I was playing around with the new high speed Photron SA2 camera (left) at the weekend (the Photron SA-1 was used on Life in Cold Blood to film Chameleon tongues, and Planet Earth to film Great Whites hunting).
The image looked even brighter and sharper than the images I have seen from the Phantom camera (the BBC's high speed flavour of the month) but I could have just been dazzled by the pomp surrounding it.
One thing to note is that there is a 2-stop difference between this and the Phantom HD - so its much more light sensitive (but then I haven't mentioned the Phantom v640 yet). I have been informed that the SA2 has a viewfinder at last and can be run off V-lok batteries but you still need a laptop and a seperate recorder - so it' s still not really as practical for field use as the Phantoms or the smaller Memrecams.
Set-up of the SA-2 as used by cameraman Gavin Thurston to film bears last year.
Image Copyright: Gavin Thurston.
The Photron SA-2 can film at 2,000 fps at Full HD resolution (1,920 x 1080 pixels) while the equivalent camera from Phantom the Phantom v640 records over 2700fps at1920x1080 HD-resolution (The Phantom HD 'only' does 1000fps at 1920 × 1080 or 2K resolution).
You might also want to check out the really compact MotionPro Y5 and the MotionScope N5 9 by Lake image systems both capable of up to 1500 frames per second at a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, Memrecam GX-1 records 2000fps at 1280x1024.
The Fastest camera in the world
Now if you don't care whether its HD or not but you want to film really, really, fast then the fastest camera in the world is the Shimadzu. At a resolution of 312 x 260 it is capable at a pant-wettingly high speed of 1,000,000 fps.
Unfortunately the Shimadzu only records in black and white and so for the very best full colour and high speed/resolution combination you have to drop right down to 300,000 fps for the Photron Fastcam SA5 (256 x 54 pixels) the Phantom V640, mentioned earlier, also records at up to 300,000fps but at a tiny resolution of 128x8.
The Red Cam ups its game
Oh yes, and while I'm on one... if your a fan of the current 'RED One' camera which goes upto120fps at 2k then the first Red EPIC camera (actually Epic is a module which is the brain of the camera) will be released in the Autumn (the S35) and is capable of up to 250fps at 2k. But the big whopper - the Full Format 'Monstro EPIC' comes out this winter which will record at 350fps at 2k - not quite a million frames a second but quite a high speed for such a mega resolution.
If you have has any experience filming with high speed cameras we would love to hear about your experiences. Thanks Matt.
The image looked even brighter and sharper than the images I have seen from the Phantom camera (the BBC's high speed flavour of the month) but I could have just been dazzled by the pomp surrounding it.
One thing to note is that there is a 2-stop difference between this and the Phantom HD - so its much more light sensitive (but then I haven't mentioned the Phantom v640 yet). I have been informed that the SA2 has a viewfinder at last and can be run off V-lok batteries but you still need a laptop and a seperate recorder - so it' s still not really as practical for field use as the Phantoms or the smaller Memrecams.
Set-up of the SA-2 as used by cameraman Gavin Thurston to film bears last year.Image Copyright: Gavin Thurston.
The Photron SA-2 can film at 2,000 fps at Full HD resolution (1,920 x 1080 pixels) while the equivalent camera from Phantom the Phantom v640 records over 2700fps at1920x1080 HD-resolution (The Phantom HD 'only' does 1000fps at 1920 × 1080 or 2K resolution).
You might also want to check out the really compact MotionPro Y5 and the MotionScope N5 9 by Lake image systems both capable of up to 1500 frames per second at a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, Memrecam GX-1 records 2000fps at 1280x1024.
The Fastest camera in the world
Now if you don't care whether its HD or not but you want to film really, really, fast then the fastest camera in the world is the Shimadzu. At a resolution of 312 x 260 it is capable at a pant-wettingly high speed of 1,000,000 fps.Unfortunately the Shimadzu only records in black and white and so for the very best full colour and high speed/resolution combination you have to drop right down to 300,000 fps for the Photron Fastcam SA5 (256 x 54 pixels) the Phantom V640, mentioned earlier, also records at up to 300,000fps but at a tiny resolution of 128x8.
The Red Cam ups its game
Oh yes, and while I'm on one... if your a fan of the current 'RED One' camera which goes upto120fps at 2k then the first Red EPIC camera (actually Epic is a module which is the brain of the camera) will be released in the Autumn (the S35) and is capable of up to 250fps at 2k. But the big whopper - the Full Format 'Monstro EPIC' comes out this winter which will record at 350fps at 2k - not quite a million frames a second but quite a high speed for such a mega resolution.
If you have has any experience filming with high speed cameras we would love to hear about your experiences. Thanks Matt.
