Recording Flight with N Flightcam
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The Canon clip looks good but a full prop arc isn't allways the desired effect. I have a Panasonic GF1 which does nice 720p video and has a slider that adjusts dept of field (aperture) for video capture. This has the side effect of changing the shutter speed. That allows me to a certain extent to choose the amount of prop blur in the video.
It's also possible to hack it and gain full manual control of the movie mode and up the bitrate to full HD 1080p. I haven't tried this yet and it might not work on all camera's because Panasonic tried to block the hack in later firmware versions. I paid 399 euro's for my GF1 including the excellent 14-45 stabilized lens.
I like the video stiknruda. I hope to join the band of Pitts drivers in the not too distant future. This forum needs more aerobatic content.
It's also possible to hack it and gain full manual control of the movie mode and up the bitrate to full HD 1080p. I haven't tried this yet and it might not work on all camera's because Panasonic tried to block the hack in later firmware versions. I paid 399 euro's for my GF1 including the excellent 14-45 stabilized lens.
I like the video stiknruda. I hope to join the band of Pitts drivers in the not too distant future. This forum needs more aerobatic content.
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You can't eliminate the prop arc because the blade passage will (as a minimum) reduce the light passing through by some 1/10. This loss of light will always show.
With a 2-blader and a clever camera you could "shoot through the prop" as per WW2
No idea if anybody does it but with a custom CCD camera it would be trivial.
Maybe a faster (than 1/120) shutter will produce the "classic plane spotter" look where you see a 30-degree arc on each blade. But I have never seen that on a video I did. With a DSLR (still pic) it is easy, of course.
There is also a tradeoff between shutter speed and rendition of moving imagery. If the shutter is too slow, you get the "movie effect" where the whole scene is blurred anytime anything moves. Some people like that, of course, and pay extra for it At the other extreme you can have zero blur of moving scenes (like in the CGI movies e.g. Shrek) but that is awfully hard to do within any real world bit rate.
With a 2-blader and a clever camera you could "shoot through the prop" as per WW2
No idea if anybody does it but with a custom CCD camera it would be trivial.Maybe a faster (than 1/120) shutter will produce the "classic plane spotter" look where you see a 30-degree arc on each blade. But I have never seen that on a video I did. With a DSLR (still pic) it is easy, of course.
There is also a tradeoff between shutter speed and rendition of moving imagery. If the shutter is too slow, you get the "movie effect" where the whole scene is blurred anytime anything moves. Some people like that, of course, and pay extra for it
At the other extreme you can have zero blur of moving scenes (like in the CGI movies e.g. Shrek) but that is awfully hard to do within any real world bit rate.
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Yes, the "classic plane spotter" look describes best what I tried to achieve in video. A few weeks ago I shot a few clips of a Yak-52 doing an engine run and I did achieve this effect. It's mostly spoiled though by some rolling shutter effect which slightly "bends" the blades. And the tricky part is to match shutter speed with changes in rpm or else the 30-degree arc will start to rotate. The GF1 has a (still image only) shutter speed preview that shows the amount of prop blur on the back screen before the photo is taken.
This strobing effect can lead to strange variations. A couple of years ago I shot a short video with a digicam of a rotary engine (the aircraft engine, not the Wankel car engine) with a two blade prop and nine rotating cylinders. At a certain rpm the prop appeared to turn the opposite direction of the cylinders although they are permanently fixed together.
This strobing effect can lead to strange variations. A couple of years ago I shot a short video with a digicam of a rotary engine (the aircraft engine, not the Wankel car engine) with a two blade prop and nine rotating cylinders. At a certain rpm the prop appeared to turn the opposite direction of the cylinders although they are permanently fixed together.
Last edited by It flies; 9th Aug 2011 at 18:28. Reason: Mentioning of shutter speed preview
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An impressive display and I like the different perspective. The quality is not bad at all for a £10 investment. The HD version suggested bij Hum is probably worth the extra £20.
