Other cameras you'll come across in the UK might be:

Arri's 'Tornado' The light sensor used in our camera is a massive 26 times more sensitive than the Tornado's! That translates into a big lighting bill and/or a lack of stop when using the Tornado. The viewfinder output isn't live - it has a delay, making following live action difficult. Our camera will shoot at 2000fps, compared to the Tornado's maximum of 1000fps. The Tornado's sensor is from an older generation - giving inferior image quality. And you'll probably want to hire Arri's eQ Quantel kit and operator too ....

Green Door's 'Phantom V5' A major drawback is that the video cannot be reviewed immediately on a G1 monitor: data has to be downloaded to a computer and rendered before it can be viewed. The light sensor used in our camera is 2 times more sensitive than the Phantom V5. The Phantom V5 has no composite output to a G1 monitor, only to a computer screen - exposure is anyone's guess. The Phantom V5 stores images in a native file format called '.cin' - which need to be converted at somewhere like Rushes (which costs) before you can start editing. Our camera will shoot at 2000fps, compared to the Phantom V5's maximum of 1000fps. The Phantom V5's sensor is from an older generation - giving inferior image quality.

Lake Image Systems' 'MotionXtra HG-100K' The light sensor used in our camera is 4 times more sensitive than the HG-100K - that's two stops loss. The HG-100K has no composite output to a G1 monitor, only to a computer screen - exposure is anyone's guess. Our camera will shoot at 2000fps, compared to the HG-100K's maximum of 1000fps. The HG-100K's sensor is from an older generation - giving inferior image quality. Lens choice is only C-mount or Nikon stills lenses.

Which will you choose?

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• The kit comprises a camera head & memory block, controlled by a custom-built Camera Control Unit (CCU). Custom-built lens mount permits a full range of 35mm cine lenses to be used. Pirate's baseplate provides full compatibility with 35mm cine camera accessories such as head, tripod, matte rails, matte box etc.
  
• Video eyepiece allows easy shot setup.
  
• 21" G1 monitor provides instant high quality image playback.
  
• Motion Controlled Head option. Focus, zoom, pan & tilt can be motion controlled.
  
• Custom Frame Rate option. Bespoke software and interface hardware permits any steady frame rate to be shot above 75fps. In addition, 25 fps can be shot to match live action with high speed shots.
  
• Trigger Kit option. Events can be synchronised to camera turnover and/or motion controlled camera movements. (Standard trigger options include End trigger).
  
• LaCie 160GB portable hard drive supplies uncompressed 10 bit TIFF files to clients (Mac & PC compatible) - supplied in rugged shock-proof case.

So how exactly are the images stored?
The frames are captured digitally within the camera memory, and then downloaded onto a hard disk within the CCU before using the camera again. Each take is saved as a numbered sequence of uncompressed 10 bit TIFF files within a named folder. As a rough guide, an edited 1000 frames will take 3 minutes to download, and occupy about 3Gb of CCU disk space. During the shoot, data is copied onto the 160Gb LaCie portable drive, which is formatted for plug & play use with Windows 98 SE, Me, 2000 and XP and Mac OS 9x & 10x allowing the files to be imported directly into an edit suite. (Sample data available on request). If required, Pirate can transfer the data onto digibeta tape for those who wish to edit conventionally.

Standard Camera Speeds (fps)
60, 125, 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 6000, 8000, 10000, 15000, 20000, 30000, 40000, 50000, 87600, 100000, 120000

Standard Shutter Speeds
1/frame rate and 1/3000, 1/4000, 1/6000, 1/8000, 1/10000, 1/15000, 1/20000, 1/30000, 1/40000, 1/50000, 1/87600, 1/100000, 1/120000

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