What is a good camera for outside video work?

[tykempster]

I need a camera that has a manual focus option, and takes great looking video outside. As well, good looking slow motion of fast moving objects (specifically actions of firearms working, recoil, bullet trace as it flies towards downrange) would be a huge plus. I'm not very knowledgeable with the technical aspects of cameras, so if someone can suggest options that meet my needs, that would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Tyler

[filmboss80]

http://www.visionresearch.com/Products/High-Speed-Cameras/

http://www.mctcameras.com/hscameras.html

[tykempster]

Got in contact with them, I need something more affordable. Incredibly slow motion isn't required, a bullet is in flight at longer ranges for a second or more, and and an action working takes maybe a 10th of a second. Is there any 60p cameras available for a reasonable price?

[lordsmurf]

for a reasonable price?

Put a number on that.
To me, anything under $5k is reasonable.
Some people freak out over $500, however.

[poisondeathray]

60FPS won't be enough for the things you want to do

[julitomg]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/761581-REG/Sony_HXR_NX70U_HXR_NX70_Compact_Dust_and.html

[lordsmurf]

60FPS won't be enough for the things you want to do

True.

Aren't most of those cameras 600fps?
I saw the full specs used by MythBusters once, but it's been at least a year now.

You're talking 5-digit pricing, easily.

[budwzr]

There are some cheaper ones, but the resolution is SD, that's the trade off. The GoPro2 shoots 120 fps and the resolution is like 960 horizontal. Better than the other cheaper ones.

You can use Twixter to interpolate it higher, or the free one here:http://www.spirton.com/convert-videos-to-60fps/. I use the free one and it's good on the first pass, after that it goes downhill.

[ANK]

For great outside quality I don't know what to tell you. For high speed recording you may want to look at Casio's high speed camera line-up.
http://www.casio.com/products/Digital_Cameras/High-Speed/EX-ZR100/

They have made several models over the years with different specs.
http://www.casio.com/products/archive/Digital_Cameras/High-Speed/

I own the EX-FS10BE which shots at 210, 420 and 1000 frames per second. If you look on Youtube there is several videos to see the quality. I have used my camera to record my crossbow. I used 420 frames per second to be able to see the bolt get released at 300 feet per second. The camera does require a lot of light to get a decent picture. The cameras are not HD in high speed mode but it may be the best deal for the cost and frame rate you get.

I don't think a 120 frame per second camera will be fast enough. When I filmed my crossbow at 210 frames per second it was not fast enough to see the bolt get released.
Just my two cents.

[lordsmurf]

I seriously doubt that a $300 Casio has truly high-speed framerates.
It's most likely interpolated from standard 30fps (60fps max).

I could shoot 11fps with a Nikon D3 at a good shutter speed and freeze a bolt leaving a crossbow.

[poisondeathray]

The casio's are real high speed, but they have postage stamp sized resolution and are massively subsampled from the sensor with pixel binning leaving lots of aliasing jaggy artifacts. (The processing isn't fast enough on a cheap consumer cam, so they sample every nth pixel)

[tykempster]

I'm thinking $5000 or less. I use Twixtor now, and it makes things smooth, but it only extrapolates so far and you can tell it's not "high quality" slow-mo.

[tykempster]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/761581-REG/Sony_HXR_NX70U_HXR_NX70_Compact_Dust_and.html

This looks like just what I need, and suited well for outdoor work!