Is there a compact camera that will take a series of shots quickly?

Is there a compact camera that has a mode (not movie mode) that will
take a series of shots very quickly (several/second) for as long as
the shutter button is held down?

Is there a name for this feature?

On Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:17:35 -0800, ransley wrote:

On Dec 5, 7:24Â*pm, Prof Wonmug wrote:
Is there a compact camera that has a mode (not movie mode) that will
take a series of shots very quickly (several/second) for as long as the
shutter button is held down?

Is there a name for this feature?

Casio FH20 an amazing 1000 FPS at low resolution. That might show a
bullit stopped in mid air, Casio has other better fast models that do
1200 FPS

Let's think about that one for a second - a bullet traveling at 3000 feet/
sec - will go how far in between frames?

ransley wrote:
On Dec 5, 7:24 pm, Prof Wonmug wrote:
Is there a compact camera that has a mode (not movie mode) that will
take a series of shots very quickly (several/second) for as long as
the shutter button is held down?

Is there a name for this feature?

Casio FH20 an amazing 1000 FPS at low resolution. That might show a
bullit stopped in mid air, Casio has other better fast models that do
1200 FPS

I think more definition is needed. The OP said he needed "several/second
for as long as the shutter button is held down" and "not movie mode". The
three big questions are what resolution he needs, how fast he needs, and how
long. For example several reasonably priced Casio models can shoot 30 or so
frames a second for one second or three frames/second for 10 seconds or
other combinations that add up to a total of 30 or so frames (I say "30 or
so" because the exact number depends on the model--some will go up to 40).
Since he doesn't want video I'm ignoring their high speed video modes.

On the other hand, if he wants better than HD resolution for minutes at a
time he's looking at a Red or some other cine camera, and that's getting way
out of typical "compact camera" pricing.

Or, if he needs significantly faster than 30 frames a second at better than
HD resolution then he's looking at a specialized high speed camera, and
again the prices go way out of the typical "compact camera" range.

So, how many frames/second for how long at what resolution? And while I'm
answering a question with a question, also, is that "compact" as in "small"
or "compact" as in "consumer camera that is not a DSLR"?

ray wrote:
ransley wrote:
On Dec 5, 7:24Â*pm, Prof Wonmug wrote:
Is there a compact camera that has a mode (not movie mode) that will
take a series of shots very quickly (several/second) for as long as the
shutter button is held down?

Is there a name for this feature?

Casio FH20 an amazing 1000 FPS at low resolution. That might show a
bullit stopped in mid air, Casio has other better fast models that do
1200 FPS

Let's think about that one for a second - a bullet traveling at 3000 feet/
sec - will go how far in between frames?

How about one going 1000 ft/sec?

--
Ray Fischer

On Sun, 6 Dec 2009 00:17:28 -0500, "J. Clarke"
wrote:

ransley wrote:
On Dec 5, 7:24 pm, Prof Wonmug wrote:
Is there a compact camera that has a mode (not movie mode) that will
take a series of shots very quickly (several/second) for as long as
the shutter button is held down?

Is there a name for this feature?

Casio FH20 an amazing 1000 FPS at low resolution. That might show a
bullit stopped in mid air, Casio has other better fast models that do
1200 FPS

I think more definition is needed. The OP said he needed "several/second
for as long as the shutter button is held down" and "not movie mode". The
three big questions are what resolution he needs, how fast he needs, and how
long. For example several reasonably priced Casio models can shoot 30 or so
frames a second for one second or three frames/second for 10 seconds or
other combinations that add up to a total of 30 or so frames (I say "30 or
so" because the exact number depends on the model--some will go up to 40).
Since he doesn't want video I'm ignoring their high speed video modes.

On the other hand, if he wants better than HD resolution for minutes at a
time he's looking at a Red or some other cine camera, and that's getting way
out of typical "compact camera" pricing.

Or, if he needs significantly faster than 30 frames a second at better than
HD resolution then he's looking at a specialized high speed camera, and
again the prices go way out of the typical "compact camera" range.

So, how many frames/second for how long at what resolution? And while I'm
answering a question with a question, also, is that "compact" as in "small"
or "compact" as in "consumer camera that is not a DSLR"?

Sorry I wasn't clearer. Let me try again.

All I want to do it capture precious moments with the grandkids. They
move fast or at least have difficulty standing still. My compact P&S
(Sony CyperShot DSC-W150) takes way too long between shots (several
seconds). If I don't time it perfectly, the moment is gone.

I would like to be able to hold the button down for a few seconds (4-5
seconds would be enough 99% of the time) and have the camera take a
series of shots. I don't know the rate, but I'd guess it's about
3/second. One/second is probably a bit too slow. Five/second is
probably more than I need.

I would imagine that the amount of light is a huge factor. A good deal
of the time, I'm using a flash. That would mean the flash would have
to cycle at that rate, too, which is probably unrealistic.

The thing that got me thinking about this is that my camera has a
movie mode. I previously asked about extracting stills from a movie
clip. It seemed like the resolution on the movies was pretty good.
Maybe extracted stills would not be. Then it occurred to me to ask if
there is a camera that does sort of a hybrid job -- half way between
manual stills and movie mode.

Thanks

On Sat, 5 Dec 2009 19:48:02 -0800 (PST), -hh
wrote:

Prof Wonmug wrote:
Is there a compact camera that has a mode (not movie mode) that will
take a series of shots very quickly (several/second) for as long as
the shutter button is held down?

Is there a name for this feature?

The Vision Research "Phantom" camera line probably does what you want,
and for what they are, they're pretty compact. The company used to
rent them, which is nice for small projects, or deciding if it is
exactly what you want before you buy.


-hh

You're just playing with me because I'm a novice, right?

I'm just trying to capture the grandkids -- not bullets or bumblebee
wings. ;-)

All I want to do it capture precious moments with the grandkids. They
move fast or at least have difficulty standing still. My compact P&S
(Sony CyperShot DSC-W150) takes way too long between shots (several
seconds). If I don't time it perfectly, the moment is gone.

According to various reviews the DSC W150 can shoot about 10 pics
at 2fps in burst mode.

On Sun, 06 Dec 2009 07:02:55 +0000, Ray Fischer wrote:

ray wrote:
ransley wrote:
On Dec 5, 7:24Â*pm, Prof Wonmug wrote:
Is there a compact camera that has a mode (not movie mode) that will
take a series of shots very quickly (several/second) for as long as
the shutter button is held down?

Is there a name for this feature?

Casio FH20 an amazing 1000 FPS at low resolution. That might show a
bullit stopped in mid air, Casio has other better fast models that do
1200 FPS

Let's think about that one for a second - a bullet traveling at 3000
feet/ sec - will go how far in between frames?

How about one going 1000 ft/sec?

OK - so that one will 'only' move a foot.

On 12/5/09 10:49 PM, in article , "ray"
wrote:

On Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:17:35 -0800, ransley wrote:

On Dec 5, 7:24*pm, Prof Wonmug wrote:
Is there a compact camera that has a mode (not movie mode) that will
take a series of shots very quickly (several/second) for as long as the
shutter button is held down?

Is there a name for this feature?

Casio FH20 an amazing 1000 FPS at low resolution. That might show a
bullit stopped in mid air, Casio has other better fast models that do
1200 FPS

Let's think about that one for a second - a bullet traveling at 3000 feet/
sec - will go how far in between frames?

Oh, "bullet"! I couldn't figure *WHAT* the hell he was talking about.

RIGHT. Sure it could!

I would surmise the OP was asking about a rapid sequence in frames per
second, much like a lot of the high-end DSLRs.

On Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:41:40 -0800, Bart Bailey
wrote:

In posted on Sun, 06 Dec
2009 00:17:07 -0800, Prof Wonmug wrote: Begin


I would like to be able to hold the button down for a few seconds (4-5
seconds would be enough 99% of the time) and have the camera take a
series of shots. I don't know the rate, but I'd guess it's about
3/second. One/second is probably a bit too slow. Five/second is
probably more than I need.

I have an older Canon S2-IS that does what it calls burst mode of 2/second,
I think almost all P&S cameras do that. It can also be doing a video and take a
still during it without stopping. Since the videos are avi you can extract a
single frame from them too.

Thank you. I searched the manual, but didn't know what to call it.

The W150 does have burst mode. It's on page 50. It says it will take
up to 100 images at about 0.51 intervals or longer depending on the
image size setting. The flash is set to off and the focus, white
balance, and exposure are set for the firtst image and not changed.

I just tested it. I had a friend wave at a moderate speed. The hand
was a total blur. Even with a fairly slow pan, everything is blurry.

This feature might be useful for something like group shots where the
image is almost still and none of the parameters change, but not for
grandkids.

I may have to forego the compact P&S and get a DSLR. Any
recommendations?

I was at a wedding recently. The photographer had several cameras, but
the one he was using most was the Canon Powershot G10. I talked to him
about it and he said it's the best all around camera he has. I see
they now have a G11. Any comments on these?