I usually use my consumer level camcorder ($300). Yes a DSLR usually has a larger sensor and therefore beautiful image quality, most lack a continuous auto focus function so for something like soccer games plan on having to manually focus your lens as you track the kiddos in the frame. Some people get quite good at this, but I like the simplicity of my lightweight camcorder doing the focusing for me so I can concentrate on holding the camera still. I hate watching a video where the videographer is jerking the camera all over the place, either due to focusing or the weight of the setup. Image stabilization only goes so far.