Comprehensive Camera for Filming your Golf Swing Thread

[Beachcomber]

I made this test video of the GoPro Hero3 in natural and low indoor lighting.  Hope it helps those that were on the fence about ordering it to film their golf swing.  I'd say it is great for indoors because it has the wide angle lens - so you can be in a small room and place the camera near you and still see your entire swing pretty easily.  The iPhone not so much.

[mchepp]

Your bright light test, is more a test of the dynamic range of the camera than actually how the camera performs in bright light. Mobile phone cameras are always going to have bad dynamic range because of how small the pixels are. GoPro has a bigger pixel and therefore better dynamic range. Given that, the dynamic range of the GoPro is not as good as I would expect.

The FOV of the iPhone is probably around 66 degrees and the GoPro is probably something like 170 so for sure you will get wider angle shots. You must remember though that the iPhone's primary purpose is still photos and the barrel distortion from the 170 degree FOV is going to be an issue for still photos.

[Dan Ede]

Apologies for digging up an old(ish) thread as my first post, but just wanted to chime in that the Galaxy Note II phone does 200fps at dvd resolution (well, slightly less as the official dvd resolution spec is based on 4:3, but it's the same resolution that you get on a 16:9 dvd, which is the norm for tv shows, movies are even less).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPcSlup9VRY shows it in action (looks even better when not put through youtube's and probably the uploader's compression algorithms).

Pretty sure the S3 on-wards can do this (probably other higher end phones too), without many people realizing.  The quality is fine, will upload some golf videos without compression to my own server if anyone is interested.

Cheers,

Dan

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by Dan Ede

Apologies for digging up an old(ish) thread as my first post, but just wanted to chime in that the Galaxy Note II phone does 200fps at dvd resolution (well, slightly less as the official dvd resolution spec is based on 4:3, but it's the same resolution that you get on a 16:9 dvd, which is the norm for tv shows, movies are even less).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPcSlup9VRY shows it in action (looks even better when not put through youtube's and probably the uploader's compression algorithms).

Pretty sure the S3 on-wards can do this (probably other higher end phones too), without many people realizing.  The quality is fine, will upload some golf videos without compression to my own server if anyone is interested.

Cheers,

Dan

That's impressive.  I assume there's a setting in the video recording menu that accomplishes this?  I have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus but I don't think it has this capability (I'm guessing the SoC isn't capable of it).

[Dan Ede]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

That's impressive.  I assume there's a setting in the video recording menu that accomplishes this?  I have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus but I don't think it has this capability (I'm guessing the SoC isn't capable of it).

Yeah, the setting isn't all the obvious either, but in the screenshot below you simply choose "slow motion".  You'll then get a little icon appear until you press something else, that let's you choose 1/8 or 1/4 (speed, but again it's not made clear to the user).  1/8 is default and goes away once you press something else.  1/4 is 120fps of course.  Both are locked to the 720x480 resolution.

Not sure about the nexus, I haven't used an AOSP ROM since I got this phone (played around with one on the Note 1, no idea if it could do slow motion).

[onephenom]

does anyone know of a good cellphone adapter tripod that is more than ten inches tall? can't afford a good camera but my cell has 30 fps which I suppose will have to do for now... but I can't find a cheap way to get a tripod that is tall enough and can use my cell.

[Dan Ede]

Originally Posted by onephenom

does anyone know of a good cellphone adapter tripod that is more than ten inches tall? can't afford a good camera but my cell has 30 fps which I suppose will have to do for now... but I can't find a cheap way to get a tripod that is tall enough and can use my cell.

http://www.cradlz.com/

Used to be called Cam Caddy, but only discovered it myself a few days ago.  Says no international orders (in Australia myself), so tempted to use one of those services that lets you order to their US address and then on-ships it to you.  As long at the Note 2 fits in the mount that is...

[inthecup]

I have the Casio Exilim EX-FH100.  It is good and allows you to control shutter speed.

There is one on ebay right now. Here is my son, I wish I was that flexible.

[jefkve]

Really been wanting the casio ex-zr1000, but alas have been unable/unwilling to pony up the money thus far. Just downloaded the Note II camera for my Galaxy S3. Gonna give it a try at lunch and see how it works....

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by jefkve

Really been wanting the casio ex-zr1000, but alas have been unable/unwilling to pony up the money thus far. Just downloaded the Note II camera for my Galaxy S3. Gonna give it a try at lunch and see how it works....

Care to share your source for the .apk?

[jefkve]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Care to share your source for the .apk?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1876397

Be sure to read the thread a bit. I'm running a deodexed JB on a rooted s3. Your results may vary...

[poser]

Originally Posted by jefkve

Really been wanting the casio ex-zr1000, but alas have been unable/unwilling to pony up the money thus far. Just downloaded the Note II camera for my Galaxy S3. Gonna give it a try at lunch and see how it works....

Don't waste your money it's garbage.  You can adjust the shutter speed but, not in video recording....  The slow motion videos even at 120 or grainy as hell.  Wish I wouldn't have wasted my money on it

[jamo]

I've still got an old Casio EX-FS10. It's not the best camera (no manual shutter control, resolution isn't great), but it gets the job done. Especially for $90.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by jefkve

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1876397

Be sure to read the thread a bit. I'm running a deodexed JB on a rooted s3. Your results may vary...

Yeah, looks like it doesn't work on AOSP framework, so no dice.

Thanks though.

[buckshot4227]

I am technologically challenged and am looking for a good camera to record my swing.  I have a Galaxy SIII.  Is there an app or something I can get for it that will give me 200 fps with good resolution?  Is the app free or do you pay for it?  Thanks

[mchepp]

I have been messing around with the Galaxy S4 and it has a decent slow motion video. I didn't try the S3 but the S4 could do the job. You cannot set the exposure which is pretty critical if you want to get even more info, but as an inexpensive camera to use the S4 is pretty good.

[tristanhilton85]

Originally Posted by jamo

I've still got an old Casio EX-FS10. It's not the best camera (no manual shutter control, resolution isn't great), but it gets the job done. Especially for $90.

This is what I have as well, and I agree, it gets the job done well enough, especially if you are filming outdoors on a sunny day.

[boil3rmak3r]

I purchased a Panasonic GS80 used on EBay at a very reasonable price and it has been great. When I'm filming indoors, I hook it up to my computer and the vid automatically feeds into the CSwing software I have. Frame-by-frame analysis is crystal clear. The only bad part is how much lighting is needed indoors when using such a high shutter speed. I had to buy a couple of worlights to position around the hitting area to get appropriate lighting. I'm not sure if all cameras need that much lighting indoors or not...