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Sony's high-speed 'eye' gives robots 1,000 fps vision
Sony is known for making great sensors that serve as a camera's eye, but it apparently designs eyes for robots, as well. The Japanese tech giant has announced the release of a high-speed vision sensor that will allow industrial robots to detect and track objects at 1,000 frames per second. Robots used in factories aren't typically the most sophisticated. Their operators usually have to plot their movements using a program, since they're only meant to do specific tasks in the factory again and again. This high-speed vision sensor, however, could lead to autonomous machines that can quickly react to an object's movements in real time.
Sony's latest sensor shoots ridiculous slow-mo video
Sony has unveiled a sensor that could bring some impressive camera tricks to your next smartphone. The 3-layer CMOS sensor does super slow motion at up to 1,000 fps in full HD (1,920 x 1,080), around eight times faster than any other chip. That's possible thanks to a 2-layer sensor married with high speed DRAM that can buffer images extremely rapidly. Specifically, it can capture 19.3-megapixel images in just 1/120th of a second, "four times faster than conventional products," Sony says.
Filmmakers hack drone to carry 1,000 fps 4K camera
There are 4K cameras and drones, and then there's the Phantom Flex4K and the Aerigon drone --products that top the bad-assery charts in both categories. Drone cinematography outfit Brain Farm decided to pair them up, resulting in a video exactly as impressive as you'd expect. The company (which has done work for clients like Nike and Mercedes) said it's been dreaming of getting the Flex4K into the air ever since it arrived. The problem is that it weighs in at a bulky 14 pounds without a lens, putting it outside the lifting capacity of most UAVs.
Casio's new 1,000fps compact shooter, the EX-FH100, gets slow-mo review
When we took a look at last summer's hottest compact cameras, we had a lot of fun playing with the 1,000fps video capture mode on Casio's EX-FC100. That model is sadly no longer with us, but its successor is here to fill the void. While we dig the sophisticated new look for the EX-FH100, Photography Blog finds that the camera still needs work on the inside. On paper, a 10x zoom in front of a 10 megapixel, backside-illuminated sensor sounds like a great combination, but image quality was found to be poor and ISO settings anywhere above 200 resulted in considerable grain. Still, 40fps still shooting is nothing to scoff at, and a $50 price drop compared to last year's model is progress you can take to the bank.
Casio stuffs backlit CMOS sensors in Exilim EX-FC150 and EX-FH25 superzoom
Casio's usual Exilim fare might struggle to engender a second look from the weary-eyed camera cognoscenti, but a few of the company's models do feature an attention-grabbing 1,000fps shooting mode (albeit at a relatively useless 224 x 64 resolution). A pair of those speedy shooters, the EX-FC100 and EX-FH20, have today been ever so gently upgraded with a set of new name badges and mildly improved performance. The EX-FC150 ups the pixel count to ten million while adding a backlit CMOS sensor, but retains the 5x optical zoom, sensor-shift image stabilization, and general performance of the previous generation. The EX-FH25 20x superzoomer (pictured above) has a similar (if not identical) ten megapixel CMOS sensor, which upgrades the camera's 40fps burst mode from seven to nine megapixel stills, and retains the 720p video recording at 30fps, something the FC150 can also boast. Both are coming out on November 27, though prices have yet to be announced. Hit the read link for the full dish.
Book scanning gets a 1,000 fps turbo mode
No matter how fly or flashy modern scanners become, there's no getting away from their page-by-page assembly line style of operation. Or so we thought. The Ishikawa Komuro Lab at Tokyo University has demonstrated a prototype scanner capable of recording the contents of pages as they turn. Using a laser range projector to estimate page geometry, the camera adjusts for light and movement distortion as necessary and retains faithful copies of the original. At present it's more a proof of concept for the underlying vision processing unit than a commercial venture, but all it needs is one major manufacturer to pick it up and the paperless revolution can finally get started in earnest. [Via Plastic Pals]
I-Movix SprintCam v3 demo reel shows what 1000 fps of HD can do
After bringing an 8,000 fps high definition camera to the Olympics so everyone could see Michael Phelps touch the wall first, I-Movix is ready to show off the SprintCam v3 HD at NAB 2009. While the don't-ask priced camera is way out of the range of the prosumer market it's aimed at sports and documentary makers, with what it claims is the only fully integrated slow motion system capable of 1,000 fps in full HD for broadcast. Whatever, we're just impressed by this HD trailer I-Movix put together (embedded after the break,) we never knew watching Jell-O or a Koosh ball bounce could be so intense.[Thanks, Jacob]
Casio's high-speed EX-FS10 bursts into stores a little later and pricier than expected
Looking to get some bodacious slow-mo shots of your latest kick-flip? Maybe fake a moon landing or two? Or, how about taking some blurry 9.1 megapixel pictures through a 3x non-stabilized zoom lens? All this can be yours, dear readers, later this month when Casio launches the EX-FS10 point-and-shoot, capable of capturing full-res video at 30fps or cut-rate 224 x 64 footage at a whopping 1000fps. If you don't mind pasty cameras (and live in Japan) you can buy yourself one in white on March 27. Red and gray versions will ship a few weeks later, on April 10, all for around $450.[Via Impress]
Casio's burst-recordin' EX-FC100 pocket cam reviewed
It's not enough for pocket cams to just shoot high-def video any more. Oh no, they have to do something fancy with it, like Casio's EX-FS10 and EX-FC100, both offering capture at up to 1,000 fps. The latter of those two, with its 5x optical zoom and 9.1 megapixel resolution, has been given the review treatment ahead of its US release, and the little burst-shooter seems to deliver. 30fps stills at 6 megapixels look clear and sharp, while watching the cam switch from 30fps to 210fps video on the fly is still an impressive thing to see -- especially when it's UNLV cheerleaders we're watching in slow-mo, as embedded below. Low-light photography was not found to be this cam's strong point, but it rarely is with shooters this size, so if you're looking for something to capture your own (well-lit) Mythbusters segments with at home, and you have about $400 to spare, this could be your cam. Go team!
