The Chronos 1.4 Team has now posted the first incarnation of the RAW Camera data to DNG File tool to convert the sensor information files to usable Adobe DNG sequences. They also have posted a sample image comparing the before and after characteristics of the image quality if saved on H.264 in camera and then the same scene shot and saved in RAW format which converted to DNG yields a substantial improvement in image quality as we explored in our previous post about this issue here.
The camera is expected to allow direct to DNG format file saving in the future but now you can shoot in the camera RAW format and later convert as an interim solution without sacrificing quality on the H.264 files. Maybe in the future, the camera will be able to simultaneously save RAW and H.264 files as a proxy feature to be able to easily sample clips in editing before conversion. We believe the DNG format should be your one-stop solution for this camera if image quality is important for your use case.
Chronos 1.4 RAW Sample and Download Info:
Image sample released by Krontech.ca Showing the benefits of using RAW vs the camera’s internal de-bayering to H.264. There is a substantial difference along with the ability to white balance the images after the fact. We estimate near 11 stops of dynamic range using RAW and a little under 9 stops is using H.264.
Download the Chronos 1.4 RAW data to DNG File Converter tool here in the official Forum Post.<<< Download Software Here
Quick User guide available here at Github!
New Light Recommendations from Krontech:
Krontech has now posted a light recommendation store page based on their own tests for inexpensive and good quality lights for slow motion shooting.
We have heard good things about the recommended lights and fall right in line with our own recommendation for the RPS Studio 100w lights which in our tests offered no flickering at full power for any frame rate shot by high speed cameras up to 32k fps. The Godox lights should be comparable in performance and dependability.
We will test out the RAW format in the coming weeks and report back on our findings. The Chronos Camera is maturing day by day to a more dependable product for professionals. With the RAW update, it could bet the best price/performance camera deal for high-speed capture in the world today. -HSC
I tried to connect my usb 3.0 drive to Chronos to save cause saving RAW to SD is slow, but it’s not working. How are you saving to RAW?
I save to Sandisk SDXC cards. About 5-6fps save rate. On USB 3 drive attached It gives 5-7fps so really it seems to be based on the capacity of the processor to save frames to DNG. The quality increase of the 1800kb files is worth the wait even if it is really slow. On the h.264 it gives me about 80fps at times but the quality difference makes it just an option for non critical work. The HDMI out allows you to play back at 30fps to an external recorder but it will have to be tested. You just have to scrub forward while the recorder is in rec mode. It will be as good as Tiff but not RAW DNG. Btw if you havent already done so upgrade to the latest beta 9 big DNG release.
Will USH-2 card make a difference?
No, the only difference would be a better optimization of the RAW DNG pipeline to save faster. Maybe using a RAM buffer detracting from record time for faster frame processing could really change things. 5-6fps seems to be the limit of the current release.