Using Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K to record Volleyball game

I would like to use a Cinema Camera 6k or even a Blackmagic PYXIS 6K (with L-Mount lens) to record volleyball games from a stationary position using a tripod.

Is this a good idea?

My apologies for the n00b question.

Thank you.

-Broderick

It may be a good idea depending upon what you want and that will also depend upon the lens you want to use.

If you’re going to be positioned near the net and reasonably elevated, in the stands, it’s quite likely often your camera’s view will be blocked by the audience. If audio is important, you’ll be picking up a lot of crowd noise and conversations near to you. If the location includes a viewing platform or booth, you’ll likely get better video and audio results.

It seems you want the camera to be fixed and cover the court so you’ll need a wide angle lens with a fairly fast aperture. If you’ll only record a particular court, can you verify there’s enough light to be able to use a prime lens that will focus on the entire court.

If you want to follow the action with camera movement then you’ll want a longer focal length or ideally a parfocal zoom.

Tell us more? Is this for a client who has specific requirements or for your personal use?

Thank you for your reply, Rick.

This is for personal use.

I do want the camera to be fixed. However, the audio doesn't really matter, as my fellow volleyball parents and I always mic ourselves up for our better (our opinion) commentary on the games.

I currently use a couple of cameras, both stationary, one on each end of the court, with the camera behind the team serving as the source for our HUDL highlights.

So I assume you want the same lens on each camera.

How far behind the ends of the court are your proposed full-frame cameras?

I’m thinking your field of view is not going to include the full width of the backcourt, but you want the net fully in the frame. Correct?

Do you want each camera placed in the centre or closer to the person serving?

Will the camera tripod be standing on the floor or a raised area?

If it were me I'd go with the APS-C/Super 35 cameras like the Pocket 6K or even the Pocket 4K (Micro Four Thirds) instead of the full-frame cameras. Keep in mind that there is no continuous autofocus with any Blackmagic Design cameras, so you will be focusing manually. That's easier with a smaller sensor than with full frame.

Will you be leaving these cameras unattended on the tripod or will you be following the action with one or both of them? If the latter, I think the smaller sensor will be a better choice since you'll have an easier time maintaining focus manually. With full frame, you have to move closer (or zoom in) to fill the frame than you do with a smaller sensor, and the closer you are, the narrower your depth of field. That makes focusing on fast-moving people a bigger challenge.

You could study some depth of field charts to get a sense of depth of field at different apertures, different focal lengths, and different sensor sizes. You'll get the greatest depth of field (meaning most things will be in focus) with a wide-angle lens and you will want to stop it down a bit; this holds true for both Super 35 and full frame. Fortunately a volleyball court is fairly small compared with, say, a football or baseball field.

All true, but I’m trying to see what will work with the larger frame. Using a mirrorless sensor likely may also be more economical.

Even with large sensors the court is wide enough that dof isn’t a concern regardless of lens or stop.

Good Luck

So I assume you want the same lens on each camera.

Actually, no. Right now, I use a Panasonic HC-X1 for the stationary back camera, and a Panasonic Lumix S1R for the frontwards camera. I have an ATEM Mini I want to use for post, but I haven't even used it yet.

How far behind the ends of the court are your proposed full-frame cameras?

No set position, as it depends on the court and the officiousness of the refs and officials for each game.

I’m thinking your field of view is not going to include the full width of the backcourt, but you want the net fully in the frame. Correct?

You're right. Basically the players and the plays. Sometimes, the servers are not fully in the frame during their wind-up, but that's fine with me.

Do you want each camera placed in the centre or closer to the person serving?

Ideally, the center. However, that's not always possible. This is not a deal breaker.

Will the camera tripod be standing on the floor or a raised area?

Most of the time, the back camera is on the floor, while the from camera is in the stands generally diagonally opposite.

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Will you be leaving these cameras unattended on the tripod or will you be following the action with one or both of them?

Both unattended. I moved the cameras around while I shot basketball*, but thankfully, volleyball is the only sport currently played.

*My whipping of the cameras back-and-forth has been rumored to be quite nausea-inducing.

All true, but I’m trying to see what will work with the larger frame. Using a mirrorless sensor likely may also be more economical.

I am also trying to get the most camera I can afford right now.

Thanks again, for taking the time to respond.

Cheers.

Your distance from the net is important.

Floor camera fixed:
Legally you can’t get closer than 40’ from the back line of the court. If you know you can set the camera there, you’ll need a 35mm or 40mm focal length on the Pyxis or BMCC6K. But if you need to be 45’ away from the net which is likely, you could even just cover the entire net with a 50mm lens but that won’t give you a good look of the serve.

You probably want a decent view of the server with a good portion of the server’s approach. Therefore you may not want to position the floor camera in the centre but closer to the right side and use a wider angle lens like the 35mm.

Using the 35mm, at f/8 setting the focus at 16’ 6”, you’ll have good depth of field from 9’ 3” to 76’ which may be sufficient. If you go with a longer lens you have no chance of getting the serve and the far end of the court in focus on an unattended camera.

Camera in stands:
Up in the stands, you could be a similar distance or a little further away such as 50’ and cover the court with a 25mm lens, but you might like a tighter view with a 35mm lens. Since you can use the camera in the stands to follow the action. 35mm is feasible. If you don’t want to pan the camera in the stands, then a 25mm or 28mm lens may be better.

You’ll be far enough away that everything will be in focus from 5’ 2” to 141’ setting the lens focus to 10’ with the 25mm lens at f/8.

You’ll be far enough away that everything will be in focus from less than 9’ to 52’ setting the lens focus to 15’ with the 35mm lens at f/8.

Thank you very much for the detailed reply.

I wasn't aware about autofocus with the Blackmagic cameras before.

I will take that into consideration, and will make sure to let you know of my decision.

Cheers.

… I wasn't aware about autofocus with the Blackmagic cameras before...

If this comment was in response to my post re recommended focal lengths, I did not refer to auto focus. I was talking about where to set the focus on your lens so the depth of field would be sufficient that you wouldn’t have to worry about changing focus to record the game. You can still change focus on the camera in the stands, but the camera on the floor level does not have an operator to vary the focus to follow the game action; therefore the floor camera needs to use the correct middle distance so focus as suggested will be good from your front of court to the back of the court. The depth of field varies if you use a different focal length or your camera is placed closer to the court or further from the court than the assumptions I made.

I use an app called Lens Toolkit f8 to determine the depth of field. It’s free to download and then you can see the correct settings for the focal lengths you decide to use.

I was replying to Brad, on him letting me know that the Blackmagic cameras I was talking about do not have continuous autofocus.

Thanks.