Today we take a look at the SVSi GigaView camera I’ve been using for the past three weeks. My overall impression of this camera is that it is wonderful for just about any purpose you could think of using it for. SVSi has created a feature packed camera that comes at an amazingly low (comparably) price. The system is incredibly easy to setup and is very easy to use. They have put an amazing amount of thought into the software that controls the camera. Let us look at this in more detail.

Camera Specifications
Camera: SVSi GigaView.
Installed memory: 2GB.
Lens Mount: C-Mount. I’ve been using F and M mounts with an adapter with no problems. You will need a spacer or two to get your infinite focus properly adjusted.
Computer control connection: Gigabit ethernet.
Additional connections: External trigger (BNC), Analog video out (BNC), Digital video out (BNC).
Max recording frame rate @ highest resolution: 532 frames per second. Max frame rate: 33,000 frames per second at reduced resolution.
Max resolution: 1280×1024
Max shutter speed: 2us. (Amazingly high)
Max memory: 16GB.
Price range: $4,000usd to $25,000usd.

Setup
The GigaView is connected directly to the computer via a Gigabit TCP/IP ethernet connection. This makes setup a snap. Just plug in the cable, turn the unit on, give it about 30-45 seconds to warm up and then you can connect to the camera with the software. Start to finish setup takes under 5 minutes, which personally I’ve found incredibly useful.

The Manual
The manual is well written and informative, more so than normal manuals. Some of the information could be a bit clearer but all in all it is really good for a manual.

The Software
This is certainly one of the strong points of the camera package. The software that controls the camera is very well thought out and very intuitive to use. They have packed in some really useful and unique features.

Image cue trigger.
The first of which is the Image Cue trigger. This allows you to start recording when motion (registered as intensity) beyond a user defined threshold is exceeded. Once I got some clarification on how it worked it turned out to be a life saver on several occasions. The tool allows you to draw an area to watch, or it can watch the entire frame. This is really one of the unique features of this camera, it can be used for a really wide range of situations. There are a few situations in which it will not work however. Since it works on intensity of the image (greyscale 0-255) if you are filming something that has deep blacks as well as bright whites the image trigger will not work since the entire range is already covered so it cannot be exceeded. Though I have only run into a few situations like this. You can also control how much time it records prior to the trigger point and how much after by dragging a little percentage bar, making it very clear how much of each you are recording.

Auto Focus control.
This title is a bit misleading as it does not focus for you. Instead what it does is gives you an indicator of how in focus the image is. This doesn’t sound all that useful since if you are looking at this bar you are looking at your video input right? Well this is essentially true but also false. Allow me to explain. Often times when you are filming you are connected to a laptop and you are outside in the sunlight. This means you cannot clearly see your image, even on the best laptop displays. The bar is blue and red, both of which show up very well even under those situations making focusing that much easier.

Auto exposure
Here is another gem of a feature. The auto exposure will do it’s best to stay within a certain exposure range, minimizing blown out footage. This is incredibly useful for filming events that change in brightness very rapidly (explosions etc), making sure you get as much information as possible. Again, another life saver feature.

Memory Segments
This allows you to segment your memory into different block so you can capture multiple shots without having to spend time offloading the frames. With 2gb of memory this is not terribly useful as you have so little memory to work with, but with 16GB this would be an amazingly useful feature. Offloading the 2gb to BMP takes 15minutes or so, the raw dump takes slightly less than 10mins. So you can see where this feature would come in handy.

These are just a few of the really killer features they packed into the recording end of the software. I would go on but really there is too much there to cover. Suffice it to say that this is a really well thought out piece of software.

They have also included a nice little playback tool with the software that allows you to playback the GigaView format file. It will play back as fast as your processor is able. At 1280×1024 on a 2ghz dual core machine I can get 12fps, which is pretty good. Speaking of the file formats they have included the standard fare as well as their own raw dump. After you have dumped it to their raw you can resave it out as any of the other supported file sequence formats (BMP, TIFF, JPG, RAW).

I have listed the major features as I saw them but there are a ton in there I did not get a chance to fully examine as of yet but the software is so jam packed with little features that make life so much easier. For instance you can set your recording or playback image at anything from 25% of original to 400%. When recording at 1280×1024 this is incredibly helpful.

The camera
The camera is very light weight (3.4lb). It is an all in one unit which makes setup time much shorter compared to units with a separate head. The camera has a handle on the top for easy handling. The lens mount is very solid but it was lacking a screw in cover to protect the sensor. I have a feeling this was an oversight and not standard procedure, they did rush to get it to me so it is understandable. As far as the specs listed above go this camera falls into the mid range of high-speed cameras. The light sensitivity is lower than some of the higher end cameras but I’ve not had any cause for complaint there, it has been more than sufficient for my purposes. As with any high-speed camera you need a lot of light, this one is certainly no exception.

The camera is similar to other high-speed cameras in that it can do burst shots at incredibly high speeds however they have also added a nice continuous streaming feature that will stream video (at reduced speeds) directly to the hard drive allowing you to record for up to 8 hours with a 1TB drive. This is a wonderful feature for several applications that high-speed cameras are used in. The frame rate for streaming at top resolution is limited to 65fps which is low compared to the burst speeds, but all in all is not a bad speed for many applications.

The support
Now we get to what I consider one of the most important aspects when considering which camera to purchase. Support for a piece of equipment that you have paid $25,000 for should be top notch and nothing less should be remotely acceptable. SVSi meets that description admirably. The support has been prompt, courteous, friendly and incredibly knowledgeable. Every issue I have had I’ve gotten a prompt response via e-mail (generally no more than a few hours) and I’ve never received a busy signal or had to wait for a call back from the phone support. If I was handing out ratings they would get an A+. I even encountered one of the rarest forms of support, the honest kind. I was talking to one man that admitted he did not know the answer to a question I had and he immediately put me through to a person who did. I was on hold once, for about 10 seconds. SVSi has truly top notch support.

The negative
As with any camera you will have some cons. Though with this one they are surprisingly few.

In certain circumstances the GigaView will create a 1px darkened line across the frame. The position is not consistent. There is a very simple work around. To fix this issue you can download ImageJ, a free image editing program that has a tool for fixing things of that nature.

This con is more with how Windows handles multiple network connections. Running, for instance, a wireless connection and the camera will result in the software crashing. Again this has a simple fix, disable the wireless connection.

The lack of a viewfinder makes setting up and focusing shots considerably more difficult. This however is a fault with almost all high-speed cameras. Interestingly enough, SVSi has an accessory that will give you a black and white LCD viewfinder that apparently works well in daylight, it affixes directly to the camera so you don’t have to cart it around as well.

The light sensitivity of the sensor may be an issue for some applications. I’ve not had any problems with it personally, it has been more than sufficient for all of the shots I’ve done with it.

Final Reaction
All in all this camera is fantastic and the company has been great to deal with. I’ve really enjoyed filming with it and I am happy with the image quality. This is a nice, well rounded camera package that would be excellent for use in a wide variety of applications.

If I missed something that you would like to know about the camera please post it in the comments and I will respond as soon as I am able.