Modern cellphone cameras and recording ballistic tests
Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2020 6:46 am
Technology has come some way since the "lazor" era of my Nokia Prism over a decade ago.
I had a play with the Slow Motion and Super Slow-Mo modes on my Galaxy S9:
The projectile was a 0.25g airsoft BB at high subsonic velocity.
The Super Slow-Mo is particularly interesting as you can point the camera at the target and designate an area where recording will start when movement is detected.
This means you don't have to bother about pressing record and pulling the trigger at the same time. It can record up to 0.4 seconds of footage in this mode which is enough for most kinetic impacts.
The Slow Motion mode has a lower frame rate but also records sound, less useful for empirical evaluation but it adds to the entertainment value. The latter is enhanced by the fact that you can easily edit at which point the transitions from real time to slow motion is made from the phone itself.
Another help thing to have that often comes with a tripod is a bluetooth remote that allows you to trigger the recording some distance away, again making the recording process a lot less fiddly.
One of the shots edited to 1/8 of the original slow motion playback and you can clearly see the BB go through the can, bounce off the backstop back into the can and off the left of the screen. If you look closely you can even see the dent that the BB makes when it hits the can the second time:
This is over and above the quality of the still images, especially if you are willing to play with the settings in "Pro" mode.
Here is a detail of an entry hole:
I had a play with the Slow Motion and Super Slow-Mo modes on my Galaxy S9:
The projectile was a 0.25g airsoft BB at high subsonic velocity.
The Super Slow-Mo is particularly interesting as you can point the camera at the target and designate an area where recording will start when movement is detected.
This means you don't have to bother about pressing record and pulling the trigger at the same time. It can record up to 0.4 seconds of footage in this mode which is enough for most kinetic impacts.
The Slow Motion mode has a lower frame rate but also records sound, less useful for empirical evaluation but it adds to the entertainment value. The latter is enhanced by the fact that you can easily edit at which point the transitions from real time to slow motion is made from the phone itself.
Another help thing to have that often comes with a tripod is a bluetooth remote that allows you to trigger the recording some distance away, again making the recording process a lot less fiddly.
One of the shots edited to 1/8 of the original slow motion playback and you can clearly see the BB go through the can, bounce off the backstop back into the can and off the left of the screen. If you look closely you can even see the dent that the BB makes when it hits the can the second time:
This is over and above the quality of the still images, especially if you are willing to play with the settings in "Pro" mode.
Here is a detail of an entry hole:
