How to choose a high speed camera for trouble-shooting ?

Are you getting ready to purchase a high speed camera but don’t quite know how to choose the correct model? No problem. Lets us try to help you and explain to you what are some of the most important things to consider before you make that purchase.

Frame Rate

Frames per second or fps, is the simple term used when describing how many video frames the high speed camera captures per each second of video. 1000 fps means the camera captured 1000 individual frames each and every single second of the recorded video. The higher the frame rate, the smoother and more detailed the video will be.

High Speed Video Recorded at 2000 FPS

High Speed Video Recorded at 850 FPS

Resolution

Higher resolutions are important when the field of view of the camera is large, or when a very small spatial resolution is required because there are a lot of fine details in the high-speed event that need to be studied. It is important to understand that the higher the resolution of the camera, the lower the maximum frame rate will be. With a 4 megapixel camera you have 4x more pixels to process than with a 1 megapixel camera. Therefore, you will not be able to achieve the same frame rates with a higher resolution camera as with a lower resolution camera. Every high speed camera has a limit on the amount of picture data it can process and store each second.

Low resolution photo

High resolution photo

Light Sensitivity

Light sensitivity impacts your ability to use a short exposure time so that you can effectively eliminate motion blur when capturing a very high-speed event. Light sensitivity impacts the quality of your video because without sufficient light sensitivity your images will be dark and you will not be able to analyze the event in clear detail.

Analysis Software

Analysis software allows the high-speed camera to be controlled by the control computer to analyze images using distance, angle and speed measurements and output the data as reports. No one can take care or analyze high speed image data without professional analysis software. The Analysis software also allows you to precisely set the control parameters of the camera to successfully capture the high speed event. Frame rates, exposure times, trigger modes, data transfer paths and lens control all need to be controlled by the Analysis software.

Flexibility

Flexibility to choose the correct camera platform for your application.

Hand held portable cameras offer the flexibility and freedom to roam around from production line to production line problem solving as you go or they can offer the convenience of recording high speed image data at remote locations out in the field. Hand held portable cameras have removable solid state drives (SSD) and built in LED work lights for the most convenient workflow available. Hand held portable cameras also have the ability to stream longer record lengths to their SSD but at a reduce capture rate based on the capacity and write speed of the SSD.

PC connected cameras offer the flexibility to have the fastest frame rates and largest memory capacities available. They are perfectly suited for stationary applications where a PC is available to control the camera. They have the ability to quickly download the high speed image data to the control PC for review and analysis. PC connected cameras are also great for the use with high speed digital video recorders ( DVR’s). DVR’s are used for saving high speed video files for hours or days where as PC connected cameras usually have a limit of only a few seconds to a few minutes of high speed video storage. PC connected cameras typically can save at higher rates compared to a high speed DVR.

Hand Held Portables

PC Connected

Support and customer service

Technical support and customer service is very important. Having world wide technical support available to you when you need it provides you with peace of mind for your high speed camera purchase.