Rebranding and New Product Launch
about 8 years ago – Wed, Sep 07, 2016 at 12:23:22 AM

Rebranding

There are going to be some significant changes to the fps1000 family.

I'm spinning off the camera business into a new entity. Most of you are probably unaware of my company, Imagetec, at the moment, as I've concentrated on the fps1000 brand. Existing backers and pre-orderer customers will still be dealing with Imagetec as that was the entity under which I launched the original Kickstarter campaign. However, this company was originally my consulting company and I wanted to separate out the camera operation into a separate entity.

I wanted the new company name to reflect its purpose and I finally came up with the name The Slow Motion Camera Company Limited. Comments are welcome though I have to warn you that it's too late to change!

Rationalised Product Range 

After much consideration I have sadly had to drop the Silver and Gold models. After all the improvements I have made since the original launch - the improved case, the larger screen and internal batteries - there is no profit left in these models. The Silver is being sold at cost. I will honour all existing orders but they can no longer be ordered from the pre-order site. Only the Platinum will be available to order. I have changed its name to simply the fps1000.

New Product Launch 

So much has changed with the new Double Platinum that I thought it worthy of a new launch. I have changed its name to the fps1000HD and it is available in 2 versions, 64GByte and 128GByte memory variants with a slight reduction in performance for the smaller model. The Kickstarter for this model has just gone live so please visit the site and check it out. I have also removed this from the pre-order site. Because of the drop in value of GBP I have had to increase the price of the 128G model - though anyone outside of the UK has been getting it at a bargain price! Again, I will honour existing orders (which are configured with 128GBytes) at the pre-order price. If any of you were about to place an order then there are early bird prices close to the original pre-order price on the new Kickstarter.

Fps1000 4K 

There have been some significant changes with the 4K version which will explain much of the delay. A few months ago I decided to switch to a different sensor. This was because I have been frankly disappointed with the performance of the original one I chose. The manufacturer decided to drastically reduce the performance of the chip at 1080p making it really difficult for me to achieve my target performance of 1,000fps at this resolution. Fortunately a new sensor came to the rescue. It is leagues ahead in performance and sensitivity. I am on my third iteration of this new sensor board - it has been a steep learning curve as the philosophy behind the new sensor is quite different from the original one. So while I know there hasn't been much news I have been very busy getting it to fruition. In the meantime I have put the new experience learned from the fps100HD into it such as power saving and cooling. I'm really excited about this product. It is all basically working. I will update soon in more detail on this.

Current Backers 

Although production has been ongoing for sometime now and many of you have cameras, the rate of production is slower than I'd like. I am putting as much resource into this as I can. Current backers that are still waiting to receive cameras may ask why I am launching a new campaign at this time. I am looking at the fps1000 and The Slow Motion Camera Company as a long term concern and providing a new income stream for the company will help the production of existing cameras, which share many of the same components, as well as generate awareness of the new products which will provide a future for the company. The original investment from the first kickstarter campaign has been used to buy the initial components for the cameras - mainly memories and sensors. However, the development of the final product and the numerous iterations of the boards to get them to production status has also required a lot of investment. I am still building cameras in relatively low volumes as this is all I can do with the limited resources of the company. I will satisfy all outstanding orders but it will take time.

In the event of a successful campaign for the fps1000HD I hope to be able to increase batch sizes which should enable me to satisfy all outstanding backer orders within the next 8 weeks. I know this has been a long wait for many of you and I appreciate your support. I want you to know that I am committed to satisfying all existing orders and to invest in the fps1000 family for the long term.

If you have any questions then please email me at [email protected] rather than post comments or messages.

Current and New Product Update
over 8 years ago – Mon, Jul 04, 2016 at 12:13:49 AM

It's been a little longer than usual since my last update and I've been getting messages asking for news. In spite of the silence there has been a concerted effort to meet shipment of pledges and to complete new products.

First shipment status. Shipments are going out continuously. The early production teething problems have been sorted out and building cameras is relatively straightforward. Silver and Gold cameras will start shipping this month - these have been delayed while first Platinums are shipped and proven. Volumes should be ramping up this month.

As a result of some customer feedback I feel I should point out a few things: batteries are not included (due to shipping restrictions on Li-ion batteries). There is an SD card provided which is in the camera. This is the recommended SD card that is known to work well with the camera and is low cost. The SD card also contains the latest User Guide.

If you have any individual questions regarding the shipment of your camera then please email me.

Battery Recommendations

I have tried many many different types of batteries. The newer fps1000 models such as the Double use more power than the current Platinum and many of the batteries I have been using simply won't work. This is not because the new camera is so power hungry but that the battery specs are simply not accurate. I now avoid batteries with high mAh ratings as they just don't work in practice. My current recommendations, all of which power the Double quite happily, are from the mainstream suppliers such as Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and LG. Some that I would recommended are:

LG Chem 18650HG2

LG Chem 18650HE4

Sony US18650VTC5

Double Platinum

Last time I told you that there was a second iteration board being produced. Well this has passed all tests and the Double Platinum is now development complete. I can also release more information about this new top of the range fps1000 model. It is performing beyond my expectations and the new sensor is incredible. I am extremely pleased with the results. Subjectively the low light sensitivity has improved considerably and the 12 bit pixel depth adds significantly to the image quality. Here are the headline facts compared to the standard Platinum.

Here is the first 1,000 fps 720p video from the Double Platinum. The whole action took place in about a second - the first part of the clip is in simulated real time. The slight jump at 37s is due to some frames that got corrupted in the process of making the video. The lens is the standard lens shipped with the camera.

4K

I am now focused on the new 4K sensor board. This is also a second revision board with the initial power problems sorted out. I will know in the coming week whether this is the final version and will post the first video as soon as I have one.

May Day Update
over 8 years ago – Mon, May 02, 2016 at 09:17:41 PM

Shipments

Cameras are gradually being sent out. It has been a slow start - there is a learning curve at every stage of a new product. I want to make sure that cameras are properly tested before being shipped and there is a lot to test. The first production run were Platinums on the basis that if these go through ok then the Silver and Gold models should also. There is a constant flow of boards through production and they will all be delivered. Thank you all for your continued patience.

Platinum Double

The Platinum Double has gone through the debug stage and there are a few minor changes that need to be made.There is a second revision of the board being assembled now. This has delayed shipments of this by a few weeks. I hope to be able to post some images soon. Early results show a much increased sensitivity compared to the standard Platinum.

Platinum 4K

The 4K board is completely working without any serious problems. However, the peak power consumption during high frame rate recording has caused some problems, effectively limiting the frame rate on the prototype. I have made some modifications to this to significantly improve the power distribution. However, the board is working in all other respects which means that I have been able to complete the firmware changes required. I have also modified the standard camera case to cater for the larger sensor size and added some fans to assist the cooling. I will be offering a range of lens mounts - thank you all for your feedback on this. The picture shows a Canon EF mount. I should have the modified board back in about a week for testing.

Future Developments

The intensity of product developments is beginning to ease and I have been able to focus some effort on other urgent requirements. The first of these is a website. This is under way and I hope to be able to launch it soon. Once this is up and running it will be the main conduit for future updates and product development information.

I am trying hard to get production up to speed and also to ensure that the fps1000 stays ahead of the game. Thanks to everyone who has supported me and placed orders - I am working hard to fulfil them.

There is also one more exciting product announcement to come - but this will have to wait until next time.

The Final Touch
over 8 years ago – Fri, Mar 18, 2016 at 07:26:03 PM

fps1000 Packaging

The fps1000 packaging arrived today. I wanted to share with you the final product.

4K Update

More 4K sensor boards are due to be delivered to me on Monday. If all is well I will be posting some images soon.

Platinum Double

The Platinum Double will be the next to come off the production line. These are in manufacture now. The headline performance of the Double is 1280 x 720 @1,000 fps - double the performance of the Platinum. The memory size is also doubled to 128GBytes. Otherwise the specification is the same as the Platinum and shares the same motherboard, case and software. This is now available to pre-order.

fps1000 Ready To Ship
over 8 years ago – Sun, Mar 06, 2016 at 06:13:25 PM

Production

It has been another very busy month. The fps1000 production cases arrived and they look very nice. This was a nervous time for me since I placed the order for hundreds of plastic LCD bezels and battery covers several weeks ago. Tooling costs for these parts were a major investment and any mistakes here could have been costly. There were a few teething problems as expected, mainly with minor things such as screw lengths but these have been sorted out. The camera is finally ready to ship. The last touch will be packaging which should arrive any day. I hope you like the final item:

Software

On the software I have managed to complete the DNG file export. Images saved from the camera are now saved in Adobe's DNG format - there is no need for a conversion program, the files come straight from the camera in DNG format. Images can be imported into a RAW conversion program such as the freely available RawTherapee which has a selection of de-bayer algorithms. There is one more element to the image saving process that I need to complete - this is the fixed pattern noise removal that is required by all cameras with CMOS image sensors. I am in the final stages of implementing this. I will complete this before posting images from the new image pipeline. There are a few software tasks to complete but this will not prevent shipments from starting - I will provide updates to software as new features are added.

Platinum 4K

The 4K sensor board is now fully working. In fact no changes were necessary to the board - most of the time has been spent customising the firmware. This sensor board is compatible with the current motherboard and I have it running in a modified case with a Canon EF lens mount. I will post some pictures of the modified camera and images soon. Although fully working, the prototype sensor board has a manufacturing fault affecting one of the memory control lines. I will send this to the factory to be x-rayed and fixed but in the meantime I will hold onto it to complete software development while I get more made. I expect to have more boards back in just over a week. Early signs are this camera is living up to its expected performance. I will post more details soon.