High Speed Videography for Beginners.

Step 3 Lighting:

By far the hardest and most frustrating part of high speed videography is the use of proper lighting. The camera needs massive amounts of light to make up for the low exposure time. The lighting is needed most for the 1200fps mode; the shutter is opening and closing 1200 times each second, allowing very little exposure time. The lower modes are more forgiving.

Light sources in order of best to worst:
Natural:
Natural light is perfect for high speed. It's plentiful, bright, soft, diffused, and does not flicker.
Blue skies:
A rarity where I live. Drop everything and take advantage of this while you can.

Grey skies:
The most common where I live. It produces soft, diffused light; great for picking up detail.

Overcast:
This is the kind of natural lighting you do not want to use. It creates dark, grainy film.

Tungstun:
Tungstun work lights provide harsh, bright light. The orange glow, however, creates grainy footage and it is often hard to discern small details.

HappyLite (CFL):
Use compact florescent lights only as a last resort. The flicker is not as bad as a florescent bulb, but is still evident in high speed footage. The brand I picked up "simulates natural sunlight." Although it appears to be perfect for high speed; bright, diffused, soft white light, this is not the case. Unfortunately, even natural lighting simulators flicker.

Florescent:
Florescent lighting is by far the worst type for high speed videography. Under no circumstances should you use it. Every flicker is painfully obvious, the end result is terrible. However, in some situations, and if used right, the florescent effect can actually be kind of cool. If used sparingly, florescent, dark, or grainy footage can create a dramatic or "artistic" effect.

Comments

[benthekahn]

I suppose LED bulbs would work well, assuming they were diffused.