[Tellurian]

If the photographer likes clarity, he would have used a slower speed, more like 1/1000th of a second. At f-stop 1.6 and 1/8000th second shutter speed, he's about 3 stops dark in full sun. He may have made up for that by using a higher ISO setting, something that's used in low light situations, but that adds graininess. If he left the ISO normal, and took the darkness away later with photoshop, I'd suppose there's a similar loss of clarity.

His depth of field explanation may be valid, or may be a CYA after-the-fact claim, but there again, losing a clear background means some sacrifice was made. It all seems odd, but then I'm not much of a photographer.

Also of note (the video may clarify, but most headlines don't), the streak is not the bullet, it's a condensation trail. The bullet itself would only leave a 4" to 5" streak at that shutter speed, and would probably leave an identifiable but faded image of the bullet itself.

[2700 ft/sec x 12 in/ft x 1/8000 sec = 4.05 in of travel, plus bullet length]

[OSHA]

I was surprised at the 24mm focal length. He had to be close or the picture cropped a bunch.