High frame rate, low-cost consumer camera

Yeah, I'm not worried about it being 720p or higher. VGA would be fine; what I really want is high frame rates. 5000+ would be perfect, 1200 may be do-able. 480x270 @ 1200 would be plenty to start with. ;)
 
Phantom costs more per day than one of these little cameras costs to buy. This is an ongoing project; phantom+operator would be astronomically expensive. :)
 
After looking and researching and looking some more, IMO your best bet would be to use that rule often used in audio and in video: Capture the best quality signal possible with the most information present. All of the cams I've seen with 1000 fps rates don't capture enough information to really do any sort of justice to the scenes being filmed. What I mean is that while they are shooting super fast, it doesn't really matter when the viewer can't even tell what they are looking at...it just looks like slow mo mush! lol. I looked at the Fuji HS10, the Casios, and some others that don't even shoot 1000fps, but they all still look like hell.
So I tried an experiment with the highest quality high frame rate footage I could find (of course in the $1000 and under camera range) It was from the Panasonic FZ200. The Go Pro might have similar quality. I downloaded a couple of high speed clips, then slowed them even further....and to my eyes at least- (even though it isn't true 1000 fps capture) the results are far superior in revealing high speed moments through fluid slow motion. The viewer can see what's happening in much greater detail.
(keep in mind as well...these are downloads and I just used windows movie to change them, so certainly even better results could be attained)

https://vimeo.com/58235485
https://vimeo.com/58234975

Anyway, just a thought! ;)
 
You know, if the remote control has enough range, that 5 seconds might work... I'll have to look into which ones have the wireless remote, but this may be a pretty decent stopgap, especially at a $249 price!
 
still though, gopro 3 is miles better quality, and can be twixtored quite a heck of a bit. but if your application is capturing ultra high speed actions, then yea, this at the moment seems by far the lowest cost per frame

 
Last edited:
Already have a GoPro 3. It's great for what it is, but it's hyper-wide fisheye and only 240fps. 1200 fps, with interchangeable lens capability, offers vastly more options for capturing really high-speed action...
 
Okay, as a follow-up, I picked up a factory-refurb'd Nikon J1 off ebay. It's capable of 1200 fps at what sounds like a reasonable 320x120. Now, 320x120 isn't very high-res, obviously; it's about half VHS res, VHS usually being captured at 320x240, but I thought for web stuff, hey, that's not too bad, it could maybe work, and 1200fps is really pretty fast...

Good lord. This thing produces what can only be described as THE worst video anyone has ever seen, under any circumstances, ever. The 1200fps is not only useless, it should be used in court against you for even having recorded it. It's horrible. It claims 320x240 resolution, but I have never, ever seen a cell phone (even the very first Nokia) produce video that looks a tenth as bad as this. It seriously looks like PixelVision, but only if PixelVision had moire problems that made the original Canon 7D's 60p look pristine.

It doesn't window the sensor down to 320x120; instead, it appears that it probably skips somewhere around 8 pixels in-between. The aliasing is monstrous, and the shimmering color changes in a pan make the entire frame look like Christmas lights on meth.

The 400fps is pretty awful, but not nearly as offensive as the hideous 1200fps. 320x120? It's like there's maybe 40 x 20 of actual resolution, and the remaining 280x100 is just blocky noise and rainbow aliasing artifacts.

Suffice it to say that the GoPro Hero3 absolutely blows the Nikon J1 into the weeds; the 240fps from the GoPro looks like a Rembrandt painting compared to the J1; the only comparable analogy to the GoPro's Rembrant would be the J1's footage looks like skidmarks in used underwear.

Disappointed? A little. I mean, I knew, going in, that it was likely gonna be pretty bad, but I was overwhelmed with the incredible stank coming off this footage. The footage itself should be declared a hazardous waste substance. I'm tempted to send Nikon a bill for my time that I spent even looking into this thing. And, of course, I will add a substantial amount on there for "pain and suffering".

So long, Nikon, and thanks for all the fish. (actually, I would have preferred fish over this thing's footage. Old, smelly, rotted fish, with maggots. And flies.)

Anyone want to buy a Nikon J1? Factory refurbed and used VERY, VERY little!
 
Sorry to hear that Barry. I haven't seen any low cost high frame rate cameras with decent footage with rates beyond the 240fps SD and 120fps HD that the GoPro and Panasonic FZ200 shoot. The others I've checked out just get so mushy and awful looking at reduced res/super high speed....while the Go Pro/FZ200 maintain nice detail and clarity.
 
noirist said:
JVC GC-PX100 is in stock at B&H
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/909750-REG/jvc_gc_px100_full_hd_compact.html
Click to expand...
Nice to see it's finally in stock! The PX100 really piqued my interest to begin with, but now I'm a bit gunshy about forking over $1,000 sight-unseen... Any sample footage at high frame rates out there? I haven't found any yet...
If it windows down (like the GH2's ETC) then I'm highly highly interested. If it pixel-skips like the J1, not so much...
 
They are really going after the sport market with this camera. And the Ipad app for the PX100 looks really awesome. I am also waiting to see some results before I buy this camera. And maybe with this product, more companies will be thinking of not just the camera but pushing the limits of Ipad and smartphone apps to use with their cameras. Check out the video above my post to see them using split screen and able to add marks and such to video.
I would rather have Barry do a review before I buy., Come on Barry, don't you know someone at B&H that can send you a demo to try.
 
With the G30 announcement, and JVC's long record of disappointments, I'd also rather let someone else be the guinea pig on the PX100. Maybe camcorderinfo will give us a review soon, they were pretty quick with the G20...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top