Catching A Bullet

[scorpion_tyr]

I noticed there are varying opinions and methods on the subject, so before I get started researching and setting the shoot up, is it even possible to capture a bullet "frozen" in time after it has been fired with the following equipment?


Canon Rebel XT
Tamron 24-75mm f/2.8
Canon 50mm f/1.8
Canon Speedlite 430 EX II
Good Tripod
Cable shutter release

I have a few other lenses and flashes, but just listed the best/fastest here.

If it is possible, does anyone have any suggestions, methods, or lessons learned that might make it a little easier on me?

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

inTempus caught a bullet.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...ntinuous-speed-can-important.html#post1681652

Actually, review his threads, I don't think he did.

 

[mrpink]

Set all that Cannon stuff down range and shoot at it- should catch at least one bullet.:lmao::lmao::lmao:





p!nK

 

[Phranquey]

Well, I've never attempted photographing a bullet, but think about it....

A .22 bullet travels at about 1200 feet/sec. Your fastest shutter speed is 1/4000. So, even it you had sufficient lighting, in that time, the bullet will travel .3ft (3.6 inches). You're not going to do it with shutter speed.

What you will need to do is have a set-up where you can create a dark environment, keep your shutter open, and illuminate the bullet with a quick burst of light as it passes in front of the lens, which will require a sound activated timer to set off your strobe.

OR, buy a high-speed video camera and pull a frame from the footage.

 

[Phranquey]

Set all that Cannon stuff down range and shoot at it- should catch at least one bullet.:lmao::lmao::lmao:

 

[Felix 222]

try the 50mm at f1.8 at 1/4000 (or faster). the shutter speed is probably fast enough for the bullet...? in any case, its going to take a lot of luck in terms of timing.

have fun!

 

[fokker]

What you will need to do is have a set-up where you can create a dark environment, keep your shutter open, and illuminate the bullet with a quick burst of light as it passes in front of the lens, which will require a sound activated timer to set off your strobe.

This


Not so much this:

try the 50mm at f1.8 at 1/4000 (or faster). the shutter speed is probably fast enough for the bullet...? in any case, its going to take a lot of luck in terms of timing.

have fun!

 

[Johnboy2978]

I caught one once fired from a Sig Sauer 226:

(actually, this is just a bit of photoshop magic

 

[Felix 222]

What you will need to do is have a set-up where you can create a dark environment, keep your shutter open, and illuminate the bullet with a quick burst of light as it passes in front of the lens, which will require a sound activated timer to set off your strobe.

This


Not so much this:

try the 50mm at f1.8 at 1/4000 (or faster). the shutter speed is probably fast enough for the bullet...? in any case, its going to take a lot of luck in terms of timing.

have fun!

i don't see what is wrong with my suggestion. let's be realistic here...i'm pretty sure a sound activated strobe is not in the agenda to capture one shot.

 

[KmH]

i don't see what is wrong with my suggestion. let's be realistic here...i'm pretty sure a sound activated strobe is not in the agenda to capture one shot.

Do the math.

Like Phranquey pointed out, in 1/4000 of a second an object moving at 1200 ft/sec would move 3.6 inches and would be a 3.6 inch blurred streak in a photograph.

A .22 cal bullet has a length of about .350 inches or a little over 10 times shorter than 3.6 in.

That means you need an equivelent exposure speed also 10 times faster or 1/40,000 to show the bullet as stopped in flight.

Strobed lights can have a duration that short. A Nikon SB-800 at 1/128 power has a 1/40,000 flash duration.

 

[Dao]

I think you need at least a "Sound activated flash trigger"

 

[DerekSalem]

There's virtually no way to capture the bullet in mid-flight with that camera. As it's been said, you'd need something that can capture at 1/20,000, 1/40,000, or faster...and *VERY* few cameras do that.

One way would be to find ammunition with a slow velocity...they *do* make them but they're rare in normal sizes because it can cause a lot of malfunctions (Squib Load being the most common and *absolute* worst).

You could always try loading the ammunition yourself and just not packing it full. If you could drop the velocity to 300 ft/s or slower you'd be golden...but it would be *very* difficult.

 

[Felix 222]

i don't see what is wrong with my suggestion. let's be realistic here...i'm pretty sure a sound activated strobe is not in the agenda to capture one shot.

Do the math.

Like Phranquey pointed out, in 1/4000 of a second an object moving at 1200 ft/sec would move 3.6 inches and would be a 3.6 inch blurred streak in a photograph.

A .22 cal bullet has a length of about .350 inches or a little over 10 times shorter than 3.6 in.

That means you need an equivelent exposure speed also 10 times faster or 1/40,000 to show the bullet as stopped in flight.

Strobed lights can have a duration that short. A Nikon SB-800 at 1/128 power has a 1/40,000 flash duration.

you're convincing lol. but a still doubt the ability to capture the bullet. oh well, it will be fun

 

[DerekSalem]

i don't see what is wrong with my suggestion. let's be realistic here...i'm pretty sure a sound activated strobe is not in the agenda to capture one shot.

Do the math.

Like Phranquey pointed out, in 1/4000 of a second an object moving at 1200 ft/sec would move 3.6 inches and would be a 3.6 inch blurred streak in a photograph.

A .22 cal bullet has a length of about .350 inches or a little over 10 times shorter than 3.6 in.

That means you need an equivelent exposure speed also 10 times faster or 1/40,000 to show the bullet as stopped in flight.

Strobed lights can have a duration that short. A Nikon SB-800 at 1/128 power has a 1/40,000 flash duration.

you're convincing lol. but a still doubt the ability to capture the bullet. oh well, it will be fun

I mean, a good 50-100 shots and you will probably catch something. How it will be framed is a lucky guess but you'll probably grab it on frame at least.

 

[Derrel]

Nobody remembers the Nikon FM2's original North American advertising campaign, showing a .38 Special bullet stopped in mid-air by the FM2's then-unheard of 1/4000 second top shutter speed??? Of course, that was not a hot load--it was a pretty pokey load, and as I recall, the velocity was given in the ad's fine print as something like only 400 F.P.S..

Anyway, if you want to do stop-motion photography on your own, this web site is dedicated to it. HiViz.com: Learn High Speed Photography