USB camera, FAST shutter for golf swing

[bkelly]

Hello all,
I am looking for a USB camera I can use to watch my golf swing. A fast shutter speed is desired to catch a club head moving at up to 150 mph (mine is about 110, but others are faster). I want to see the club head at that speed and determine its orientation at or just before striking the ball. I want about 20 frames during the swing that lasts something like 1/3 of a second, maybe less. It seems to me that a synchronized flash might be best. Fast shutter speed is much more important that a large pixel count. Any thoughts on make and model?

 

[Jaszek]

im thinking you would have to invest in those high speed cameras that get more tha 60 fps. The only thing you can do now is set up a camera that has at least 60 fps and than look at each frame separately.

 

[DScience]

It's called 'video' camera

 

[bkelly]

I should have calculated this before posting. The head of a golf club has, effectively for humans swinging them, a maximum speed of 150 mph. That translates to 0.00264 inches per microsecond. I estimate that the club head can move 1/10 of an inch while the camera shutter is open and still produce a usable image. The maximum shutter speed is 0.10 / 0.00264 = 37.88 microseconds.

The Nikon has a shutter speed of 1/4000 or a second or 250 microseconds. The club head at 150 mph will move 0.66 inches in that 250 microseconds or more than ½ of an inch. The overhead view of the face of my 6 iron is 0.7 inches and the view of the entire club head is about 1 inch. That means that during the 1/4000 of a second, the club head will travel more than half its width. Longer irons have a more vertical face and are more narrow resulting less effective resolution.

Dividing 37.88 into the 1000000 microseconds in a second yields 1 / 26400 seconds. That is a rather fast shutter speed. I think the arithmetic is correct so it seems to me that a strobe will be required for this task.

 

[jdwyer]

Few thoughts:
1 - most nikon slrs take between 5 and 9 frames per second
2 - a shutter speed of 1/4000 does not mean you can take 4000 pictures a second
3 - we're talking several thousand dollars for a setup
4 - you want this JUST to see a micro-adjustment of your golf swing?
5 - get a video camera
6 - you have about 80-100 strokes per round of golf - have a friend take 80-100 pictures of you swinging. with a shutter speed of 250 or faster in continuous shooting mode the friend should be able to conceivably get at least a couple good shots of your swing.

 

[Big Mike]

Dividing 37.88 into the 1000000 microseconds in a second yields 1 / 26400 seconds. That is a rather fast shutter speed. I think the arithmetic is correct so it seems to me that a strobe will be required for this task.

A strobe flash is longer than that.

 

[bkelly]

This company sells high speed video cameras. Unfortunately, the site says they start at $6000
http://http://www.fastecimaging.com/sportsCamera.html

And here is a site with a high speed video clip demonstrating what I seek.
http://http://www.jwarrenphotography.co.uk/?page=hispeed
The detail is great and they guy has an incredibly good swing. But I don't yet know what kind of a camera was used.

Thanks for your replies,
Bryan

 

[PhilGarber]

It's called 'video' camera

Not to sound like a smart-ass, but DS has a point. I'd suggest a high-speed video camera. What your talking about seems VERY high-speed stuff. Have you ever seen the show Time Warp? That seems to be the speed your looking at.

 

[usayit]

or SprintCam

I-MOVIX | Extreme Slow Motion

 

[Garbz]

No normal camera can freeze a subject with that short a duration. Even Hassleblads will achieve only a 1/16000th of a second shutter duration. You will definitely need to strobe flash the subject.

Big Mike a stobe flash is shorter than that. It all depends on what strobe. A SB-800 set at 1/128 power will result in a 1/40000th shutter duration if I remember correctly. There are other strobes which will have even shorter durations. After all it is using this strobe technique (although a bit more complicated) that physicists managed to photograph an actual lightwave.

A studio strobe won't work here, but there should be many options available including the ones used to photograph moving bullets.

 

[McQueen278]

Casio makes a $500ish camera which will shoot pretty high frame rate video.(150fps I think) It's not professional slow motion quality, but probably good enough for what sounds like a golf clinic.

 

[Big Mike]

Big Mike a stobe flash is shorter than that. It all depends on what strobe. A SB-800 set at 1/128 power will result in a 1/40000th shutter duration if I remember correctly

Interesting...but what about at 1/4 power, or 1/2 or full?

 

[blash]

I do believe you will need a strobe

 

[Garbz]

Interesting...but what about at 1/4 power, or 1/2 or full?

No such luck. Flash output power is dependant only on the type of bulb, heat, and the duration. Something like the SB-800 fires at full power for 1/1050s. To reduce the power it gets cut off earlier, so at 1/4 you'd end up with 1/2700s according to the manual, and 1/2 is 1/1100s. Just looked up min duration at 1/128 power is 1/41600s

 

[nickisonfire]

i'm pretty sure casio or someone makes a relatively cheap p&s that shoots 1000 fps video, if i remember right, i don't know about quality on that but you could check it out