Warning: The parent company of FPS cameras “The Slow Motion Camera Company Ltd.” went out of business and entered liquidation proceedings. No further development of cameras is expected. More information here on Google Search!
The fps1000 Kickstarter camera is ramping up ever closer to final production and shipment and Graham Rowan the creator and genius mind behind these slow motion cameras has released the upgrade option path for Platinum Kickstarter backers. Pre Order Cameras are also elegible for the upgrade pricing discussed below. Retail cameras in the future will command a higher price.
As you can see in the table above, the upgrade path is a considerable upgrade from the standard platinum camera “Far left”. We dissect the upgrade Pros and cons for the models below:
fps1000 Double Platinum Upgrade:
Pros:
- 2x the memory to 64GB
- all frame rates are double at a given resolution
- 1200 fps at 720p HD
- 12Gbits/sec memory bandwidth vs 5.75 standard!
- Increased Pixel size 6.6 Micron vs 4.8 Micron.
- Sensitivity increased to 9.6 Lux vs 7.7lux.
Cons:
- £300 Pounds upgrade cost-Still an extreme bargain!
- 2/3″ sensor vs 1″ Sensor
- Resolution maxes out at 1280*1024 vs 2560*2048
- No more 1080p resolution.
- Shipping July vs May 2015-Not a big deal
fps1000 Hex Platinum Upgrade:
Pros:
- 4x the memory to 128GB
- 6.6x the frame rate of standard.
- 4000fps at 720p HD
- 4/3″ Sensor vs 1″ Standard– A Big Deal!
- 43Gbits/sec memory bandwidth vs 5.75 standard!
- Increased Pixel size 13.7 Micron vs 4.8 Micron.
- Sensitivity increased to 25 Lux vs 7.7lux. *Killer feature!
Cons:
- £1,500 Pounds upgrade cost – Still a Bargain!
- Resolution maxes out at 1280*860 vs 2560*2048
- No more 1080p resolution.
- Shipping October vs May 2015
fps1000 Platinum 4k Upgrade:
Pros:
- 4x the memory to 128GB
- 3.3x the frame rate of standard.
- 900 fps at 1080p HD*
- 240fps at 4k UHD res
- 600fps at 2k estimated by HSC*
- 2000 fps at 720p HD
- APS-C” Sensor vs 1″ Standard– A Big Deal!
- 38Gbits/sec memory bandwidth vs 5.75 standard!
- Sensitivity retained at 7.7lux. Better than CMOSIS
- Resolution maxes out at 3840*2160 vs 2560*2048
Cons:
- £1,500 Pounds upgrade cost – Still a Major Bargain!
- Decreased Pixel size 4.5 Micron vs 4.8 Micron.
- Shipping September vs May 2015 Sensor availability!
Our Take:
There is a lot to digest here but we feel there is an fps1000 upgrade option for every user represented well.
For Current Backers:
If you want your camera early and you don’t want to upgrade and retain 2.5k resolution you have already paid and you will receive a lot of camera with great performance. You will get better performance than a Sony FS7 or FS700 for one fourth the price.
For Speed Seekers:
The fps1000 Double platinum is for people who have a little more cash to invest in the camera and a craving for better frame rates. You will get 1200fps at 720p and better low light at the cost of sensor size however. If you absolutely need that higher frame rate, it is a little more to get that. However if you want to retain your 2.5k resolution you should keep your original Platinum.
For Low Light High Frame Rate Max Performance Seekers:
The fps1000 Hex is the highest performing camera when it comes to slow motion of the bunch. It has crazy fast frame rates at 720p at 4000fps. It has a much larger sensor than 1″ using a 4/3″ sensor; a size like that on the Panasonic GH4. The low light at 25lux is astounding. It is a low light monster with 13.7 micron pixels. Which is really the killer feature of this camera. You get high frame rates with impressive low light. The Sony a7s which is the low light Mirrorless champ has a micron size of 8.3 which is much smaller than the 13.7 micron of the HEX. As for final performance we will have to see but it sure looks like a low light monster. If you want to save on lights and need the best performing frame rates this upgrade option is unbeatable.
For the 4k – TV and Filmmaker crowd:
The fps1000 4k is all about the filmmaker who needs the resolution and has the option of nearly reaching 1000fps at 1080p if needed. You will sacrifice low light performance and half the frame rate at 720p compared to the Hex but you gain 1080p, 2k,2.5k and 4k resolutions with decreasing frame rates the higher pixel count you go. The low light however is not as bad as the CMOSIS 4k chip that was considered before. It is almost twice as sensitive which is amazing news. You get 7.7 lux which is the same as the standard platinum and much better than the CMOSIS 4k previous option at 4.6 lux. You really get the best of both worlds with this camera. If you can live with a bit less than half of the low light performance of the HEX and half the frame rate at 720p; with a still amazing 2000fps at 720p you are not loosing much with the same £1,500 Pounds upgrade cost. HSC is ordering this option as we feel for our needs this camera fits the bill and makes it more future proof for delivering content to screens with ever higher resolutions. You are getting a camera that is 1/4th a Phantom 4k performer for about 1/5th the price. That is a lot of bang for your money.
Conclusion:
The decision is ultimately yours but we sure have made up our minds with the 4k option. It is more than we ever though would be offered. At all levels you are getting a huge upgrade from the early stages of this product. It will be a matter of testing these cameras once in the field but on paper they have destroyed the spec sheets of anything out there when it comes to frame rates for slow motion at a reasonable cost. For people that still want a camera but did not back the project at Kickstarter you can order one at the Pre Order Site at a slightly higher cost. (Updated) Pre Order cameras are treated the same as Kickstarter Backers and can be upgraded at the same costs discussed. However future retail cameras will command a higher price. So this is your chance to get on the ground floor if you missed the Kickstarter campaign.
We will keep following the fps1000 development and shipping at HSC closely, Stay Tuned!
Disclaimer: We do not have a financial stake besides being backers for a camera in the Kickstarter project. We are not responsible for charging, shipping, functionality or any other aspect of these cameras. We only report the news!
For illustration purposes 2000fps looks like this when played back at regular speed! By TechRentals
Do I understand this correctly?
If in preorder the price for Platinum is £1300 and 4K upgrade is £1500, so that means I’m gonna have to pay £2800 in total for 4K upgrade?
“The cost of this upgrade is also a special price to existing backers – expect the retail price of the 4K to be higher.” This was pulled from the info update directly, so you might expect to pay more since you are not a Kickstarter backer since the early days. see here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1623255426/fps1000-the-low-cost-high-frame-rate-camera/posts
If you had bought the Platinum when the Kickstarter campaign was active you could have secured one for about £900.00 then apply the upgrade price. However the current price is still a bargain for what you are getting. No other camera comes close in slow motion performance for the money. It will be interesting to see if edgertronic or other manufacturers respond with a competitive product. We expect fps1000 to have the market for at least 2015 secured.
And yes you are correct in the pricing, I asked the Creator of the fps1000 Graham Rowan for clarification and this was the response:
“I’m treating pre-orders the same as backers (apart from the higher prices) so they are eligible for upgrades.”
So your cost calculation is correct. Happy shooting!
I do not understand the frame rate in 4k CMOSIS version… There is a great 300 fps in 4k but only 1800 fps in 480p. Why?
That is why the CMOSIS Chip will not be used any more. The timing of the refresh rate of the sensor is very limited. It suffers at lower resolutions as it has a fixed line time inherent in the design. It means that it cannot read lines faster than an internal clock the chip has. Makes it for a bad slow motion centered chip.
The choice of the new as of yet unknown brand sensor seems to be a good compromise with better low light and performance overall.
What is the fastest exposure for the Platinum FPS1000?
Hard to say as the full specs for the camera are still under wraps. The Platinum will have several sensor option upgrades, please ask Graham Rowan directly for this information. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1623255426/fps1000-the-low-cost-high-frame-rate-camera/posts Good day!
Does this fps1000 camera have pre-trigger? As in the ability to pre record the event until the camera is triggered? I ask because usually high speed cameras have a Volatile RAM buffer to do this. The fps1000 seems to only have fast flash memory. Wouldn’t this be a problem for memory read and write cycles?
An SSD Flash based drive for example has a maximum read/write number before the sector is deemed unusable and the controller maps it out. A continuous write buffer like that of pre-trigger would start to kill the flash memory by read/write operations very quickly; thus reducing the capacity of the memory over time the longer the camera is used.
We asked Graham Rowan for an explanation to these questions, this is what he sent back:
Graham Rowan fps1000: The camera can be used either in erase them record mode or continuous write. Your poster does have a valid point – there is a finite lifetime for flash. In normal use the lifetime will be 10-20 years in the configuration used by the fps1000, but if used continuously like this 24 hours a day it would reduce the lifetime. However this is an unlikely use case. Even in continuous record mode you’re not likely to be running it all day.
In the extreme you could always replace the sensor / memory board every year.
As a footnote, the fps1000 uses the highest quality SLA flash which has 10-20 times the write cycle capability than the more common MLC flash used in SSD drives.
What is the fps1000 video file format?
As of this time it hasn’t been announced. That should change in the near future when cameras are ready. The creator is preparing an update with a working camera that should come out soon according to the Kickstarter page. We expect RAW image sequences or H.264 files.
Are pre-orders as of today (July 8, 2015) still eligible for upgrades to the Hex or 4K?
Not sure, you should contact the Creator Graham Rowan. This is the message he posted on Kickstarter back in April 10th:
“Thanks to everyone who has sent me their upgrade choice. This is the last call for responses. if you haven’t done so yet, let me know your upgrade choice by emailing me at grahamr@fps1000.com or messaging me with your choice: none / double / hex / 4K.”
Could someone tell me if this camera would be good at filming high speed sports such as dirt bikes, nascar, etc compared to a normal DSLR such as a Canon 60D. I would defiantly use the 720 Slow Mo to my advantage. Also if someone could give me info about the format of this footage and what programs would be necessary to convert it.
The 60D has a maximum frame rate of 60fps at 720p which is 2x slow motion at 30fps, the Platinum Hex has a frame rate max of 4000fps which is 133x slow motion at 30fps. Very different cameras. The format initially will be PNG image sequences in RAW format which is a slow workflow and it will be able at some point to save it as an H.264 video like that on the Canon inside the camera. As we have still to see these cameras ship we have no way of knowing how will they perform or what they will be capable of. Also depending on the model you choose it can be a very expensive proposition. Check out camera guide to see slow motion options like the RX10 II and RX100 IV from Sony which offer a way to shoot slow motion on the go at more SLR pricing. However if you want the utmost quality there is also the edgertronic, fps1000 cameras or others on our list. We are a news site and not a re-seller of gear and have no affiliation with any manufacturers besides testing or reviewing cameras when possible.
hi Dear ,
I am PHD student o f chemical engineer . and it is interest for me , because of my thesis is provision of drop fall with a suitable camera for taking picture from this matter. it would be grate full that how can buy and recieve this product
fps1000 silver or gold type at the erliest time. please tell me ASAP.
i can recieve your product via my friend in london. please help me in my project.
Best regards,
M.kasmaee
I have forwarded your info to the project. Visit the project page in the mean time. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1623255426/fps1000-the-low-cost-high-frame-rate-camera
Is the FPS 1000 Platinum Hex available for ordering yet ?
If so are there any slow motion videos which have been taken with this upgrade option at the higher frame rates to look over.
No videos or Hex information other than Graham is working on it at the moment. Once video or images surface with the new DNG format we will be all over it. We are expecting a 4k fps1000 camera when they ship.
Dear Sir,
I am a researcher and I want to build a low cost Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) System that can be used to get the turbulent velocity fields for water applications. Therefore I am looking for a cheap fast speed camera. I am wondering if FPS1000 can be used for this regard. I am looking for a high speed camera that can give 1000 fps for a resolution not less than 640 x 480. Also can I manually control the camera from outside to control the shutter speed as this is crucial for the PIV applications?
I appreciate your soon reply
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mhelgamal
The fps1000 as of this moment does not support remote operation. Furthermore it is still not shipping outside of kickstarter backers. We suggest you take a look at the edgertronic SC1 and edgertronic SC2 in our guide as these cameras do just what you are looking for “Can be operated remotely over a network and any device that supports a browser” and are being used over labs all over the world by scientists and researchers. The cost is still the lowest when it comes to research grade high speed cameras. See our guide and reviews for more info https://www.hispeedcams.com/hsc-camera-guide/