Chronos > Chronos User Discussion

Moonlit stills, Chronos suitable?

(1/6) > >>

evanh:
I'm no optics expert but I get the impression the Chronos has a high sensitivity image sensor.  It stands to reason this could work in moonlight for stills or even ordinary speed video.

For comparison:
I've previously used a Canon S5, 2002 model, for some low-light work and it does work for stars in the night sky but I couldn't get it to pick up anything non-transmissive in a just-after-dusk shot.

PS:  I do want a high speed camera as well.  The Chronos monochrome model would seem the right option to cover both jobs.

NiNeff:
I've not yet tested filming at night (something like the stars), but you can indeed st the frame rate very low. I believe it was about 10s max exposure per frame. (You can search it on the forums here, telsa500 posted it somewhere ;))
However I don't think using a high speed camera is a good idea for low-light situations. It might work and you might get some useable results, but your effectively wasting money and computing power on the exact opposite kind of features you're using.

But using the camera as dual-purpose might work. I'll try to do some test shots in the coming weeks or so.

Nikon1:
Given that you can get your hands on (or even own one) a Lens With 300mm or more, good Sharpness and a somewhat big apperture or even a Telescope you should be able to get good shots of the moon. Since the moon is quite bright, you could actually maybe even get real-Time Video from the chronos. I still dont own one, so dont take my word for it... But if you could do exposures of up to 10 Seconds, and the moon beeing quite bright, you should get enough light with it.
For stuff like Stars ist a bit of an different story. Since the Chronos is rather low resolution compared to modern Digital Cameras you wont get a ton of stars/ details to see in your images. Unless you have some impressive Telescopic optics to pair with the Camera. But if you already have the Optics, then why use the chronos for star Photography? Almost any Camera will take good pictures of the night Sky if paired with some Impressive Telescope. There are a lot of "better" alternatives than the Chronos for stills, meaning Cheaper and Higher Resolution. Just to name Some Alternatives with "small" sensors of variying size: MFT-Cameras like Pansonic, Olympus; the Nikon1 System; Pentax Q; Modified Gopros and of course Various Industrial C-Mount cameras (which could also qet realy pricey quickly)... and of course Hacked Compact-Cameras (some of them are super inexpensive and still have a good sensor inside, lens removal could be difficult sometimes.).
.
If you mainly want the chronos for highspeed, then it is in my opinion the best option you could get around this price range. It should be usable for night photograpy and would have the advantage that it gives you a LOT of fine Control over stuff like framerate and exposure time, which you wont get in any usual conumer-grade Camera. This could be a really powerfull camera if you are into some super advanced (in terms of timing) timelapse-stuff. But like said, the resolution is not super high.
If you want it primarily for stills, then there maybe be some better option for you. If you want the 2/3" sensor size, there are Plenty of other cameras with similar sensor size, that will work as well and give as good or even better results than the Chronos, some at way lower price points. Have a look into the above List of cameras or look into industrial c-Mount Cameras with CCD-Sensors.
If you want ultimative Night-Vision in a Camera just Get an Sony A7 Sii or S. There are some other Big-Sensor - High sensitivity Cameras out there, but Sony does it best at the moment with the A7Sii. About the same price of the Chronos and you will also get a lens to that A7 for this kind of money... Bad thing is that the A7s just does quite lame framerates...

evanh:
NiNeff,
Any examples of lighting sensitivity of the surroundings will be appreciated.  Shadows cast by the moon would be an example.

I know the resolution ain't great but buying a specific camera for the job won't happen.  It's the Chronos or naught.  The Chronos will be used for its designed purpose also.

BiduleOhm:
Actually if you use the mode where the trigger controls the shutter you should be able to do really long exposures, far more than 10 seconds AFAIK.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page