A high-speed camera is a device used to record moving images in slow motion. This is done by speeding up the frame rate at which the camera shoots and records, therefore slowing down the moving image. This was originally done by "overcranking" a film camera, but in recent years, high-definition digital cameras can now produce a similar effect.
History
Up until the early 1960s, film was the only medium available to record motion that was too fast for observation. In the early 1970s, Video Logic Corp. offered a high-speed video system called Instar that could record up to 240 frames per second. Over the next several decades, many film and camera companies such as Kodak, Photron and Redlake Imaging introduce products that would keep the revolution of high-speed cameras moving.
Operation
High-speed cameras shoot at a high frame rate to achieve a slow-motion effect. Normal speed video or film is shot at 24 frames per second, and anything higher than that will be seen progressively slower the more frames per second that are shot. In still photography, this can capture moments that would usually be missed by the human eye. Examples would be freezing the moment when a balloon pops, a drop of water rippling in a lake, a car driving by or a bird flying in the sky.
Uses
High-speed photography records fast-moving objects, documenting things that are normally invisible to the human eye. Scientists use high-speed photographs to study physical movement. The military takes high-speed pictures to look at the accuracy of missiles and rockets. Sports photographers use high-speed photography to shoot fast-moving events. High-speed photography can also be used as an artistic medium.
Myths
Among the myths about high-speed cameras are concerns about visibility through a crystallized plate or plastic wrap or the ability to capture a speeding car in motion or a bird flying by.
Tested Myth
On the Discovery Channel television show "MythBusters," the myths were put to the test: the crystallized plate and plastic wrap had little effect on visibility, and the camera was able to capture a car in motion and a falcon flying by (at 40 mph).
Tags: frames second, bird flying, crystallized plate, crystallized plate plastic, film camera