Ever Get a Good Shot of a Bullet in Flight? at DVinfo.net

Ivan Jasper · January 13th, 2011, 10:31 PM

10,000 frames per second on the camera.

A .45 acp bullet travels about an inch in 1/10,000th of a second. At best even a big slow bullet will be blurry, but should be relatively easy to capture.

But then there's the 30 fps at the editing table, that puts the bullet travel closer to 25 feet.

Bill Davis · January 14th, 2011, 12:56 AM

They do it relatively often on Mythbusters.

Yes, it requires a VERY high speed camera, a limited field of view, and a LOT of light to offset the extraordinary shutter speed.

But it's certainly possible.

In fact the best examples I've seen recently were in the TV Program "Top Shot" where they'd track bullets in nearly every episode.

Vito DeFilippo · January 14th, 2011, 07:28 AM

You can quickly find lots of examples. There are some cool ones here:

kurzzeit.com - Videos

Chris Medico · January 14th, 2011, 08:52 AM

One of the coolest shots of this type to me was the video of the Navy railgun under development. This shows a camera moving with an object leaving the gun at about mach 5.

YouTube - Navy's Record-Breaking Railgun Shot

If THAT can be done, following a conventional bullet in flight isn't even a challenge anymore. ;)

Jim Andrada · January 16th, 2011, 12:57 AM

Thanks for posting this - I used to work at this lab roughly 50 years ago - we were still firing 16 inch battleship rifles. Good to know they're still "in business"

January 13th, 2011, 10:31 PM	#1
Ivan Jasper Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Billings MT Posts: 70	Ever Get a Good Shot of a Bullet in Flight? 10,000 frames per second on the camera. A .45 acp bullet travels about an inch in 1/10,000th of a second. At best even a big slow bullet will be blurry, but should be relatively easy to capture. But then there's the 30 fps at the editing table, that puts the bullet travel closer to 25 feet. __________________ I'm Just Here For The Cookies.

January 14th, 2011, 12:56 AM	#2
Bill Davis Trustee Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ 85260 Posts: 1,538	They do it relatively often on Mythbusters. Yes, it requires a VERY high speed camera, a limited field of view, and a LOT of light to offset the extraordinary shutter speed. But it's certainly possible. In fact the best examples I've seen recently were in the TV Program "Top Shot" where they'd track bullets in nearly every episode. __________________ Classroom editing instructor? Check out www.starteditingnow.com Turnkey editor training content including licensed training footage for classroom use.

January 14th, 2011, 07:28 AM	#3
Vito DeFilippo Trustee Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Montreal, Quebec Posts: 1,585	You can quickly find lots of examples. There are some cool ones here: kurzzeit.com - Videos __________________ . http://www.nosmallroles.com

January 14th, 2011, 08:52 AM	#4
Chris Medico Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Efland NC, USA Posts: 2,322	One of the coolest shots of this type to me was the video of the Navy railgun under development. This shows a camera moving with an object leaving the gun at about mach 5. YouTube - Navy's Record-Breaking Railgun Shot If THAT can be done, following a conventional bullet in flight isn't even a challenge anymore. ;) __________________ http://www.LandYachtMedia.com

January 16th, 2011, 12:57 AM	#5
Jim Andrada Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Tucson AZ Posts: 2,211	Thanks for posting this - I used to work at this lab roughly 50 years ago - we were still firing 16 inch battleship rifles. Good to know they're still "in business"