Thanks, the camera retails for about £5500 but unfortunately this one isn't my own. It belongs to the company I work for, so I'm able to use it for stuff like this on occasion
It's just a shame I can't get into my spider enclosures with it very easily, although I'm sure I'll give it a go in the future.
Just wanted to edit your post so it would show up here instead of loading a new window.Hi guys, here's an HD feeding video with one of my African Lined Mantids (Sphodromantis lineola) devouring a cricket. The camera used was a JVC HM-700 which can give some nice results using the macro focus. It is not especially well suited for terrarium photography due to its size and weight, but it does offer a good clear look at the fascinating and rather gruesome mantis feeding process!
[YOUTUBE]5Yl1EW9dTP8[/YOUTUBE]
The video was shot at a frame rate of 25p. I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say it looks skippy, I shot using a fairly high shutter speed (1/250) so perhaps this is what you're noticing? Turning HD off on youtube has also solved a few playback issues I've had in the past.
I would have liked to have used a higher shutter speed too, but since I was stuck with the available light in the room 1/250 was about as high as I could take it. The camera's lens is removable, although ours only has one Fujinon lens so it never comes off. Usually we use an SG Blade lens adapter on top of that with Nikkor stills lenses, which gives a really nice filmic look to the short films I usually shoot with the company I work for. It makes the macro features of the camera redundant though, so it would be impossible to get decent macro work done with this setup. This video was shot without the lens adapter and is really the first time I've used this camera to do a video of one of my inverts. Hopefully I will get the chance to do more in the future.
you should try doing some natural setups with backgrounds, that would be epic to have filmed.