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Old March 4th 04, 09:11 PM
W. Watson
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Default Freeze Frame Exposure Time?

Hi,
Thanks. Interesting.

I called SC in Texas awhile ago and posed the question of specifying 100 frames a
second (video mode). My understanding from the tech guy is that one would get 30
frames, but each exposure would be at most 1/100th sec. Similarly, specifying 500
frames a second would produce nothing greater than 1/500th sec. I'm not so sure I buy
that, especially in view of what you said below. If you're right, and you probably
are, then I have a feeling there are a number of people out there who think they are
shooting at (specified) speeds of 1/100th, 1/500th, 1/4000th, etc. with their video
cameras.

Chris L Peterson wrote:

On Thu, 04 Mar 2004 12:21:38 GMT, "W. Watson" wrote:


Yes, I modified it per Paul Goelz's web page instructions. I take it then that the
mod standarized it to roughly 1/30th of a second for a single frame? If so, then I
would guess if my software is set to shoot for say 10 frames/sec. in video mode, then
each shot is roughtly 1/10th of a second--less for download considerations.



There are several modifications possible with the PC23C. Normally, you would
want to disable the AGC circuit so the camera's video amplifier operates at a
fixed gain. Then you would want to provide manual adjustment for the shutter
speed. (Normally, both the gain and shutter speed are managed automatically, and
in unison, to control sensitivity). When you have manual control of the shutter
speed, you can set it to be anything from 1/30 second to 1/100,000 second. No
matter what shutter speed you have set, the camera output is RS-170, or 30
frames per second (really, one subframe each 1/60 second). If you set your video
capture software for 10 frames per second, that has no effect on the exposure
time- it will still be between 1/30 and 1/100,000 second depending on the
shutter speed setting your mod is providing the camera. In other words, the
camera has no idea what your video capture rate is- it just outputs 30 frames
per second no matter what, and exposes each of those frames for a period
determined either by its internal auto exposure circuit or by the voltage
supplied by your external mod.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com



--
Wayne T. Watson (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N, 2,701 feet, Nevada City, CA)
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