high speed camera recomendations

[Phil Douglas]

I was asked by a colleague for a video camera recommendation - something high speed, like 960fps - this will be used for learning/industrial type videos so picture "prettiness" is not a factor. I would say 1080p is a must, and 4K might be beneficial, but i think would just provide issues for them in post. I was actually going to suggest to him the new iphone as it does some decent high frame rates and wont cost a fortune. He did not give me a price point - but I would say under 3-4k USD would be in the ballpark.

thoughts?

[Mark Watson]

Well, that's a pipe dream. For those frame rates and resolutions, you're not going to find anything in the $3-4K range. More like $50-80K.

The FDR-AX100 does 720x1280 at 120fps and costs $1,800ish. I think this camera is the best at this frame rate and price point.

If you don't need 1080x1920, then you can get those higher frame rates from the NEX-FS700, which is still going to be outside your budget, but maybe for about $12,000 with some external recorder. You may not like the resolution still, but take a look at this camera. After that, you move up to the Sony F55, then to the Phantom Flex, which, as I understand it, will require an expensive suite of computer stuff to process the footage.

Mark

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Phil Douglas

960fps - I would say 1080p is a must, and 4K might be beneficial - I would say under 3-4k USD would be in the ballpark.

I would say, keep dreaming :) Such a camera doesn't exist for that price. A option would be the JVC GC-PX100 which can do 120fps, 240fps and 300fps at 640 x 360 resolution, as well as 420fps and 600fps at 320 x 176 resolution

[Jim Michael]

You might be able to rent a Phantom 4k with a camera op for 4-5k for a day. It makes a beautiful picture.

[Mark Watson]

I have the JVC GC-PX100 (sigh). I got it specifically for the high-speed feature because it allows you to zoom while recording and also adjust exposure. Other cameras I've tried lock the exposure and zoom setting once you start recording. Two major issues I have is that (1) the resolution claims seem to be off, the image quality just doesn't compare to other cameras with the same stated specs. Not sure what's going on, but I was dismayed, found it unusable, and (2) the claimed frame rates get you half what other cameras are doing, in other words, if you set it for 120fps, you are getting the same slow-mo effect that other cameras give you at 60fps. So, since I like to shoot at 120fps, I had to go up to the next level (240) on the JVC. Weird. (long pause while I try to think of something good to say....) It's got a small form-factor, is light-weight, has HDMI output while recording.

If you want to buy mine, I paid $1,200 for it in Japan, I will sell it for $500. My version does not have the WiFi feature but does include the EVF. PM me. Okay, $400.

Don't buy this P.O.S. Thus endeth my public service announcement.

Mark

[James Manford]

You may be able to get a FS700 pre-owned body only for $4,000 ... I know you can get them in the UK for £4000.

[David Heath]

I second the general sentiments above. Without a massive budget increase, one or other of your criteria will have to be compromised.

Most obvious choice if it's for "learning/industrial type videos so picture "prettiness" is not a factor" is the FS700, but that will compromise picture resolution for HFR. But up to 240fps it's difficult to notice on real world material, even 480fps isn't too bad, though the compromises really are showing by 960fps.

But what other cameras even do 960fps at all, except ones costing many times more?

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Mark Watson

Don't buy this P.O.S.

So much for specs... :) Is the camera also not usable for analysing movement? Like a dance or sportcoach that wants to view certain events in slomo, is the image quality really that bad?

[Mark Watson]

Noa, I hate to make such a report, but in my opinion, that camera made me feel like JVC really got one over on me. Reviews said 4.5 stars. In the showroom, I played around with the camera twice before deciding to buy it, and then bought the Panasonic DMC-FZ200 later the same day! I was in a crunch to get better slow-mo and it was a bit of an impulse buy. I know they promote it as a camera to review sporting activities, such as a coach using it at a practice, etc. But the screen is very small, so I'm not sure how well that would work in reality, as far as reviewing a players actions. I'm used to using the Casio line of high-speeds, getting 120fps at SD resolution (640x480). I can live with that, but wanted to be able to zoom while recording and not have the exposure get locked-in. The JVC image quality is not (in my opinion) what I would have expected, it is somewhat less, or looks like half what they say. Like it was 320x240 and then up-rezed or something. I don't know. I tried to get the best out of it and finally gave up after getting the BMD Hyperdeck Shuttle 2 and still not liking the image quality. I can tell you this, I got much more use out of the FZ200, in fact, I'm on travel now and have the FZ200, Sony FDR-AX100, GoPro 3 Black, Canon 7D and Canon XF305. These are decent cams. Actually the AX100 is understated by Sony as they market it as a "consumer" camera. Best value I've had in cameras.

Mark

[Steve Phillipps]

These Digital High Speed Video Camera | Phantom Miro M/R/LC320S are excellent, and nowhere near the price of Flex 4k etc. - but still not cheap!

Steve

[Jim Michael]

You might also want to factor in the value of your time. As your frame rate and resolution increase the data requirement increases proportionally. The really high speed cameras that have decent resolution usually write their data to volatile memory pending download to more permanent storage. Take the throughput and storage requirements into account since it affects your productivity. A Phantom 4k with a couple of cine mags would let you shoot nearly all day so you could be fairly productive.

Also take into account your lighting requirements. As you get above 100 fps you can forego the 180 degree shutter and use a shutter speed equivalent to your frame rate but that can still mean a lot of light when you get up to your 1000 fps target.

How did you arrive at that target frame rate? Does the manufacturing process makes sense, time-wise, for that frame rate? If you are also troubleshooting a manufacturing step then much higher frame rates might be needed to isolate a particular issue.

Photron is another vendor. Their cameras seem to be in greater use in the manufacturing and defense sectors and they have some extremely high speed cameras. None of these would be in your budget range for purchase, but rental should be an option.

[Phil Douglas]

Thanks for all the input. I normally don't shoot anything faster than 50/60fps - haven't needed to - though I suppose if I had use of a camera that shot 960fps I could come up with something to use it for pretty fast.

My colleague said he was looking for a high speed camera, and I listed off a few that do 120fps well (though usually with a res reduction) and he then said he would like 960fps - and i told him that as far as I knew there would be nothing in his price range that could do that, but would look into it. which is why I thought I would ask here; as I certainly don't know about most of what is currently available (such as the phantom camera mentioned above).

I am pretty sure that they can not buy used equipment - as it is for an educational institution and they actually have rules against that sort of thing (must get a certain number of quotes from local authorized vendors before purchases over a certain amount can be made - etc).

But i do like the rental idea, especially if they do not need high speed on an ongoing basis: it might be wise for them to get a decent dslr (or mirrorless) which they could also use for stills, and with something like the a7s that can do high(ish) frame rates (120fps) and it also has low light capabilities that would be beneficial with the high frame rates and probably almost all indoor shooting under questionable lighting, and then just rent a high end camera for a day or two that can do the 960fps (or higher) if they really need it.

[Mark Watson]

That Phantom Miro looks nice. The FOR.A Company has one that shoots 4K at 860 fps, the FT-ONE. Costs $95,000 without lens. They also have the VFC-7000, which does up to 700 fps at 720p, for $19,100. At 700fps, the internal memory gives you 9 seconds of recording time.


http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/882225-REG/for_a_ft_one_full_4k_variable.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/746352-REG/For_A_VFC_7000_VFC_7000_HD_Variable_Frame.html

[Phil Douglas]

so my colleague that was asking about the camera went and found a camera on his own. up to 18000fps and a price tag of only $5,500.

edgertronic

one of my favorite things about the camera is the ability to trigger the camera after an event to record it - (thanks to the buffer)

[Noa Put]

18000? I just looked at their demo and while the slowmotion looked great I would expect that 18000 frames per second would allow much slower motion, it more looked like 1000fps slowed down.