Thursday, January 08, 2009

What Faster Sensors Can Do

The fast CMOS sensors are supposed to be a big differentiator in the near future. Casio just announced its fast cameras line-up showing a part of future high-speed camera capabilities:

High-Speed Anti-Shake and High-Speed Night Scene functions
These functions work because the cameras can combine a number of images taken in burst mode, and then align the position of the subject to form a single shot. This means that, even without a tripod, zoom photography and night shots are beautifully rendered, virtually making photo blur a thing of the past.

30 shot-per-second high-speed burst shooting ensures that every crucial moments is captured
Both of these cameras can take up to 30 shots per second of high-resolution 6.0-megapixel images. What’s more, they can save up to 25 frames prior to the instant that the shutter button is actually pressed, so even if the user hits the shutter a bit late, that special moment will not be missed. The number of shots per second can be set at 30, 15, 10, 5, 3 or auto, and the user can set the total number of shots in one burst at 30, 20, 10 or 5.

Lag Correction
These cameras make it possible to set in advance the time lag between the moment that the user wants to capture and the actual time of taking the picture. This way, it is possible to capture that precious instant at any time, with minimal lag. This works because the cameras select from the images they temporarily store in their burst mode buffers the one image that was taken at the specified interval prior to the shutter being released, and just that image is saved.

Slow Motion View
By pressing a dedicated button during shooting, it is possible to view the movement of the subject in slow motion on the LCD monitor. The user can press the shutter while viewing the LCD monitor, selecting the perfect moment to capture from a scene that looks as if time has been slowed down.

I wonder how long the battery lasts with all these nice features activated.

3 comments:

  1. On the EX-F1 battery life is pretty decent even using all of these features. But on the EX-F1 it's a 7.4V 1950mAh battery, so it's beef. I doubt these smaller cams pack such a hefty battery.

    I realize this blog is dedicated to a pretty specific audience, but I'm certain that some readers (myself included) would appreciate some of your insight and explanation on some of the more clever sensor designs you post here.

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  2. EX-F1 has only a part of these features. Being an older generation, it does not have anti-shake in the form described above. Neither it has the shutter lag compensation. Actually, the new Casio cameras are the first ones offering the anti-shake that Sony described almost two years ago.

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  3. Yes, I enjoy the commentary very much.

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