Here’s my Google search – “what camera is required to photograph an AR-15 bullet”
Retired FBI special agent Michael Harrigan who spent 22 years with the bureau tells The Times he believes the thin grey line on the photo is a bullet.“It absolutely could be showing the displacement of air due to a projectile,” says Harrigan.
Don Mills is a staff photographer for The New York Times and took the photos at 1/8000 of a second. With a 1/8000th of a second shutter speed, this would allow the bullet to travel approximately four-tenths of a foot while the shutter is open.
I agree, the likelihood of capturing that photo of a flying bullet in that position is tens of thousands to one. Mills was lucky.
It isn’t a contrail, the reporter had lucky timing. Keep in mind it was a bright afternoon, so the camera settings would be a fast shutter etc. Ideally, we may eventually find out what they were.
Now those sneakers are going for multiple thousands after the assassination attempt.