Choosing Perfect Timing for a Photo from Video: 5D2 vs. Real Cannon

While watching a historical cannon demonstration I got an idea to test whether the 30 fps of 5D mark II's video is fast enough to capture the moment when a cannon shoots.

It was. For every cannon shot I recorded, there was one frame where the timing was excellent or good enough and another duller frame that was still much better than a photo that missed the shot totally.

A sample image and more details at:

http://ppusa.wordpress​.com/2009/06/21/stills​-from-video/

It is also possible to capture the moment without video (http://ppusa.wordpress​.com …historical-military-camp/) but using the video would be very tempting if it is really important to get the timing right and (about) 2 megapixels is enough.

My guess is that in the future we are going to see many still images that were originally shot as video.

Nice capture, I like the first one best, lots more color.

I myself probably wouldnt bother with a vid capture like that but its nice to see that they quality isnt bad and very usable.

ppusa wrote in post #8148205
While watching a historical cannon demonstration I got an idea to test whether the 30 fps of 5D mark II's video is fast enough to capture the moment when a cannon shoots. It was. For every cannon shot I recorded, there was one frame where the timing was excellent or good enough and another duller frame that was still much better than a photo that missed the shot totally. ... My guess is that in the future we are going to see many still images that were originally shot as video.

I suspect you're right -- those are great fun shots you have from that day.

NeoTokyo wrote in post #8149556
I myself probably wouldnt bother with a vid capture like that but its nice to see that they quality isnt bad and very usable.

At the moment I don't see myself using the video for still purposes often either but it's good to know there is an extra tool in the toolbox that may have some uses.

Something I though after the experiment was that when I know something is about to happen, I could put the video recording on but try to catch the moment as a still photo. If the still isn't good, I could go for the lower quality video frame.

This would sound like a good approach if I could take the still photos just like without video but unfortunately there are several restrictions.