Compact camera for 3D + gyro

The new HDL–F30, from Ikegami, has been designed with 3D, airborne gyro stabilisation and pole camera use in mind.

"It is a very clever camera," according to Mark Capstick, general manager, Ikegami UK. "It's designed for easy integration into a gyro stabilised system with current technology slip rings," to give more stable signals when the gyro turns. It also has a 4x digital zoom, which may not be a good thing for most applications (due to loss of resolution), but if you are filming a live incident from a helicopter and can't get any closer to the action, it can prove useful (offering up to 360x zoom when used with a 40x lens with 2x optical extender), especially for standard definition transmissions.

It uses three 2/3-inch CCD AIT sensors, with more than 58dB SNR. For low-light applications, it has F10 sensitivity with up to +54dB gain, Column Adding (which gives twice the standard sensitivity by using two horizontal columns for each pixel, although this reduces horizontal resolution it doesn't affect S/N ratio), and Frame Accumulation (from 1/15 sec. to a maximum of two seconds, increasing sensitivity up to 60 times without loosing S/N ratio, but with increased motion blur). A minimum illumination of 0.00027 lux is possible with +54dB Gain, Iris F1.4, two second Frame Accumulation and 50% video level.

For 3D video use, it has built-in Horizontal Reverse and Frame Delay features. Because the CCD block is small (100x123x80mm) and weighs 1kg, it is suitable for use with smaller 3D rigs and for use in tight situations. The CCU can be up to 30m away.

The multi-format camera is switchable between 1080/50i, 1080/59.94i, 1080/29.97psF and 1080/25psF (a variant, the HDL-F31 supports 1080/24psF, 1080/23.98psF).

By David Fox