How easy is it to take a still from a video?

mickledore

mickledore

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I've got a shot I'm trying to take, but to get what I want I need timing of the shutter to be accurate to a very, very small fraction of a second. I've been playing today and wasted close on 200 shots and not captured anything anywhere near what I'm after.

I wondered if I took a short video of only a couple of seconds how easy would it be for me to extract one frame from this as a still?

I should add that I've never, ever used a video camera or the video function on my 5D. So would I need special software or anything? I'm sure someone must have done this, but is it a sensible idea?
 
I have never tried this on a 5d, but once try it on am old style digital camcorder & let me just say it was a pure disaster:lol:

Perhaps things in the video age have made it easier now:shrug:, sure someone more knowlegable will be along soon, but still laugh now when I think about my effort at it.
 
Depends on what you're shooting and what you're using to do it... in some very specific circumstances you could try stacking all of the frames.
 
With a regular camera shooting at 24fps, you're not going to get a great quality still, as there will be a lot of motion blur.

The only way to capture extremely high quality stills from video is to shoot at very high frame rates. Is the 5D capable of anything higher than 24fps?
 
What am I trying?

Well, take a balloon and fill it with water. Throw a dart at it and the balloon bursts. In the first millisecond the balloon material flies apart leaving the ball of water with just the surface slightly roughened. In the next millisecond the water bursts out reacting to the release of tension.

I'm trying to capture the moment the balloon bursts showing the material separating, the water ball more or less still in place and the dart fully visible. I've seen the shot somewhere, but can't remember where.

Taking shots, even on continuous burst, gets me nowhere. The timing needs to be so exact that I cannot time the shutter to do what I want. Fortunately balloons are 50 for £1 from Poundland!!!
 
Adey said:
mmm, i think most people do this using sensors of some kind that fire the shutter when an object say passes through a laser beem. Dunno how expensive this would be though.
Click to expand...

Think that's getting way beyond what I'm capable of. Sounds far too complex and expensive. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Or sheer luck. I'd say keep trying continuous burst until you get something.
Click to expand...

I've gone through a pack of 50 balloons today. Filling them all with water, and tying their **** necks is a real PIA. SWMBO, aka the dart thrower, is also being objectionable. Can't understand her; all I ask is for a few darts to be thrown at a few balloons and she gets real stroppy. Something about a hair appointment. I thought she had plenty!!
 
I had the same problem trying to capyure a party popper going off.

I went through about 30 before I got something I wanted.

If the mrs is getting sick of being your dart thrower how about getting a release cord or even a wireless one, do not cost much off ebay, then you can set the ballons up, throw the dart and set the shutter off on burst mode, I donot know what camera you have so do not know the shots per second rate but it must be worth a try.

Why not fill and tie ALL the balloons first before you start that way you can just concentrate on getting the timing right.

spike
 
mickledore said:
SWMBO, aka the dart thrower, is also being objectionable. Can't understand her; all I ask is for a few darts to be thrown at a few balloons and she gets real stroppy. Something about a hair appointment. I thought she had plenty!!
Click to expand...

:lol::lol:

Trouble there Frank is the burst rate on the 5DII in RAW is 3.9fps - somewhat lower than desired without the expensive triggering mechanisms. May be worth trying a lower quality Jpeg setting to get a higher burst rate - inevitably it will be a rather 'lucky' shot IMHO.
Never used the video facility - and don't plan to but I'm sure one of the USP's of the 5DII is the ability to use stills from the video capture:thumbs:

A strobing flash set up may work as an alternative perhaps?
 
Did it with my camcorder with this result for lightning flash if thats any help (it was pitch dark at the time)

Fork lightning

lightning.jpg


sheet lightning

S1100010.jpg
 
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Continuous shooting is red herring in my opinion. You'll be much more likely to catch the moment if you are trying to fire at the right time, rather than 3-4 fps at random points in time. If you get this shot without some kind of trigger system i'll be very impressed.
 
Sorry realspeed but thats completely different. In your instance the camera is taking (in effect) a series of long exposers where the flash (lightning) is capturing the exposure. So as long as the lightning flashes during the exposure it will be caught, the subject is the light source itself. In the OP's case even if he did a long exposure in the dark and used a flash he'd still have to sync the flash with the dart hitting the balloon.

See what i mean?
 
Can see why not,

All it needs is an infra red laser and receiver, receiver connects to a something that a delay can be dialed into, that connects to a remote shutter. Job done. I'd imagine the average techy could knock something up quite easily.
 
Right...I've found it. Just did a search as a last resort and this is what I've found.

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=340795&highlight=balloons

Think this is what I've seen somewhere.

Barry, I'd worked out it would be a "lucky" shot.

Sorry realspeed, that's not what I'm after.

Adey, I'm not your average techy, not even a basic one!!!

I did manage to get something like #3 & 4 in the above thread, but my mind is on #2.

Punkeye refers to a camera axe; anyone know what one of them is?

But...as I've found it on here I don't know about the etiquette of trying to do a straight copy.
 
mickledore said:
What am I trying?

Well, take a balloon and fill it with water. Throw a dart at it and the balloon bursts. In the first millisecond the balloon material flies apart leaving the ball of water with just the surface slightly roughened. In the next millisecond the water bursts out reacting to the release of tension.

I'm trying to capture the moment the balloon bursts showing the material separating, the water ball more or less still in place and the dart fully visible. I've seen the shot somewhere, but can't remember where.

Taking shots, even on continuous burst, gets me nowhere. The timing needs to be so exact that I cannot time the shutter to do what I want. Fortunately balloons are 50 for £1 from Poundland!!!
Click to expand...


I would suggest that you would be better off with a sound trigger to fire the flash with the camera on a long exposure. The balloon also needs to be inflated with some air. A microphone can capture the sound of the balloon bursting. These shots are usually done in the dark allowing the flash to freeze the action, not the shutter, which will never be fast enough to do what you are trying to do. I haven't done balloon shots but have done similar stuff such as:


Egg Splat by SteveP!, on Flickr

Or:


Test Tube Fun by SteveP!, on Flickr
 
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