Hi,
I have been reading all the post, so far.
I would really appreciate if you could recommend me cameras for a general biomechanics purpose (teaching and researching). What should I buy? The cost could be medium ( 70-150 euros or so) as well as we are looking some with more resolution and speed recording..
THanks a lot in advance...
Mikel
Hi Mikel,
to my experience there are 3 options available:
1. USB2-Camera OVC compatible, global shutter (!) cameras from ELP, Kayeton and many others
They cost about 50-100 Euro/Dollar. Available in black/white or color.
The disadvantage is, that you cannot control all parameters. You may select fixed frame size / fps - combinations but shutter speed may not be modified.
2. Machine vision cameras having the IMX273 1/3“chip, available from Basler,IDS, Daheng, working with Kinovea.
All are global shutter cameras. 1,6 MP resolution, 227 fps. Available in black/white or color. The interface is USB 3.0 (or better)
These cameras can be controlled in about all parameters. Reducing the frame height, the framerate can be tuned to over 500fps. The shutter speed can be fully controlled to reduce blurring in high speed video recording.
Due to the relative small chip size, also cheap S12-Lenses can be used at a price between 15-100 Euro, depending on the quality. The monochrome models have a higher light intensity and binning can be used (combining multiple pixels to one pixel), that reduces the amount of necessary light dramatically.
The cheapest if from Daheng, about 225 Euros/Dollars plus shipping + VAT, so all about 310 Euro
3. Machine vision cameras having the IMX174 1/1.2“ chip. These cameras are of higher quality and need less light. However, the cheapest one is from Daheng, still at a price of 450 + VAT + handling. Due to the 1/1.2“ chip, the price of the lenses are high, starting at about 350 Euro.
My recommendation would be the IMX273 monochrome (or color if you use colored orientation points). It’s a solid camera (MTBF >30000h), all parameters can be controlled and cheap lenses may be used. I could go up to 15mm lenses. If you go higher, they have to be selected carefully to assure a proper focussing of the lens.
That's a good choice.
To get the right lens, a lens calculator may help. Basler actually has updated their lens selection tool also to get infos of (cheaper) S-type lenses. You may enter the 1/3" chip, your desired field of view and the distance to your object and will get the correct lens type.
Be aware that when using S-type lenses the focus will be determined by screwing the lens into the camera. Therefore it is important that the focus center of the lens fits to the camera. To me it is always a high "fiddling factor" to get a sharp focus, when using the 2 threaded ring system. There are C-mount to S-mount adapters available that might ease this procedure. If you use a C-mount lens (min. 1/3") it makes it much easier.
@reiner
Do you think this would be a good camera for the golf swing.
| HIKVISION 1.6MP 1/2.9‘’ IMX273 GigE/POE/USB3.0 Global Shutter Machine Vision Area Scan Camera CS016-10GM CS016-10GC CS016-10UM
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mLQVuOU
It’s not clear if it needs a lens but I assume it does.
Will these work with Kinovea?
I recommend taking into account these points:
- The maximal framerate of the camera you mention is 64 fps. For golf application, I would recommend at least 120 fps, better 150 to 200 fps. If your current delivers 60Hz, 120 or 180 fps might be favorable to reduce flickering.
- Up to now, drivers that are tested with Kinovea are available for IDS, Basler, Daheng and Baumer -Cameras. You can expect that they work absolutely stable (at least to my experience). All these Kinovea-drivers use specific driver-software from the manufacturer.
- Joan is actually working on so called GenICam drivers that are not related to a specific manufacturer but should work with most machine vision cameras, as long as the manufacturer has implemented the GenICam interface correctly. You may expect a solid implementation from the big vendors but there might be no guarantee to get it run with other cameras. At least, you might not have a support from the manufacturer.
- The price difference is about 70 $ between your „unknown“ model and for example Daheng, so I think it is worth the money to make sure it will run.
- About all companies building machine vision cameras are selling their lenses separately. With the 1/2.9“ IMX273-sensor you can use a S-type lens with an adapter that might be cheaper than a C-mount lens. Use a lens calculator to select the right lens for your individual configuration.