think you might be making a mountain out of a mole-hill so to speak. Runner's arms and legs moving is no problem for any modern HD video camera. The only issue in some cameras (CMOS) is very fast camera movement which will make vertical edges go diagonal a bit.

Take a look at the water rushing by in Doug's waterski video. That motion is ten times as difficult to capture than runner's arms and legs. The camera will be fine for your uses.

I'm concerned about blurring of the arms and feet.


No need to be concerned. You NEED blurry motion in the arms and feet because it would look completely unnatural if there wasn't any. The XF305 is going to produce the exact same results as every other video camera.