Muff's Modules & More

nickciontea · Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 3:20 pm Post subject: 3 genlock cameras on ebay... 5hrs

i just picked up 3 cameras on ebay myself yesterday for $30 which were guaranteed working. These seem a bit more iffy in regards to funcionality. Personally I would go for it..

now that i have my cameras.. i suppose I'll post for you all when I find them smile

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370578935465&ss PageName=ADME:B:WNA:US:1123

barto · Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 4:04 pm Post subject:

7 genlock cameras @ $130

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-7-Panasonic-WV-CP450-Super-Dynamic-Color-C CD-Camera-w-Lens-/320837667963?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab36a4c 7b

xart · Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 4:21 pm Post subject:

Lars - do you have a database (or can we start a one on the wiki of camera models with genlock?)

do you just use an 1/8 to BNC to hook them directly up to the LZX?

JP · Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 4:21 pm Post subject:

What can you use genlock cameras with?

nickciontea · Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 4:25 pm Post subject:

BNC to RCA is a cable you can buy and will work with the upcoming CVI module.

But for vector rescanning and use without CVI.. I took a long 1/8 ad infinitium and jointed it with a bnc cable..
try to make the joint in the middle of a long-ish cable, and reinforce the joint area to try and stop it from flexing and breaking. one of my first vector cables broke.. but i repaired it and now they are all very nice and secure.

nickciontea · Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 4:29 pm Post subject:

nickciontea · Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 4:57 pm Post subject:

yeah.. but 7 ac cables would be cumbersome as shit. imo. not to mention the location of the cameras

barto · Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 4:58 pm Post subject:

just found these bad boys too. doesnt come with power supply but they use 12 V DC or 24 V AC so that should be a quick trip to my 2nd hand electronics store

lizlarsen · Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 5:51 pm Post subject:

daverj · Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 6:00 pm Post subject:

I hope nobody was getting serious about snagging that group of 7... because they're gone.

They'll be perfect for showing off my new modules. hyper

I don't mind the AC power at all. In fact I prefer it. That way you stick the camera on a tripod and run 2 BNC cables and a power cable with an extension cord to the camera, and the camera can be as far away as you want without having to have a wall wart at the camera (and an extension cord anyways) or needing special lengths of double wire to run power.

One of the modules that I already have done (except the commercial metal faceplates) is the BlackBurst distribution Amp. Blackburst comes in the back from the genlock module and is amplified and then goes out the front to whatever external cameras, TBCs, or other devices that need it.

Thanks guys. This was perfect timing. And I promise I won't buy any other cameras out from under you for a while now. (probably need another half a dozen this summer)
Chugging Beers

daverj · Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 7:22 pm Post subject:

Genlock cameras do show up regularly on ebay. Cheap ones do tend to disappear fast.

You also have to check the manufacturer's specs on each one because sometimes the seller doesn't mention genlock when they have it and sometimes they say genlock but they aren't really (some use manufacturer's proprietary syncing systems, or only lock to vertical sync)

smrl · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 9:33 am Post subject:

I got an absolutely AMAZING genlockable camera - Sony DXC-390, but it's somewhat misleading

Watch out on high-end lab/medical cameras for a BNC 'trig in' - I thought this was just a cute way of saying sync in - but it's a different form of sync for using with stroboscopes. Though this could be amazing, it's not what I needed.

That one in particular does support genlock, but it's on the center of a tiny 12-pin connector. I hacked a VGA cable together so that I could power the camera, send it sync, and receive composite video or luma/chroma all through one VGA cable. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND DOING THIS UNLESS YOU ARE INSANE. I spent a day soldering this together!

that aside, wow. Those exwave HAD sensors are stunning in low light.

daverj · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 9:55 am Post subject:

That whole series of cameras from Sony is pretty amazing. High quality images and tons of features. The strobe feature is for machine inspection in automated assembly lines where products are moving down a conveyor and a strobe flashes to capture an image of a product as it moves past the camera.

I have some experience with those 12 pin sync/video/power connectors. They are a pain in the ass. I built a video switching matrix for a customer a few years ago (32 in, 24 out, controlled by Max/MSP). I built a sync generator and sync distribution system for it so he could use 24 miniature cameras that used the Sony 12 pin connectors. The sync box I made had 24 of those 12 pin connectors, feeding them all sync, and then sending their video signals out to the switcher.

You can get the connectors through Digi-Key. They're made by Hirose.

The 12 pin camera cables are expensive too. If you can get one of those cameras with a cable and power supply you save a lot of grief.

BTW, try out the slow shutter modes on that camera. You can create some cool smeared images with that.

smrl · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 2:40 pm Post subject:

Yeah I did try the slow shutter mode, but it only outputs one frame!

I think I might be able to feed it into my TBC which has a "freeze" input and sync it with the trig. out.

Also I was shocked by the 1/100,000 shutter mode - pointing it at a halogen bulb it looked completely off but emitted an eerie dull silver glow. Very surreal.

rosso · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 3:25 pm Post subject:

I was trying out that camera with smrl. When we pointed it at the halogen bulb, it looked like the lenses on the bulb's built-in diffuser (It's a regular floodlight bulb) shifted color when we were changing the focus. It was very surreal. Does anyone who knows optics have any ideas why this color shift would happen?

daverj · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 4:15 pm Post subject:

If there are very fine lines on the diffuser then maybe they beat against the color grid filter on the CDD?. Different beat patterns might shift the colors since not all color stripes would be illuminated at once.

daverj · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 4:40 pm Post subject:

smrl · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:43 pm Post subject:

Yeah, I had considered using an oscillator as well! It averages across frames, but then outputs a single frame, followed by black for the remainder of the exposure. So I need a way to store the frame in a framebuffer. I can use the WEN output which is on the DB9 connector on the back, (probably TTL level as well?) which might only trigger every new frame. The manual is ambiguous and doesn't go into much detail about these WEN signals. Lot of work just to get a freeze frame but voltage-control over the rate would definitely be something worth trying

daverj · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 6:15 pm Post subject:

For anybody interested, there's a 3-CCD genlockable camera on ebay, but no lens. Typically 3-CCD cameras have very sharp images, but need more light because of the beam splitter that sends the image to the three CCDs.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HITACHI-HV-D30-Compact-3-CCD-Camera-/140691718 432?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item20c1e14120

Seller has very little feedback, but 100% positive. So be cautious, but the current bids are quite cheap.

smrl · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 6:19 pm Post subject:

This one has RGB output as well - a feature some of you might want to keep your eye out for...

daverj · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 6:37 pm Post subject:

smrl · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 6:53 pm Post subject:

Good chance it will work, I think WEN stands for "write enable", as in, the frame is returning, grab it now.

http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/assets/files/mkt/indauto/Brochures/is-1108 -a.pdf

There's a timing diagram with the WEN signal on these cameras.

daverj · Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 3:06 am Post subject:

Yup. It looks like you can either use it as a write enable gate, or use the rising edge of it to trigger a single frame capture.