I live in Las Vegas, NV. I'm going to be shooting some Neon soon and along with
the pristine footage, I'd like to try my hand at getting that "smeared look" I've
seen.

Without having to venture forth with the hack frame rate that I've read about,
is there any way to do this just with my camera? Specific settings, frame rates,
shutter speeds etc. I have a Panasonic HPX-170.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Best.

Mark

What the heck is a "smeared" look? Vaseline on the lens? Give us a screenshot or a better description to go on.

Example:
When you have a trial of headlights on a freeway that are blurred or smeared together
and look like one image...

Does that help?

Ahhh ok.

Slow shutter speed is how that look is achieved.

Maybe what he really wants is one of those old tube cameras?

Andrew

If it is just a one-off effects shot, you could try shooting the subject, reflected in a normal household mirror with the mirror canted at an acute angle relative to the camera.

With the mirror canted vertically, the effect might hint at vertical smear in a motion picture camera when the shutter and pulldown have slipped slightly out of sync.

You will have to flip the image in post to match the normal footage.

The effect where headlights appear to be a single stripe is generally achieved with time-lapse. While a long exposure (shutter) may simulate this also, it will create a strobed or stepped look at the same time.