Suggestions for Low Light Video - Capturing Live Machine Gun Tracer Fire Tonight

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I'm heading to an annual event in my area on some private land to get video of live machine gun tracer fire tonight. I haven't had a chance to mess with video at night and not much time spent in manual mode for the camera either.

Anyone have any suggestions? There won't be much ambient light as this is in the boonies. Thanks.
 
Wow, I hope i'm wrong, but I can not believe you posted this with The NSA, FBI, and FTA watching everything we do now. Disclaimer, I don't know this guy.
 
I'm heading to an annual event in my area on some private land to get video of live machine gun tracer fire tonight. I haven't had a chance to mess with video at night and not much time spent in manual mode for the camera either.

Anyone have any suggestions? There won't be much ambient light as this is in the boonies. Thanks.

I suggest that you stand well behind the shooters.
 
Wow, I hope i'm wrong, but I can not believe you posted this with The NSA, FBI, and FTA watching everything we do now. Disclaimer, I don't know this guy.

I don't know you for sure. Your probably a cool dude but you obviously know nothing about our great countries gun laws. Did you think machine guns couldn't legally be owned in the USA?

This is an annual dealer event on private property in the sticks. Probably 30-40 dealers show up and setup on the line. I've been going to it for years. It's a lot of fun and safe and I have permission from the event organizer to take video.
 
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I don't know you for sure. Your probably a cool dude but you obviously know nothing about our great countries gun laws. Did you think machine guns couldn't legally be owned in the USA?

This is an annual dealer event on private property in the sticks. Probably 30-40 dealers show up and setup on the line. I've been going to it for years. It's a lot of fun and safe and I have permission from the event organizer to take video.

Can you put the bird in a position to observe the entire flight path of the tracer? Maybe have some Tannerite targets.
 
Can you put the bird in a position to observe the entire flight path of the tracer? Maybe have some Tannerite targets.

I could probably do it with permission from a few dealers that aren't setup under overhead tents. The tricky part will be not to be flying over anyone. If that's not possible then I won't setup that way.

I'll probably back off a bit from the line and be up and at an angle where when dusk hits and the sign is given for night fire I'll get the full line and what people are shooting at down range. Another thought Is to be a few feet in front of the line in the middle and high up looking down. I haven't decided which shot would be best for the start of the night fire though, we'll see.

They have plenty of tannerite loaded in old cars, trucks and airplanes on the range that people shoot at. It's quite a scene. The range is huge.
 
I could probably do it with permission from a few dealers that aren't setup under overhead tents. The tricky part will be not to be flying over anyone. If that's not possible then I won't setup that way.

I'll probably back off a bit from the line and be up and at an angle where when dusk hits and the sign is given for night fire I'll get the full line and what people are shooting at down range. Another thought Is to be a few feet in front of the line in the middle and high up looking down. I haven't decided which shot would be best for the start of the night fire though, we'll see.

They have plenty of tannerite loaded in old cars, trucks and airplanes on the range that people shoot at. It's quite a scene. The range is huge.

I will be looking for your next video post. I love this stuff!
 
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I'd recommend you video just after sunset for video. At least before it is completely dark. Although the camera is OK for video in low light, it's not great. For the framing of the video itself, you'll want to make sure you have some lighted subjects in frame, especially the darker it gets...or you may just end up with a lot of noise, tracer streaks, and nothing more of interest. At a certain point, if the only surrounding light is the tracers, the video won't be that interesting.

On the other hand, I've found long exposure photos in low light situations to be pretty fun. The stability is great...and does allow for some longer exposure times. Again you'll want some lit subjects in frame for interests sake... When taking time exposures, you'll to need to adjust your ISO higher as it gets darker. Just be aware, the higher the ISO, the greater the noise in the resulting picture...try to keep your ISO as low as you can, without requiring too long of a shutter. Take pictures in RAW (or RAW+JPG) as that'll let you do the best post editing.

If you know what time you'll be filming, I'd suggest a few tests. Find a roadway or overpass that has similar lighting conditions, and test some settings out with both Video and Photos with slow shutter speeds, when cars drive by. Obviously they won't travel as fast...but you'll get an idea of the performance of your difference settings under similar lighting conditions.

You also might do some tests in similar lighting conditions with a partner and a sparkler tied to a string.
 
I will be looking for your next video post. I love this stuff!

Locked and loaded, haha.

66kPpNS.jpg
 
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I'd recommend you video just after sunset for video. At least before it is completely dark. Although the camera is OK for video in low light, it's not great. For the framing of the video itself, you'll want to make sure you have some lighted subjects in frame, especially the darker it gets...or you may just end up with a lot of noise, tracer streaks, and nothing more of interest. At a certain point, if the only surrounding light is the tracers, the video won't be that interesting.

On the other hand, I've found long exposure photos in low light situations to be pretty fun. The stability is great...and does allow for some longer exposure times. Again you'll want some lit subjects in frame for interests sake... When taking time exposures, you'll to need to adjust your ISO higher as it gets darker. Just be aware, the higher the ISO, the greater the noise in the resulting picture...try to keep your ISO as low as you can, without requiring too long of a shutter. Take pictures in RAW (or RAW+JPG) as that'll let you do the best post editing.

If you know what time you'll be filming, I'd suggest a few tests. Find a roadway or overpass that has similar lighting conditions, and test some settings out with both Video and Photos with slow shutter speeds, when cars drive by. Obviously they won't travel as fast...but you'll get an idea of the performance of your difference settings under similar lighting conditions.

You also might do some tests in similar lighting conditions with a partner and a sparkler tied to a string.

Thanks Taz, I'll get there earlier than planned then while there is still plenty of light. We'll see how everything turns out. I was going to mess with testing low light video last night but I got tied up.
 
Wow, I hope i'm wrong, but I can not believe you posted this with The NSA, FBI, and FTA watching everything we do now. Disclaimer, I don't know this guy.

Don't be an ignorant sheep. First you ramble on a thread about crashing your phantom now your here spreading mis truths. Please stop.

OP. I've filmed gun fire with my p3p. Can't find the video but it's raw and unedited. Drop your quality down a bit and up your fps. That way you can get some real nice slow mo shots in post production. Shoot for 120 fps. Don't up your shutter soo much to make the surroundings bright because when the tracer round comes out it will blind the camera. So go a little low on the shutter. And the tracer will make it look good. Also try some 5 shot AEB if you can time it right. Here you can up your shutter so it gives the tracer a nice tail. Good luck and post up when done!
 
And don't forget a slow dolly behind the shooters shoulders while the tannerite gets hit and get some slow mo shots of that. Looks way cool
 
Crap, the expectation level keeps going up. I hope I don't jack this footage up. Oh well, I'll do my best.
 
Looking forward to the video. My local club has a machine gun shoot 3 times a year. Everything from old water cooled stuff to current. Nothing like the sound of a mini gun. :cool:
 
Woot!! Is it up at the OFASTS in Wyandotte? Always wanted to head up there to see it. I hear the "Kill the Car" is one of the best shows there! For sure post up some video, it's great that you got permission. It should make for some great publicity for the owner!
 
Woot!! Is it up at the OFASTS in Wyandotte? Always wanted to head up there to see it. I hear the "Kill the Car" is one of the best shows there! For sure post up some video, it's great that you got permission. It should make for some great publicity for the owner!

Yep.
 
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And don't forget a slow dolly behind the shooters shoulders while the tannerite gets hit and get some slow mo shots of that. Looks way cool

This is the money shot. FPV slow motion tracer video for the win! Ya gotta love living in a free state!
 
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I just went with Auto. I messed with the video a little but didn't really have time as the events weren't coordinated with me. It all happened very suddenly. Auto seemed to be the best though from the very little time I had changing the settings.

Choose 1080p playback for best quality. Shot at 1080p 60FPS using the P3A.

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