71MP camera now with support for Cognex priced below $10K!

71 Megapixels just got even more attractive! 

The Crowley Company has lowered the price to $9,995 for the MACHCAM industrial camera and has implemented several improvements.

Now with support for Cognex Vision Pro, this makes this camera an excellent candidate for machine vision applications requiring ultra-high resolution.

Contact us for pricing now!

For high resolution applications that required multiple cameras, you can now replace them with a single camera!

Applications include aerial surveillance, metrology, document scanning, quality control inspection & medical research to name a few.

The following enhancements have been made to the MACHCAM 71 Megapixel camera.

  • Price, Price, Price!!!   – With pricing below $10K, this truly is the lowest price per pixel now on the market!
  • Cognex Vision Pro capable / USB3 compatible – Software is now released to be compliant with Cognex Vision Pro software and other key industry 3rd party vision packages.
  • Continual improvement to noise reduction –  Noise reduction has been significantly reduced via software improvements
  • Real-time pixel correction has been implemented in the software to enhance image clarity.
  • Internal fan option  Fan options available for active cooling.
  • Color calibration creation – It’s critical to represent accurate color when capturing color images.  To accommodate this, MACHCAM users are provided with procedures to calibrate color based on the camera’s physical environment.  Additionally, The Crowley Company is offering color consultation services to help identify and correct for environmental issues (lighting, stability, etc.).   This is very important in document scanning when considering the camera for FADGI compliance.

Click here now for full camera specifications 

Key features of this camera include

  • Ultra High resolution, 71 MP @ 3 fps using the CMOSIS CHR70M image sensor
  • Small camera case for the sensor size (83 x 83 x 63.5mm ) for easy integration.
  • USB3.0 compatible / Cognex Vision Pro capable
  • Pleora Software development kit (SDK)
  • F-mount standard
  •  Available in color and monochrome.
  •  Meets NARA, FADGI and Metamorfoze image guidelines for document imaging

UPDATE Jan 1, 2019 – Crowley MACHCAM 71MP Camera VIDEO to Outline key features

https://youtu.be/Uvr06VcqxCA

1stVisions sales engineers have 25+ years of experience in the industrial imaging market.  Contact us to discuss your application. 

Lenses for large format cameras can also be a challenge to select.  Click here now to read about considerations in lens selection for large format image sensors / cameras. 

Considerations in selecting a lens for a large format camera sensor

For most cameras in the automated imaging marketplace, the sensor sizes are 1” and less. (1″  sensors have 16mm image circle/diameters)

Note the size in inches and the image circle size in millimeters do NOT match!  1” does not convert to 16mm!.  But that is a topic for another blog post!)

Industrial cameras with C/CS mount sensors normally range from ¼” to 4/3” ( up to 22mm image circle, which is the largest a C mount is by definition).

However, there are many cameras that have sensors larger than this, with many being a full 35mm sensor.  These sensors typically require larger F or EF mounts as seen in the picture above.

Click here for F-mount lenses from Kowa

Click here for F-mount lenses from Schneider

The question becomes, how do you find a suitable lens for these cameras?

First, let address the Issues with F mount lenses

The mount most commonly used by camera vendors for sensors larger than C mount are F mounts.  F mounts are most popular mount for SLR cameras, designed by Nikon about 1960. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikon_F-mount

F mount lenses for commercial and consumer/prosumer cameras are excellent optically and priced well but there are several issues you need to consider with these lenses for automated imaging applications.

  1. First, F mount lenses are bayonet, not screw mount. That means they are not as secure as C mount, and therefore, much more prone to vibration, or even coming lose.
  2. F mount lenses for the consumer/prosumer market are designed to take fantastic color pictures. To do this, the lens coatings are optimized for color. This can affect mono images.
  3. Consumers want their cameras to be light, so the F mount lenses are made with as much plastic as possible. This is not great for industrial applications
  4. These lenses are designed for automatic focus and exposure and have controls for that in the lens itself.
  5. Finally, the last issue is that many of these lenses are designed for the automated controls with prosumer cameras, autofocus and autoexposure.

If you can find an all metal manual F mount lens from 20 to 30 years ago, it would be great for an industrial application!  If not, we suggest you turn to one of the companies that make F mount lenses specifically for this market. The major vendors are Schneider, Edmund Optics, and Kowa.  All have a series of F mount lenses that are much more rugged than a prosumer F mount lens, and also don’t have the extra controls for automatic focus/iris.  They have lock screws as well to hold their settings.  The major limitation to these lenses are that they cost more than prosumer lenses, and are in just a small range of focal lengths.

Contact us for further specifications and pricing

EF Lenses

Since many of the new large format lenses can be controlled electronically via the camera, the automated imaging industry has created several products to use these lenses. The solutions from Birger Engineering, www.birger.com are straightforward to use. They make a mount that attaches to the  camera and allows for the use of EF mount lenses.  Attached to their mount are connections to drive the lenses, via serial commands with their SW.  Several camera manufacturers have built cameras with EF mounts as part of the camera.  This is an especially nice solution since there are no wires hanging out for control, and the lens is controlled directly from the camera’s SDK.

This provides a high level overview of the considerations in selecting a lens and size for large format camera sensors.  1st Vision has extensive knowledge with lenses and cameras and will help you in the selection process.

Please contact us and discuss your application with our sales engineer! 

Related Blog posts:

Canon EF mount integrated into Allied Visions GT1930L

Imaging Basics – Calculating lens focal lengths

Not all lenses are created equal!

10 key things you need to know when selecting a machine vision lens

Improper selection of the correct quality and type of machine vision lens can make your camera selection useless!

In many cases, we see customers attempting to choose a low quality lens for a camera that really needs quality optics to resolve the pixel sizes. Conversely, we also see customers trying to over specify a lens, where you simply need a lens that’s “good enough”


1st Vision has a white paper to help in the lens selection and provide valuable knowledge on various topics to make the best decisions. 

In this comprehensive white paper, you’ll learn the following

  1. Background basics on lenses and what they really do!
  2. The science in some basic formulas to calculate MAG, focal length and angular FOV
  3. What are extension rings used for?
  4. How are lenses rated?  MTF explained
  5. The myth behind “Megapixel” lens ratings
  6. How many pixels do I really need?
  7. What is the ” f# ” of a lens
  8. What does the “lens format” mean?
  9. Comparison of lens types from security to Factory Automation (FA)
  10. How to get some practical advice!

Download the White Paper

1st Vision has many other resources in our educational blogs.  Please find related links to lenses below.  

We are happy to discuss your imaging application in details  Just contact us!

Links:

Low cost, entry level camera, but full featured! Learn about the new VGA, 138 fps, USB3, global shutter camera from IDS priced below $400

Low cost imaging just got redefined with the new IDS UI-3130 LE USB3.1 model cameras.  Typical entry level cameras previously had very few features, until now.

IDS Imaging has released the UI-3130LE USB3.1 camera with the 1/4″ ON-SEMI Python 480 global shutter sensor.  Providing 138 fps at full resolution and 420 fps with the 2X sub-sampling feature, the new series provides a great low cost entry level camera at 0.5MP resolution, and packed with many features



The new IDS UI-3130LE cameras are available in board level, board level with S-mount or fully housed configurations with monochrome and color sensors.  The ON-SEMI Python 480 with 4.8um pixels is one of the latest image sensors providing low noise, high Quantum Efficiency and great sensitivity. 

Feature Highlights

Even with at a entry level cost, the UI-3130LE is packed with features such as 4X Multi Area Of Interest (AOI), long exposure settings to 5 seconds and Type C USB3.1 allowing external power output.


High Dynamic Range (HDR) is included in the UI-3130CP model to address difficult imaging scenes where its desired to see the darks and brights without saturating or being too dim.


Example:  Image to the right uses various “kneepoints” allowing HDR to be achieved


The HDR mode utilizes kneepoints, where the exposure time is divided into sections. After each section, excessively light pixel values are reduced to a limit value and briefly post exposed. This prevents overexposure and increases the dynamic range.

The uEye LE USB 3.1 Gen 1 is the first USB 3.1 Gen 1 industrial camera with a pioneering, reversible USB Type-C connector which supports USB Power Delivery for the first time. The board-level versions also has a 10-pin I/O SMD connector for GPIO, trigger and flash. Via USB Power Delivery, it is possible to provide a variable peripheral power supply to the camera’s I/O connector.

The new LE’s will also soon support liquid lens technology for OptoTune and Varioptics lenses.. Contact us to learn more about this upcoming feature.

 



Related Posts

Everything you need to know about USB3.1

USB3.0 for Machine Vision?  Absolutely – White Paper 

Please do not hesitate to Contact us!  1st Vision can provide a complete solution including cameras, lenses, lighting and cables.  We have over 100 years of combined experience we can put to work for you!


Ph:  978-474-0044
info@1stvision.com
www.1stvision.com