Interferometer Cameras

Camera Selection

Most older interferometers use analog video cameras that conform to the monochrome RS170 (60Hz) or CCIR (50Hz) broadcast standards. If you are upgrading an older interferometer, you have two choices:

• Keep your video camera and upgrade the frame grabber.
• Replace the video camera with a digital camera that connects directly to the computer via FireWire (1394), USB or GigE.

You should expect to pay $700 or more for an industrial grade digital camera—about the same as for a video frame grabber. Consumer grade devices are mostly limited to color images and use lossy data compression.

Make and Model (44 cameras)	Basler A622f	Basler A312f	Basler A311f	Basler A602f	Basler A601f	Basler scA640-74gm	Imperx IPX-1M48-G	Imperx IPX-1M48-L	AVT Pike F-100	AVT Prosilica GS1380	AVT Manta G-046	Pulnix TM-1405GE	JAI TM-1325CL	JAI CV-M4+CL	ImagingSource DMK41AU02	Edmund EO-0312M	Edmund EO-1312M	Point Grey FL3-FW-03S3M	Point Grey FL3-FW-14S3M	Point Grey FL2-14S3M	Point Grey FL2-03S2M	Point Grey FL2-08S2M	PixelLINK PL-B741U	ImagingSource DMK 41AF02	ImagingSource DMK 41AG02	Basler avA1000-120km	Basler avA1600-65km	Basler avA1000-100gm	Basler avA1600-50gm	Basler avA2300-25gm	Basler avA2300-30km	Point Grey GRAS-03S3M	Point Grey GS2-GE-20S4M	Imperx ICL-B1410M	Imperx IGV-B1410M	Imperx ICL-B1620	Imperx IGV-B1620	AVT Stingray F-033B	AVT Stingray F-046B	Basler scA640-74fm	AVT Prosilica GC655	Point Grey GS2-FW-14S5M	CV-M4 CL	Point Grey GS2-GE-50S5M
Interface	1394a	1394a	1394a	1394a	1394a	GigE	GigE	CameraLink	1394b	GigE	GigE	GigE	CameraLink	CameraLink	USB 2.0	USB 2.0	USB 2.0	1394b	1394b	1394b	1394b	1394b	USB 2.0	1394a	GigE	CameraLink	CameraLink	GigE	GigE	GigE	CameraLink	1394b	GigE	CameraLink	GigE	CameraLink	GigE	1394b	1394b	1394b	GigE	1394b		GigE
Sensor Manufacturer	Cypress	Sony	Sony	Micron	Micron	Sony	Kodak	Kodak	Kodak	Sony	Sony	Sony	Sony	Sony	Sony	Sony	Micron	Sony	Sony	Sony	Sony	Sony	Cypress	Sony	Sony	Kodak	Kodak	Kodak	Kodak	Kodak	Kodak	Sony	Sony	Sony	Sony	Kodak	Kodak	Sony	Sony	Sony	Sony	Sony		Sony
Sensor Model	IFIS5A-1300	ICX-415AL	ICX-414AL	MT9V403	MT9V403	ICX 414	KAI-1020	KAI-1020	KAI-1020	ICX285	ICX415	ICX205AL	ICX285AL	ICX285AL	ICX205AL	ICX-414	MT9M001	ICX414	ICX267	ICX267	ICX424	ICX204	IBIS 5B	ICX205AL	ICX205AL	KAI-1050	KAI-02050	KAI-01050	KAI-02050	KAI-04050	KAI-04050	ICX414	ICX274	ICX285	ICX285	KAI-2020	KAI-2020	ICX414		ICX 414	ICX414	ICX285		ICX625
Sensor Type	CMOS	CCD	CCD	CMOS	CMOS	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CMOS	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CMOS	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD		CCD
Format	2/3"	1/2"	1/2"	1/2"	1/2"	1/2"	2/3"	2/3"	2/3"	2/3"	1/2"	1/2"	2/3"	2/3"	1/2"	1/2"	1/2"	1/2"	1/2"	1/2"	1/3"	1/3"	2/3"	1/2"	1/2"	1/2"	2/3"	1/2"	2/3"	1/1"	1/1"	1/2"	1/1"	2/3"	2/3"	1/1"	1/1"	1/2"	1/2"	1/2"	1/2"	2/3"		2/3"
Active Area (mm)	8.58×6.86	6.49×4.83	6.52×4.89	6.49×4.86	6.49×4.86	6.52×4.89	7.40×7.40	7.40×7.40	7.40×7.40	8.77×6.60	6.47×4.81	6.47×4.84	8.98×6.71	8.90×6.64	5.95×4.46	6.34×4.75	6.66×5.32	6.42×4.83	6.47×4.80	6.47×4.80	4.80×3.61	4.80×3.61	8.58×6.86	5.95×4.46	595.20×446.40	5.63×5.63	8.80×6.60	5.63×5.63	8.80×6.60	12.81×9.63	12.81×9.63	6.42×4.83	7.15×5.39	8.98×6.71	8.98×6.71	11.90×8.94	11.90×8.94	6.49×4.87	6.47×4.83	6.52×4.89	6.52×4.88	8.93×6.68	0.00×0.00	8.45×7.07
Pixels (H×V)	1280×1024	782×582	659×494	656×491	656×491	659×494	1000×1000	1000×1000	1000×1000	1360×1024	780×580	1392×1040	1392×1040	1380×1030	1280×960	640×480	1280×1024	648×488	1392×1032	1392×1032	648×488	1032×776	1280×1024	1280×960	1280×960	1024×1024	1600×1200	1024×1024	1600×1200	2330×1750	2330×1750	648×488	1624×1224	1392×1040	1392×1040	1608×1208	1608×1208	656×492	780×582	659×494	659×493	1384×1036	0×0	2448×2048
Pixel Pitch	6.7 µm	8.3 µm	9.9 µm	9.9 µm	9.9 µm	9.9 µm	7.4 µm	7.4 µm	7.4 µm	6.45 µm	8.3 µm	4.65 µm	6.45 µm	6.45 µm	4.65 µm	9.9 µm	5.2 µm	9.9 µm	4.65 µm	4.65 µm	7.4 µm	4.65 µm	6.7 µm	4.65 µm	465 µm	5.5 µm	5.5 µm	5.5 µm	5.5 µm	5.5 µm	5.5 µm	9.9 µm	4.4 µm	6.45 µm	6.45 µm	7.4 µm	7.4 µm	9.9 µm	8.3 µm	9.9 µm	9.9 µm	6.45 µm	µm	3.45 µm
Pixel Depth	10 bit	12 bit	12 bit	8 bit	8 bit	16 bit	12 bit	12 bit	14 bit	14 bit	12 bit	10 bit	10 bit	10 bit	9 bit	8 bit	8 bit	12 bit	12 bit	12 bit	12 bit	12 bit	10 bit	8 bit	8 bit	12 bit	12 bit	12 bit	12 bit	16 bit	16 bit	14 bit	14 bit	14 bit	16 bit	14 bit	16 bit	14 bit	14 bit	16 bit	12 bit	14 bit	0 bit	16 bit
Frame Rate (at max res)	25 fps	53 fps	73 fps	100 fps	60 fps	79 fps	48 fps	48 fps	60 fps	30 fps	67 fps	30 fps	30 fps	24 fps	15 fps	75 fps	25 fps	76 fps	15 fps	15 fps	80 fps	30 fps	27 fps	15 fps	15 fps	120 fps	67 fps	101 fps	55 fps	26 fps	31 fps	74 fps	29 fps	30 fps	30 fps	35 fps	35 fps	84 fps	55 fps	74 fps	90 fps	30 fps	0 fps	15 fps
Shutter Type	Global	Global	Global			Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global		Global	Global	Rolling	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global	Global
Housing (H×W×L mm)	63.7×44×29	62×62×40.8	62×62×40.8	67.3×44×29	67.3×44×29	29×44×73.7	78×78×54	64×64×41	96.8×44×44	26×56×96	86.4×44×29	50.8×50.8×81.5	44×44×63	40×50×100	50.6×50.6×50	34×32×34.4	34×44×43.5	30×29×29	30×29×29	30×29×29	30×29×29	30×29×29	41×50×102	50.6×50.6×50	50.6×50.6×50	62×62×57	62×62×57	62×62×57	62×62×57	62×62×57	62×62×57	44×29×58	29×44×58	45×45×39	45×45×63	45×45×43	45×45×66	29×44×72.9	29×44×72	29×44×73.7	33×46×59	29×44×58		29×44×58
Weight	100 g	240 g	240 g	100 g	100 g	160 g	450 g	280 g	250 g			140 g			265 g			58 g	58 g	58 g	58 g	58 g	204 g	265 g	265 g	300 g	300 g	300 g	300 g	300 g	300 g	104 g	86 g	160 g	243 g	180 g	263 g	120 g	120 g	160 g	100 g	104 g		86 g

Recommended Camera Specs

• Digital
• Non-interlaced
• Minimum frame rate 25 fps
• Minimum format 1/2"
• Minimum resolution 640 x 480 (once known as “high resolution”)
• Square pixels
• Aspect ratio no greater than 4:3
• Gamma 1.0

USB 2.0 vs FireWire 400 (1394a)

USB 2.0 claims a higher signaling rate (480 Mbit/s) than FireWire 400 (400 Mbit/s). However, actual USB 2.0 data transfer rates are only 240 to 280 Mbit/s. This is due to USB's reliance on the host CPU to manage low-level USB protocol, whereas FireWire delegates this role to the interface hardware. Diffraction International therefore recommends FireWire cameras for interferometry applications.

Your interferometer may have a second video camera used for alignment mode. Since alignment mode image quality is non-critical, we recommend keeping the video alignment camera and interfacing it to the computer with an inexpensive video-to-USB adapter.

IEEE-1394 Format_7 modes

Format_7 modes are custom and defined by the camera manufacturer and vary by camera model. Format_7 modes are typically characterized by region of interest (ROI) and/or pixel binning, although full resolution is for some cameras a Format_7 mode. Both techniques typically result in a faster frame rate. ROI is also known as sub-windowing. For some CCD sensors, ROI may increase the frame rate only if the number of rows is reduced. Pixel binning is typically 1×2 or 2×1 or 2×2 with 2×2 being of most interest because the others result in a distorted image.