Good video camera
 

I have a gopro and its great with action but my camcorder is terrible. Anybody know of a device that will do video like a gopro but has an optical zoom? Filming with the gopro from the boat just isn't an option.

Look at Power Shot SX520 HS - very nice rate price/quality and SUUUUUUUper optical zoom. Full HD of course and nice shooting

I use a GoPro Hero4 Black in Narrow FOV mode on other people's boats, and a Panasonic HC-V750 with a Wakeye WTC tower mount on mine.

Both cameras cost about the same.

The quality of the Panasonic is much better for filming from the distance, it's also less buggy than the GoPro (I went through several due to well documented over heating problems). It's also got WiFi controls via app similar to the GoPro.

Both can do 120 fps at 1080p for smooth slow motion.

Alain, could you compare the video quality of the panasonic and the gopro? Since I have a gopro that will give me a feel for the panasonic.

Well, I'm not an expert, but I do have a mouth, so here it goes..

The GoPro is pretty good at wide angle stuff. The Panasonic is pretty good at shooting from a distance within its focal range. I think the Panasonic is about as good at shooting from a distance, as the GoPro is up close. Both are worse than the more expensive cameras.

Alain, do you notice any the Panasonic to be grainy or pixilated compared to the gopro?

Yes, depending on light it can get grainy, like when the subject is back lit. When light is good, quality is great.

Been scoping this out (www.soloshot.com) They have a 25x and 65x optical zoom camera. From what I was told the 25x will film up to 1080 and the 65x up to 4k. I want to put a C- clamp on top of the tower with a tripod thread, so I can just mount the base up top and let it do the rest of the work.