We are considering upgrading our video labs to digital video.
The camera we chose must:
Allow manual control of the shutter speed.
Have a shutter speed shorter than 1/1000 sec.
Send the video out direct to the computer for analysis
There are two categories of cameras out there. Those that are designed
to function as still cameras (but which often have video capabilities)
and those that are designed to function as camcorders (but which have a
DV output to connect to the computer.) Does anyone know of a straight
digital video camera, i.e., like a surveillance camera but with digital
video (Firewire/IEEE1394) out, not analog?
The majority of the camcorder offerings don't allow manual shutter speed
settings, instead having various automatic exposure controls. An
exception seems to be the Canon Optura which is being marketed as a
cross between a camcorder and a digital still camera. Does anyone know
of any other exceptions?
The digital still cameras with a movie mode seem to store their output
on the camera and then require a separate uploading step to transfer the
movies to the computer. The nice thing about the still cameras is higher
resolution CCDs and usual control over exposure settings. Does anyone
know of any still cameras with Firewire/IEEE1394) output?
Thanks for any help or references.
Tim Sullivan
Department of Physics
Kenyon College
sullivan@kenyon.edu