highspeed cameras

[hairrell]

I would like to video my kid's stroke in order to analyze it in slow motion. Can anyone give me some suggestions on what cameras are best for highspeed taping for the average consumer?

[johnyandell]

There are two components to "high speed filming". The first is a "high speed frame rate."

The videos in the high speed archive have this. They are all filmed at 250 frames per second. That's about 8 times faster than regular video on tv or on your camcorder, both of which are filmed at 30 frames a second.

More frames obviously help you see the critical movements and moments especially around the contact.

The other component is a " high speed shutter." If a camera didn't have a shutter and took 30 frames a second, each frame would last 1/30 of a second. That's way too slow for tennis and why most TV replays are blurry.

What the shutter does is take a slice of that 1/30th of a second. The slice is the shutter speed. Typically you need about a shuttter of about 1/1000 of a second to freeze a pro racket.The camera takes 30 pictures a second, BUT each picture has a duration of 1/1000 of a second.

The video in the high speed archive has more frames and the high speed shutter. That's why there are more pictures when you advance frame by frame but they stay sharp.

The regular archive has 30 frames per second AND the high speed shutter--you have fewer pictures but they are very sharp.

For the average player/coach/parent, the high frame rate cameras are going to be a little pricey--like $60,000 and that's not with the lens you need so figure another $30,000 for that.

But a good high end camcorder like the Sony VX21000 is awesome and has the high speed shutter and gorgeous clarity with 3 chips. That's about $3,000. This camera allows you to control both the shutter and the exposure manually, which is a big factor shooting into backlight or shooting indoors.

As you go down you lose quality in the image and versatility. The Sony TRV 950 is a still great choice for about $2000.

Below that look for cameras that at least have a "sports shutter" setting, that'll usually be 1/250th or 1/500th of a second. It won't be too sharp but it's better than nothing. A lot of the stuff in the Your Strokes section people send in is filmed like this.

I don't keep track of the low end cameras, they change all the time. My impression is you need to spend $700 or so minimum, but maybe somebody else has a reccomendation?