Hey it's Dave from the camera store Today we're talking all about frame Rates today we're going to talk all About frame rates now cameras over the Years have grown expodentially when it Comes to how many frames per second they Can shoot way back in the day it was as Fast as your thumb could wind the film So you're lucky to get one frame or two Frames per second which was just fine Cuz you only had 36 shots at most to Work with then they put Power drives on Those cameras and you can shoot three or Four frames per second and that was kind Of like a miracle for certain things Then we had the digital age where we Started getting a lot faster so we Didn't have any mechanical process of Moving film around and we saw cameras Like the old 1D series and stuff that Would come up to 10 frames per second That seems to be the magic number for a Lot of sports photographers but nowadays Even entry-level cameras are capable of Much higher frame rates than that I mean We're seeing cameras that shoot 20 Frames 30 frames 40 frames per second or Even faster with some of these hyper Cameras a couple weeks ago we were Shooting with the brand new Sony a93 Which is a very impressive camera and It's capable of 120 frames per second But got us thinking the results we were Getting from that how much would it
Change if we were shooting at half that 60 frames per second or 30 or 15 can you Still achieve the same kind of effect Now we found shooting shotguns and Rifles was just way too quick to Actually capture so we went out and we Were shooting some paintball we found it To be a very interesting subject matter To shoot with these different frame Rates now the reason we chose paintball Is that it's twice as fast as pretty Much anything human powered I mean I Can't throw a ball very fast at all but Even if I had a major league pitcher Friend I don't know if he can Consistently throw a ball the exact same Speed for the exact same results to test Amongst these different frame rates so We found paintball to be a very good Example and a lot of fun to shoot but it Really showcase what these different Frame rates were able to achieve now we Started our experiment here with six Frames per second and the reason we Chose that is that a lot of modern day Cameras pretty much every one of them at Any price point can shoot six frames per Second I mean even the barebones entry Level Canon r100 will shoot six and a Half frames per second now when it comes To paintball it's fast enough that it's Really a game of numbers I mean you can Just Mash the shutter and shoot six Frames per second for as long as you
Want while you're firing the paintball And occasionally you get lucky and you Get a good shot but it's really a game Of numbers to get that because you're Really minimizing the opportunity to Capture that very fleeting moment of Something that happens for a split Second so we went up to 15 frames per Second actually because that sort of Seems to be the top limit of any camera That shoots with a mechanical shutter so What do you get you get more than double Your chances to capture that action but We're still finding with paintball at That speed we were still kind of getting The same hit rate it was still very much A game of numbers to try and capture That so what's next let's double that Again let's go up to 30 frames per Second and you can see in these examples Here we're starting to see what I want To see and be able to capture multiple Shots within the same sequence so what's Fun with modern day cameras is now we Can double that frame rate again with Select cameras we go up to 60 frames per Second now we're getting even more Chances to select that perfect shot all Right so we've played with six frames 15 Frames 30 frames and really seeing when It comes to shooting paintball 60 frames Per second is kind of that minimum level That's going to give me some multiple Options per shot to work with now we're
Stepping up into the big leagues into These hyper cameras now and every brand Has one you have the capability of Shooting up to 120 frames per second This is really a very cool thing because It's almost scientific at this point When you're shooting at this kind of Frame rate and you can see as we're Shooting paintball here how many shots You have to choose from within a Sequence that's only lasting a split Second now there's one more camera that Goes even faster than that the Canon R3 Shoots at 195 frames per second and you Can see there is a big difference Between 120 and 195 frames per second so 195 frames per second is the fastest Frame rate we were able to shoot with Today and the results we're getting from It allows you to take something that's So fleeting like a paintball hitting a Tree stump like this and getting that Explosion of paint and being able to Capture multiple frames of that to Choose which one's going to be the best Shot for you now some of the frame rates We're talking about 30 frames 60 frames 120 frames per second sounds a lot like Video frame rates and absolutely you can Shoot these different frame rates for Slow motion purposes when it comes to Video but why not just extract the still Image why not just slow down your video Pause it at the shot you want and
Extract the still image from the video Well there's a few problems with that One thing the color depth isn't the same When it comes to video usually you're Looking at 10 bit where with still Images you're looking at 14 or 16bit Potentially with certain cameras the Other factor is the resolution I mean 4K Video looks amazing on TV however 4K Video is actually 8 megapixel still Images stacked up at 30 60 or 120 frames Per second so we give up a lot of Resolution take the case of Nikon Z 9's For instance so if I shoot 4K video in 60 frames per second on the Nikon Z 9 I'm down to 8 megapixels worth the Resolution of that still image extracted From the video where I have access to 45 Megapixels with 14bit color out of the Still side of the zed99 so what have we Learned today more is better basically What it comes down to when it comes to Shooting fleeting moments and the faster And more fleeting the moment is the more Frames you have to choose from the more Chance we're going to get the shot that We really want but how fast fast is too Fast I mean I went through a personal Experience a while back with the Canon R5 when it was announced 20 frames per Second I thought was lunacy nobody Needed that for Shooting Sports but I Quickly found I started shooting it all The time but I changed how I shot
Instead of just mashing down the shutter On my old 5d3 which shot six frames per Second and hoping for the best in a game Of numbers like we were doing with the R100 and the paintball at six frames per Second I would feather my shutter only On the sequences that I was interested In when my daughter was running down With playing basketball and dribbling The ball I would only push the shutter Button down while had the ball in her Hand not wasting frames while it was Down on the ground so it's interesting How higher frame rates are changing how I shoot certain subjects because now I'm Being more selective but getting more Chances to get the keepers within that Segment of shots now we've had a lot of Fun talking about frame rates but all These cameras have different caveat and Learning your camera is really going to Make a big difference your entry level Camera doesn't have as big of a buffer So who cares if it can shoot 20 frames Per second if it buffers out after a Second or two and you got a 5-second Burst of action you want to capture Cameras like the R3 which shoots 195 Frames per second is very impressive but It only does it for 50 frames at that Frame rate so you have to time it you Have to work the system to make it Happen for you there's caveats with all These cameras to make these higher frame
Rates work and it's well worth getting To know your camera and knowing your Abilities as well but having these extra Frame rates in your life allow you to Capture those fleeting moments better Than ever before now I of course want to Know what you guys think about frame Rates is there the perfect frame rate or If camera's just gone completely out of Control make sure you leave comments Down below follow us both on Instagram And today from the camera we'll catch You again next Time hey thanks for checking out this Episode if you want to check out more of Our recent content click up here and if You're a Canadian you want to support Local check out the camer store.com down Here
