University of illinois Urbana-Champaign

Image Capture

The Visualization Laboratory has several cameras and supporting equipment to facilitate the image capture needs of researchers. This lab is well-equipped for macro photography, macro video, ultra high speed video, and other photography/video needs. Most equipment may be borrowed on a one-day checkout basis, with longer checkout periods for special circumstances and projects. You can read more about this equipment below. Online reservation calendars are available for reserving each item. Due to high purchase and maintenance costs for high speed cameras, these unique instruments have hourly fees.  All fees are posted on our Fees page.

All Vis Lab equipment can be used by any registered Vis Lab user whose account is in good standing only for research related activities.

High Speed Video

High speed video cameras capture processes that occur at speeds undetectable with the human eye, allowing users to slow down video playback in order to visualize and measure these events. The ITG currently has three state-of-the-art high speed video cameras, each with distinct features and capabilities to meet a variety of research needs.

Photron Fastcam SA-Z (Color)

  • Ultra-highspeed color camera with the ability to capture 20,000 frames per second at a resolution of 1024x1024
  • maximum speed of 2,100,000 frames per second at smaller resolutions
  • PFV (Photron FASTCAM Viewer) software for camera acquisition/editing is available for free download to be used on your computers for editing video's once you've captures them in our lab.

Vision Research Phantom v9.1

  • Color camera
  • 1,016 frames per second at its native resolution of 1632 x 1200
  • Up to 153,846 frames per second at its lowest resolution of 96 x 8

Vision Research Phantom Miro eX4 Color camera

  • Small form factor and portable color camera
  • Captures 1,260 frames per second at its native resolution of 800 x 600
  • Up to 111,100 frames per second at its lowest resolution of 32 x 16
  • Several pieces of supporting equipment including lenses, lighting, a tripod, multiple high-capacity compact flash cards for recording, high-speed acquisition/editing software, and a carrying case for transporting these items

For capturing images at high speeds on the microscopic scale, we have a Vision Research Phantom Miro eX4 Monochrome high speed camera permanently mounted on a Zeiss Stereo Discovery V.20 microscope in the ITG's Microscopy Suite. This system allows users to record dynamic process on a small scale, with a maximum magnification of ???x. See the Microscopy Suite pages for details and contact information for using this high speed light microscope system. Regular hourly fees apply.

Still Photography

The following still photography cameras are available for use both inside and outside the Visualization Laboratory. Regular hourly usage fees apply.

Click the link to download a PDF of the device manual:

Video

The following video cameras (non high-speed) are available for use both inside and outside the Visualization Laboratory. Regular hourly usage fees apply.

Click the link to download a PDF of the device manual:

Additional Image Capture Equipment

In addition to the still and video cameras listed above, the Visualization Laboratory has several lenses, light kits, mounts, tripods, and other support equipment.

StackShot