# USB camera, FAST shutter for golf swing



## bkelly (May 6, 2009)

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?


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## Jaszek (May 6, 2009)

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.


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## DScience (May 6, 2009)

It's called 'video' camera


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## bkelly (May 7, 2009)

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.


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## jdwyer (May 7, 2009)

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.


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## Big Mike (May 7, 2009)

> 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.


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## bkelly (May 7, 2009)

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


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## PhilGarber (May 7, 2009)

DScience said:


> 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.


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## usayit (May 7, 2009)

or  SprintCam

I-MOVIX | Extreme Slow Motion


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## Garbz (May 8, 2009)

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.


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## McQueen278 (May 8, 2009)

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.


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## Big Mike (May 8, 2009)

> 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?


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## blash (May 8, 2009)

I do believe you will need a strobe


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## Garbz (May 8, 2009)

Big Mike said:


> 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


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## nickisonfire (May 9, 2009)

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


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