I've been searching around for a video camera (prefer digital) that captures 30fps or greater. I have a budget of $1,000 to spend and unfamiliar in this field. I was hoping someone in here is able to guide me to the right direction. I want to use this camera to capture the vortexes of different fluids. Many thanks in advanced.

 

Almost all video cameras shoot at 30 frames per second. For your budget, there are alot of cameras in that range. For $1,000 you can get a good camera in the "Mini DV" format (nothing to do with the cars). Most major retailers will have cameras in that range. Personally, I like Sony or Panasonic.

 

The next issue is....will you be shooting down a microscope??

That takes a C-mount adapter and some fiddling to get a consumer-type digital camera attached. You also need a zoom function to get rid of any vignetting (halo effect) around your image.

What length (time) of video do you need to shoot? Another option is to try the mpeg function on most digital cameras. The older Nikons (e.g. Coolpix 995) often easily fit onto eyepieces and work great on microscopes.

 

Sorry to say you won't find a high speed digital video camera that shoots anything other than 30fps for $1000. Not even for $10,000. Frames per seconds actually goes down at the $3,500-$4,000 to what is known as 24p which is used to simulate the effect of film.

If you need a high speed camera, you're better off shooting film or renting the equipment.

Richard