This high frame rate camera takes from 840 to over 10,000 frames per second to produce amazing slow motion video at a very low cost.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
A Quick Update
almost 9 years ago
– Mon, Feb 08, 2016 at 10:45:57 PM
Production is under way as planned. The new motherboards are back and being tested. The fix for the noisy power input has reduced the noise considerably. Hopefully this should be good enough for EMC testing - I will schedule this when the cases are back.
Case parts, both metalwork and plastic are due back next week. Then shipments can begin.
The 4K camera is making good progress - I have first images out of the sensor. So far I haven't found any issues with the hardware, though there is more testing to be done. I will post a full update on this soon.
FCC & CE Certification
almost 9 years ago
– Fri, Jan 08, 2016 at 12:46:05 PM
I spent another day at the EMC test facility this week for a second attempt at getting emissions approvals. I took away everything I learnt from the first session last month and made some modifications to the motherboard to reduce the source of noise as well as improving shielding on the case. I also bought a near field spectrum analyser so that I could get some idea of relative improvements before submitting the camera to another test.
The result?
A qualified success. The modified camera was very much quieter than the original unit and well within the required emissions levels. However, when the external power supply was plugged in there was sufficient noise being transmitted through the power lead to cause it to fall outside the allowed levels. Unfortunately the emissions requirements are that all ports on the camera must be loaded under test.
I was faced with the decision of either going away to make the required modification to the board (a very simple change) and wait another month to get new boards made and tested, or to go ahead with the testing with the external power supply port sealed off. I couldn't face yet another month of delay so I went ahead with the testing.
The Outcome?
I do now have full FCC & CE certification of the fps1000 as a batteries only camera. I am of course disappointed that this is the case but also hugely relieved that I have finally got through this process. I can at least start shipping production units. The camera was conceived as a portable device so this is not a complete failure (had it been the other way round, and it was only possible to use the camera from a mains supply then I would not have gone ahead).
I have made the modification to the supply circuit which should fix the problem and I will be making the first production units with these new boards. I plan to submit the camera for another test with this modification. However, I will be producing the first cameras with the possibility that they will be shipped as batteries only units.
I haven't decided yet on the timescale for re-test. The testing is an expensive process. I will give backers the opportunity to decide on whether a batteries only unit is acceptable before shipping. At least for now production can go ahead and first cameras should start going out this month.
Your feedback as always is welcomed either by messaging me via kickstarter or directly by email to [email protected]
Sample Videos
almost 9 years ago
– Sun, Dec 20, 2015 at 11:23:22 PM
With the final adjustments to the fps1000 sensor parameters complete, the camera is now running at full spec, 550 fps (Platinum 1280x720) and the dynamic range and image quality are looking really good so I took a couple of hours out on Friday, to go down to the park to take a few images to upload.
This time I just used the camera hand-held. I wanted to be spontaneous and didn't want the hassle of setting up on a tripod. It's difficult to grab some motion with a tripod set up, so this time I just wandered around with the camera armed and snapped anything that moved!
It's certainly easy to use now and early teething problems with low dynamic range and image saturation are gone. The focus peaking and histograms make life a lot simpler and the ability to partition the frame buffer so that I can record separate clips is really nice.
These clips were taken with the standard fps1000 lens - I have switched to a 35mm lens as with the C mount the field of view is narrower than the lens suggests. These images are straight from the camera with the minimum amount of post-processing just to adjust the colour balance. There were no bad frames that needed to be dropped or any sharpening in post.
I supply a program to convert the raw images from the camera into standard PNG format images. This program also handles de-bayering (creating full colour images from the Bayer style CFA on the sensor) and a basic level of fixed pattern noise removal. I will be developing both of these features more in future releases.
Production Status
almost 9 years ago
– Tue, Dec 08, 2015 at 11:41:29 PM
The focus since the last update has been the ramping up of production. The initial development phase is complete. I have an initial release of software which I am happy with. It doesn't have all the features I want yet but has all of the fundamentals including the automatic erase which I spoke about last time. It's really easy to pick up the camera now and start shooting. I've also put in a power save mode which shuts down the sensor when it's not being used.
I have taken a major step forward this week and have shipped some early cameras in the old style case. This is important for me so I can get some early feedback from real users before mass shipments start. For the first time I am not the only one with an fps1000!
EMC Status
This has been a big focus of my effort. Unfortunately the new case, being part plastic, had a few leaks which needed to be addressed. Having spent some time in the testing lab with the EMC testing house I have a much better understanding of what's needed for an emission-friendly device. I have built in some modifications into the new case design which should address all of the issues.
I have taken a calculated risk to avoid unnecessary delays and am producing a large batch of cases rather than just one more prototype. This will cost me if there are still problems but I want to get your cameras to you as soon as possible.
The new cases should be back by the end of the month and I have a test slot booked for final approval.
The good news is that apart from the radiation test, the fps1000 passed all other tests including ESD which involved zapping the camera with 8,000 volts!! FCC is only worried about emissions but in Europe we also need to prove that our hardware can withstand external radiation.
I will update you at the end of the month.
Have a good Christmas and thank you.
fps1000s on test
Status Report
about 9 years ago
– Wed, Nov 11, 2015 at 08:08:43 PM
It's been a little over a month since the last report which is longer than I'd like. There has been a lot happening in the last month so here goes...
I left you last time just going into EMC testing. This has been a focus for this last month - it is an expensive process and also a mandatory one which really focuses the mind on getting things right before committing to production. But first...
The Case - Iteration 3!
If you've been following my previous updates you'll know that this has been one of my biggest challenges in this project. The case that you saw in the last update was, in my opinion, solid and functional if not super attractive. However, the biggest problem with it was the cost to manufacture. As I got prices for quantities I realised that it was not really viable, especially for the Silver model which has almost no profit margin. So I faced reality and decided to go for one more iteration. This may be a little painful now but could make the difference between the camera being viable or not.
Luckily, I am getting the hang of this a bit now and I know what is likely to be expensive and what's going to be viable. With a week or two of intensive work with a designer I've got what I hope now is the final version. It's very much cheaper to make as it consists of formed metal and moulded plastic parts rather than being fully machined. I can also get them made quickly thanks to specialist companies offering rapid production services. I am pretty pleased with the new design and it is half the weight of the previous version. Additionally the lens mount and tripod mount are made from stainless steel which is much more hard wearing than the original aluminium parts. The pictures show a prototype - production units will be all black.
EMC Testing
The completion of EMC testing has had to wait for the new case otherwise I'd have to go through the whole process again. Hence the urgency on getting the new case design. This is scheduled for next week.
Production
I have the first batch of production boards back ready for cases. First cases will be here 3 weeks after EMC testing assuming all goes well. I know this incurs an extra delay but I think it is a necessary one. I have a small quantity of the original cases and I will consider shipping these to people who are desperate. Please message me if you would like to be considered for this option. I would, however, recommend that you wait for the new case.
Bonuses
As compensation for this delay - or just serendipity - there are two bonuses that have come out of the move into production.
Bonus One - USB3 is Back!
Well, actually it never went away. I decided some time back that I was never going to have the time to commission the USB3 port on the camera - I didn't want to delay the camera any more so I reluctantly announced that it was not going to be available. However, in the last board iteration I swapped out the USB3 chip I was using for a new one that is ever so much easier to program. And, lo and behold, it now works. So I'm very happy to announce that all cameras will have the USB3 port as standard as originally promised.
Bonus Two - Double the Memory
Consider this one a gift from me for your patience. It applies to Platinum and Silver models only as I explain below.
There's one aspect of this camera that I've been working on in the background for a long time to try to come up with a nice solution. You will all be aware that the fps1000 is unique among high frame rate cameras in that it has a very high capacity frame buffer memory that allows you to record well over a minute of full frame rate raw video thanks to the use of flash memory. But there's one problem with this - flash memory needs to be erased before it can be written to. I've come up with a number of innovative solutions to this, all of which involve some sort of compromise and don't allow easy use in a rolling recording mode (i.e. continuous recording, eventually wrapping around the beginning of the frame buffer). Until now! I've finally cracked the auto erase problem so now you can just press record and have it record in the way you'd expect without having to worry about how the memory gets erased. The only technical problem with this is that it needs more memory bandwidth to achieve. So, because I want this to be the best high frame rate camera available I've given the fps1000 more bandwidth with the lucky side effect that it doubles the memory. So Platinum cameras now have 64 GBytes of memory as standard and Silver and Gold have 32 GBytes. The Gold already had 32 GBytes, so unfortunately there is no gain here. This is enough for around 2 minutes of recording time at maximum frame rate.
And Finally - An Update on the 4K
Today I got back my first 4K sensor boards for testing. There's not much to say but show you a picture. The 4K has been progressing in the background. The timeline for this depends on how well testing goes so there'll be more on this in the next update.
