Suggestions on what kind of video camera to use to capture weird objects in the sky?

Hello all,

Okay, just in the past 3 months, I've had 3 incidents of objects in the sky.

--I saw one with my wife some days back and we did take a video, but my chilly butt was shivering so my samsung3 was moving and it was hard to see the object in the sky move erratically. You wouldn't be able to tell if the object was moving or the camera..

--About a month ago, I was looking at the sky with my night vision binoculars and I did see something not normal to me. It traveled at high-speed and could not be seen with my eye, but through my night vision bins, yep there it was...

--Two months ago while on a plane ride home, I saw 3 orange balls/orbs flying with us on the left side. Next to me was a pilot who was jump seating, he was sitting on my right and we both were in the emergency exit row (I had window seat), he was watching a movie on his ipad.. Me and this guy sitting behind me said at the same time, "WTF is THAT?" I tapped the pilot on my right, he pulled the earplugs from his ears and I said, buddy, please look at this, do you know what it is? He reached over me and looked outside, he said, F-CK, I have no idea. He looked at me and some other passengers looked out the window.. The three balls traveled with us for about 2 minutes and disappeared.

We land and as we were exiting the plane, some passengers asked that flights Captain if he saw the three orange balls? He did not give an answer, he said he was doing his job to make sure we all got back safely. I was one of the last persons to get off because I wanted to hear other passengers comment as they exited and walked down the aisle of the plane to exit, and they did comment and as stated some asked the Captain. When I was on the jet bridge, I looked back and I saw the pilot sitting next to me go into the cockpit with the Captain and they shut the door.

I am looking for a video camera that will allow me to do the following:

1. Night Vision

2. Excellent Zoom, the highest I can get.

3. Motion sensitive camera, meaning, the video camera's internals account for physical movement and this function will help provide a steady video. (not sure if this is possible..)
3a. Tripod would be out of the question, as the things in the sky tend to move so you will have to move with it to capture the full scope/capabilities of these objects.. right?

4. Small, maybe the size of a typical mans hand. I need it small vid-camera because this hardware will be with me at all times.

5. Something in the range of $300 and $600, is it possible? Either way, could you please still suggest a video camera even if it is over my budget?

Ideas/suggestions?? Yeah I could search myself, but hey I consider you all my buddies and some of you may have done this research and purchased one already... Plus, there are just so so many brands and models and I just get lost as video recording doesn't really interest me as a hobby...

This time with your suggested video camera, I will be ready and will post whatever I find.. This stuff is kind of fun actually, especially when something in the sky just isn't right while viewed with the naked eye and as stated above, I've seen something goofy in the sky 3 times in 3 months... well, minus the one I couldn't see with my naked eye...

I am very familiar with ISS and sats and what they look like when they traverse over my cities sky's..
I am very familiar with Military and Civilian aircraft.

And these three incidents that I experienced were for sure none of the above and I strongly believe a good video will help me determine what these strange objects could be or what they are not... I just want to be ready for my fourth...

May I suggest something like this
Perhaps not small enough, but it is actually portable.
I am sure you can get one with finance. Worth it!

This mini-sized, ultra-light 3D Rig (aka beam-splitter or mirror box) is the World's most affordable, professional 3D Rig. It's designed for use with professional DSLR cameras, compact HD cameras & mini-sized camcorders. The 3D Rig features adjustable IO (0"-5"), convergence (1°-3°) & tool-less X-Y-Z axis (yaw, roll, tilt) control for perfect 3D picture alignment. It's nearly indestructable, modular frame and high-grade beam-splitter opti-glass allows filmmakers to capture amazing 3D at a price that makes sense.

3D.BS MINI Rig (beam-splitter)

reply to post by LiberalSceptic


Thanks! That is a pretty looking piece of hardware there.
But it lacks the night vision function.. I think.. I've double checked the specs and don't see NV/IR..

Thanks though.

reply to post by syrinx2112


Nope sorry, does not seem to be included. I searched for that as well.
Perhaps possible to get something separate?

The price is out of your budget as well, but seriously, you would be the king of ATS if you used that rig
I think some kind of economical solution is worth looking into

reply to post by syrinx2112


I really like my Canon HS10. Good in low light, nice motion canceling, good sound, user friendly and it should accept a night vision attachment.

I also like the video from my Canon 60D dslr.

reply to post by syrinx2112

Not sure what to suggest, but two things I wanted to note.

It is almost impossible to find a video camera with 'night vision' any more. Sony used to make them, but I haven't found a new one in a while. There is a low cost Bell & Howell camera that I have found. Never tried it though, so I don't know about quality. There are also companies that will modify cameras to add on the feature and some 'ghost hunting' websites sale ones that have already been modified.

If you are using a zoom, you will absolutely need a tripod. There are many tripods that will pan, makes for some nice steady movement. (Found this one by doing a quick google search.)

Nice stuff so far.

Thank you olaru12 and OneIsOne..

I'm putting a spreadsheet together with all suggestions...

Now that just sucks, I would think vid/cameras with NV/IR would a default... I can't wait to hear more suggestions...

Thanks....

reply to post by syrinx2112

Did some more looking around and it seems people are having good luck with the Sony HDR-XR260V.

Here is a video some one posted using the camera at night. (there are more vids on her youtube channel)

I'd recommend something in the professional video line up:

Canon HD cameras
Canon Cinema

I think the Cinema line uses the same lenses as the professional still photography lenses, so, you'd have a wide range of long range lenses to choose from as well as telescope adapters.

Since most UFO videos seem to be 'i saw this ambiguous light in the sky, so here's a video of a white dot', you may desire to look into something that allows you to attach it to a telescope.

Whatever the case, if you spend a few hundred $ on some cheap piece of crap consumer level grade kit, you're going to get crappy results.
If you spend $7000 on some good kit, you're going to get pornographic quality such that whatever you video will be worthy of, well, much better than the typical trash on yourtube.

Originally posted by OneisOne
reply to post by syrinx2112

 

Did some more looking around and it seems people are having good luck with the Sony HDR-XR260V.

Here is a video some one posted using the camera at night. (there are more vids on her youtube channel)

A prime example of a person that SHOULDN'T be trying to film objects in the sky!!!

reply to post by syrinx2112


Something were you have MANUAL settings for aperture,iso and shutter speed but most important MANUAL FOCUS!!!!

Any descent DSLR fits the bill with a medium telephoto zoom and a long telephoto lens if you can afford it.

Well, substantially more than your initial budget - but you requested all, so here 'ya go...

There is one of these for sale right now on eBay. I've tried to get a bunch of fellow ATSers together previously to combine resources for something like this, but have fallen short. Maybe you can do better. Good luck!

Originally posted by Outrageo
Well, substantially more than your initial budget - but you requested all, so here 'ya go...

There is one of these for sale right now on eBay. I've tried to get a bunch of fellow ATSers together previously to combine resources for something like this, but have fallen short. Maybe you can do better. Good luck!

Tell you what. That sucker is now located only a few miles from me, just down the road on I-5. I have a pick-up truck. You buy it. I'll pick it up and "store" it for you as long as you want.

I use a old Sony Hi8 TRV615, it's one of those cameras that has the "X Ray" vision capabilities. I use a 950nm IR filter in "Nightshot" mode when filming the sky during daylight hours and see a lot of unusual things flying around. Check out my YouTube channel for some examples.. www.youtube.com...

I am no expert on video cameras but I am looking to get better with both usage and general knowledge on camera opperation. This is my own opinion but would a analogue video camera be better to use than a digital camera or camcorder as digital images can be minipulated where a analogue image that is tape based would be slightly harder to minipulate. That is only my opinion though and as I said not a very educated opinion

If you want your system to be reasonably priced, and sensitive at the same time, the best choice by far is a Watec WAT-902H2 Ultimate camera. The next step up will cost you a few hundred $US more. The best CCDs will cost many thousands, or you could invest in a 2ng gen intensifier, but that will also run into thousands, and there are lots of downsides to intensifiers.

Basically this is the standard camera for fireball detection, but with a fast lens (hard to find and probably quite expensive), it would also detect bright meteors.

You can find some more info here:

NASA

Although the project is for a static camera, you could make it reasonably portable... certainly more portable than some of the suggestions posted here!

I'd also recommend this software for detection, if you plan to run the system continuously: UFOCaptureV2

Note that if you use UFOCapture, you may need different video capture hardware to that recommended in the link above.

Originally posted by jroduk
I am no expert on video cameras but I am looking to get better with both usage and general knowledge on camera opperation. This is my own opinion but would a analogue video camera be better to use than a digital camera or camcorder as digital images can be minipulated where a analogue image that is tape based would be slightly harder to minipulate. That is only my opinion though and as I said not a very educated opinion

As soon as its posted on the net its digital

Originally posted by Druscilla



If you spend $7000 on some good kit, you're going to get pornographic quality such that whatever you video will be worthy of, well, much better than the typical trash on yourtube.

edit on 23-10-2012 by Druscilla because: (no reason given)

Pornographic quality? What's that? Did you just have a Freudian slip perhap; when you meant photographic quality?

You can get pornographic quality with a FLIP camcorder.

I'd just choose an HD camera, not HD size but actual HD quality, you will find the cheaper models boast HD and when you see the quality of their "HD" you see it's horrible but HD 'sized', I'd also look for something that can capture a high frame rate but such isn't always mentioned on the box, some research is required.

Make sure to have INFRA RED & Night if you want to really catch something you otherwise won't notice, a good camera objective and quality