Cameras for Mechanics analysis

#1

Hey guys,

I am looking for suggestions for high speed video cameras to work on analysis of my son’s pitching motion. Any suggestions for cameras would really be appreciated. I need to stay under $1000 and much prefer under $500 or so. Thanks for any help

Ted

#2

How old is he?
You don’t need a lot…shoot the iphone5 has a pretty decent camera that does slo-mo…unless he’s hi 80’s and trying to break into the 90’s you don’t need much more, just a stable base (Tri-pod).
Pawn shops are a treasure trove of good cameras gone inexpensive.

#3

Pitching doesn’t need super slow mo. Batting is more impotent to have super slow mo. In fact , I have a better evaluation of a fair vs good pitcher at full speed then slow mo. But I hear Casio made a camera with a lot of FPS video. iPad and ubersense app does fair for me.

#4

Thanks for the inputs so far. He is almost 16. Not quite mid 80’s tops. I am looking for some subtle tweaks in body position and observation of arm action that I have not been able to see at 30 fps. He averages about a 5 mph gain each year so I expect him to get slightly above mid 80s by close of fall.

Thanks again,

Ted

#5

Reading Kyle’s Driveline blog leads me to believe a number of the Exilim cameras could do what I want. Here is a link for anyone interested.

Thanks,

Ted

#6

The Exlims work great. Use 240 FPS. The 480 and 1000 FPS are too grainy.

Here is a link from Amazon.

#7

Slew,

Thanks for the link. That is a great price to be able to get that kind of info.

Best regards,

Ted

#8

Can’t go wrong on Kyle’s experience…he’s done the research and walked that mile :wink:

#9

I have the Casio EX-F1 (which I understand is no longer made) and am very happy with it. It was a lot more expensive but it shoots 300, 600 and 1200 fps. I prefer 600fps (especially if looking at arm action) but I normally use 300 fps because I find it sufficient for most cases and it keeps the file sizes lower.

#10

I have been using a gopro using the burst setting at thirty pics on a 2 second interval. I initially tried 30 pics in 1 second, however, it did not give me his full motion.

#11

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the recommendations.

The FX-1 is clearly a more capable camera than most of what is currently offered. Better resolution at the high speeds. Maybe I can find a good deal somewhere. If not I think I can make do with one of the other Casio models or maybe the higher end GoPro. There are a lot of fun reasons to own a GoPro. Someday I gotta get one anyway.

Thanks again,

Ted

#12

http://gopro.com/cameras/hd-hero3-black-edition#technical-specs

The Hero 3 Black edition allows 120fps video at 720p and 240 fps at 800x600 (WVGA)

#13

I have a GoPro Black. I can’t stand it. Movie format is terrible and lack of navigation options on the camera don’t work for me.

Casio Exilim EX-series cameras are the best. EX-F1s are the cream of the crop, but good luck finding one for $1000 or less.

#14

Kyle,

Thanks for the information. Too bad about the GoPro. I am going to see if I can get by with a less expensive Casio. If not I’ll sell it and pick up a used FX1

Thanks,

Ted

#15

You can usually find a suitable Exilim on Amazon. I have EX-FH25s for my lab, but the EX-ZR400 is often $180 or less (like it is now) with free shipping from Amazon


and works great.

#16

Kyle,

Thanks for the link. I am going to give that one a shot first. I’ll let you know haw it goes.

Thanks again,

Ted

#17

No problem. Just be sure to get a fast enough SDXC memory card. Trevor Bauer was going nuts when he couldn’t figure out why his movies were dropping frames, and I solved it for him by getting him a faster speed card. It’s actually how we started working together!

I have these Sony 32 GB SDXC cards


. Inexpensive, great reviews, and as far as I can tell, work just fine.

#18

Kyle,

Thanks for that tip also. I will order both in a couple of weeks. I’ll post here how it goes.

Best regards,

Ted