When I make movies with my old Sony Hi8 Camcorder (Analog, not Digital), everytime I shoot my blank firing gun, the picture distorts. I think it's from the pressure waves from the gun. Anyway, I was wondering If anybody with a Sony HDR-HC1 could record them or something shooting a gun (Real or blank ammo) to see if it distorts the image. Thanks.

Selim, could you post a still of this distortion?

I'm not sure but this is the first time i've heard of this kind of artifact.

Anyone else experiance this effect?


Anhar Hussain Miah

not surprised there's distortion. As you said there'll be a shock wave hitting the camera and i'm sure that a hard violent shake like a shock wave hitting camera will mess up the image.

Usually when I watch videos of guns firing online, there is no distortion. This is a old Sony Analog Hi8 I'm filming with, so that could be a factor. And here are some stills that Anhar Miah wanted to see.

Before the shot.

http://www.geocities.com/abdullai@sbcglobal.net/BlankFiringGunShotBefore.jpg

During the shot.

http://www.geocities.com/abdullai@sbcglobal.net/BlankFiringGunShotDuring.jpg

After the Shot.

http://www.geocities.com/abdullai@sbcglobal.net/BlankFiringGunShotAfter.jpg

I was just wondering if the HDR-HC1 did the same thing in HDV mode. What if I had a shot in the movie were I shot the blank firing gun 5-7 times? It would be all distorted and would not look good.

So anybody with this camcorder, with access to a gun or blank firing gun, could you record yourself shooting off a couple of rounds? Also, I would like it to be filmed in the HDV mode.

Yeah.. let's say i would get other problems if i HAD i gun.. but let's not dig up the same discussion between americans and dutch about drugs and guns... ;-)

But does it happen on every spot? I know that the presure wave will go away from the origin at a circle but will get less further away from the source and maybe you can shield it somehow..

Right now it sound like you put your camcorder on top of the barrel as a pointing device.. hahaha funny picture if i think about it. Maybe with a crosshair in the middle and properly calibrated too, zooming in and shoot..

yeah maybe good that i am not allowed to have a gun..

I got my Sony HDR-HC1 last Sunday morning. It's awesome! The video quality is the best! I can't believe I was actually using a old Sony Hi8 camcorder to make movies. Anyway, I just shot my blank firing gun 2 times recording with my new Sony HDR-HC1, and...THERE WAS NO DISTORTION! So I guess it has to be something with the way Analog camcorders are made.

If u could track the bullet, which I'm sure its not the case, you'd definetely have distortion. It's a CMOS artifact called "rolling shutter". Has been discussed quite sometime.

Glad to see that you're happy with the HC1. I can't wait for the A1U to be re-distributed.