These days, everyone is a photographer. So, it is no surprise that we carry cameras around to take quality pictures and have something to remember for many years to come. However, capturing quality photos using high-speed cameras is more important than taking pictures for your Facebook or Instagram account.
Understanding High-Speed cameras
A high-speed camera is a specialized device that records a higher frame rate than a standard or regular camera. It captures a significant number of fps (frames per second), allowing users to play back a fast-moving event in slow motion. This capability is indispensable in various industries. Here are some of the applications of these cameras:
- Military & defense – An ultra-high-speed camera is used in defense and military for analysis of an explosive event, weapon development, and ballistic testing. The capability to analyze and record a high-speed projectile helps to refine defense weaponry and mechanisms.
- Automotive safety testing – Safety evaluations and crash tests are conducted meticulously in the automotive sector with these cameras. They capture all the incidents of collisions, enabling engineers to assess design components and safety features’ performance that improve safety of vehicles.
- Sports analysis – Sports analysts and athletes benefit a lot from using these cameras. They help them to break down techniques and movements frame-by-frame. This technological advancement offers coaches invaluable insights into the performance of athletes; thus, facilitating improvements in a training regimen.
- Industrial inspection – In sectors where quality control and precision are crucial, these cameras are used to monitor the processes of manufacturing in detail. They identify defects, optimize production lines, and detect imperfections, ensuring products meet very strict quality standards.
- Scientific research – These cameras play an important role when it comes to scientific research, allowing scientists to analyze and capture rapid events in different fields, like chemistry, biology, and physics. From observing microorganisms’ behaviors to studying chemical reactions’ dynamics, these types of cameras are invaluable tools for scientists or researchers.
Why Use High-Speed Cameras
Whether you want to collect images for marketing materials or quality control, there is a chance that you have equipment, which takes quality videos and images. But the question is – how much time do you spend adjusting subjects, changing objects, setting up the equipment, and re-focusing during production? With the right camera, you can easily and quickly measure and monitor your applications’ effectiveness and efficiency. In addition, the right camera will enable you to capture whatever you want as well as reach your goals without extra hands. An increased automation in some cameras will enable you to focus more on your subjects instead of concentrating on the device. Moreover, high-speed imaging technology makes testing more dependable, less costly, easier, and faster for various industries. Using the right camera during the testing process will enable you to document the performance of products with respect to various inputs. With this technological advancement, it is very possible to communicate with upper management, prospective clients, and regulatory bodies more directly about what really sets your things apart from competitors as well as the increased value they give to users.
Features to Consider
High-speed and quality cameras’ features vary from one model to another. Therefore, every manufacturer creates and designs their devices for various purposes. For instance, some are used in busy cities to catch speeding vehicles, whereas others are used by experts in various industrial settings or for shooting sporting events. So, if you are looking to buy a high-speed camera for your needs, you might want to prioritize the following features to make the right buying decision:
1. Throughput
The potential throughput that a camera is able to achieve is important when looking to buy a camera. You have to ensure the device you choose can capture the amount of pixels you need. Basically, throughput is a direct relationship between the camera’s speed and resolution, and you can easily calculate it by multiplying the maximum frame rate and maximum resolution. This feature is crucial as many applications need a combination of frame rates and resolutions. By examining the throughput growth of a high-speed camera, you can see the exponential growth of technology.
2. Number of Frames
While high-speed cameras are regarded as high-speed devices, there are different kinds of maximum shooting speeds based on the model and manufacturer. Generally, the faster the speed of shooting, the more the cost. For instance, if the speed of shooting is slower than the phenomenon of high speed that you are looking to capture, you might be unable to photograph the subject well. So, the question is – what frame rate should you opt for? Well, the most important thing is to determine whether the device is capable of covering the amount of speed, which it may handle for the phenomenon you wish to photograph.
3. Resolution
A higher resolution is crucial when your camera’s field view is large or when you need a small spatial resolution because there are many fine details at high-speed events, which should be analyzed. According to many frequent users, it is crucial to note that a camera with a high resolution has a lower maximum frame rate. For instance, if you have a 4-megapixel device, then it means you have 4x more pixels that you can process. In other words, you can’t get the same frame rate with higher-resolution cameras as with lower-resolution devices.
4. Light Sensitivity
A few factors affect the camera’s light sensitivity, but the rule of thumb is that a sensor with a bigger resolution is less light-sensitive than the one with a small resolution. The required standard for light sensitivity in a camera is the ISO value. Initially, the value was created for still film cameras, but it is not yet updated for a modern digital sensor. As such, ISO values of cameras vary depending on manufacturers and subjective things, such as the following:
- Gain added
- Noise present
- Perceived quality of images
In conclusion, these features are good starting points to guide you in choosing the right camera that can suit your needs. But don’t stop at that. Request also an on-site demonstration to determine the user interface, sensitivity, and image quality.
