Camera Recommendation for slo-motion

[thatisme]

I am a bowling coach, and am looking for an affordable camcorder to use for swing analysis on the lanes. Where we bowl is not very brightly lit, so the camera will need to handle low-light situations fairly well (we are not doing broadcast video, so video noise is not a huge issue), and I would like one that does H.264 HD video.

Currently I am using my 5D mark II Dslr, and while it does really nice HD video, it is not suitable for high-speed motion capture... you get too much motion blur when recording arm swing and release. I need to be able to see hand positions during the down swing and release. The camera only does 29.9 fps, and I suspect I need to be able to shoot upwards of 60fps???

 

[vizfxman]

There have been a lot of rumors that the new firmware that's going to be released for the 5D Mark II will add 24fps and 60fps.

However, nobody seems to know when the firmware update will be made available.

...I know that's not much help for your immediate needs...

 

[handsome pete]

The 5D Mark II will likely not get 60fps. It just got its major firmware update a couple of months ago.


The 7D and T2i both do 60fps, but for what you're looking for, you may need something that shoots in excess of 60fps.


Fisrt, try a higher shutter speed with your 5D. That will cut down on motion blur.

If you want to look into different cameras, check out the new Casio line that offers both high speed burst for stills as well as video frame rates of 120fps+ (at the expense of resolution however).

I think the real issue you may run into though is that any solution you find to either reduce motion blur or capture a higher frame rate will require more light. There's really no way around that.

 

[vizfxman]

The 5D Mark II will likely not get 60fps. It just got its major firmware update a couple of months ago.

That's too bad.

Well, at least they've added 24fps.

 

[thatisme]

thanks for the suggestions guys. T2i and the 7D are out of my budget at the moment, so I have to find a different solution.

I ran across a line of JVC cameras, the Everio series which states full HD 60p, however it states in the specs of 60p output. Not sure if this means it records in 60p or the camera can up-convert 30p recordings to 60p for smoother playback... anyone have experience with these cameras? I am currently looking at the everio 200.

http://www.jr.com/jvc/pe/JVC_GZHM200BUS/

 

[MrLatte23]

Casio Still Camera...

Checkout the new or upcoming Casio brand still cameras. they have a movie mode that shoots something like 120 fps. They're probably <> $300 and might be perfect for what you're looking for. I saw one on demo before they were released last winter and the slo-mo shots were awesome. I'm not sure of the model or what the resolution was to achieve the high fps, but it might be just what you're looking for at a decent price.

Maybe find the best lit lane and continually use that for your analysis.

 

[jampat]

How about adding light to help out a cheap camera? It should be cheaper than a camera that shoots 60 fps in low light. Something like this http://www.homedepot.com/Lighting-F...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 If you went with halogen bulbs instead of flourescent, it would be ~$50.

 

[Chris at JVC]

thanks for the suggestions guys. T2i and the 7D are out of my budget at the moment, so I have to find a different solution.

I ran across a line of JVC cameras, the Everio series which states full HD 60p, however it states in the specs of 60p output. Not sure if this means it records in 60p or the camera can up-convert 30p recordings to 60p for smoother playback... anyone have experience with these cameras? I am currently looking at the everio 200.

http://www.jr.com/jvc/pe/JVC_GZHM200BUS/

Hi,

I work for JVC and would like to try and help.

I assume you are looking at the JVC GZ-HM200. It records 1080/60i. It can playback at 1080/60p.

What this means is that it records 60 interlaced fields per second. When it plays back, it can upconvert the video to output at 60 frames per second.

Do keep in mind that you will probably not be able to select a higher shutter speed indoors without loosing a lot of brightness, so that it probably not an option.

Also, JVC, like the Casio brand mentioned, has models with higher frame rate recording, but with substantially smaller frame size (resolution). For example, our GZ-HM550 can record 120fps at a resolution of 480x270. There is also a 4 second limit at that speed. When playing back the video in slow motion it takes 8 seconds to play it back (1/2 normal speed).

You best bet might be to try our regular slow motion mode, which is available on all models, including the GZ-HM200. This is based on 1080/60i recording, which means it is full resolution. In my experience it looks very nice, and it also offers a frame by frame mode.

Chris

 

[esaleris]

The Casio people are talking about is the EX-F1.

See demo on youtube.com below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bquphKTTEUQ

It's pretty cool.

edit: I didn't realize the price - you said affordable in your original post, but people were replying about 7Ds and so I made this suggestion. Anyway, hope it helps in either way.