A Camera that Shoots at a Trillion Frames Per Second
Think your new DSLR shoots a lot of frames per second? You have not seen anything yet!
In this video Ramesh Raskar from MIT reports on a camera that they’ve built that shoots at a Trillion Frames per second.
While not something we’re going to see in our DSLRs or camera phones any time soon this concept has big implications in Science and could be used some day to build cameras that can look around corners or see into objects that it is photographing.
15 Responses to “A Camera that Shoots at a Trillion Frames Per Second” - Add Yours
August 2nd, 2012 at 5:41 am
Of course, Canon won’t introduce this feature until about 18 months after Nikon does.
August 2nd, 2012 at 6:37 am
You better have some serious lighting to take a picture with 1/1000000000000 shutter speed!
August 2nd, 2012 at 10:35 am
Well..no. Sorry to burst everyone’s bubble, but this camera doesn’t shoot at a trillion frames per second. That’s physically impossible. I read all about this research a while back. It’s a neat trick, but it’s not that fast.
There is a reason why they are using coherent laser light for the photos. Every pulse of the laser is exactly, perfectly, identical. They developed a timing mechanism that allows them to set shutter release intervals of trillionths of a second. So, they shoot out a laser pulse, snap a photo. Then they set the shutter release to a trillionth of a second later, send out another (identical) pulse and snap a photo that is a trillionth of a second later than the previous…but on a different laser pulse.
Eventually, they put all the pictures together, and it makes it appear that the light is being slowed to a crawl. But, it’s not. It’s really just a (REALLY AMAZING) trick of shutter timing.
Don’t get me wrong. I really think it is amazing, but don’t expect a shutter speed anywhere approaching a trillion frames per second any time soon.
August 2nd, 2012 at 12:40 pm
Mirrorless cam?
August 2nd, 2012 at 12:42 pm
Nikon & Canon should happy about this. Every few seconds i spend $$$$ to change my shutter ;D
August 2nd, 2012 at 3:59 pm
great researcher..
August 3rd, 2012 at 2:00 am
What an amazing presentation!!!
I feel the biggest research grants will be coming from the defense/defence…military sector, sadly. A camera; a bit like that Israeli mirrored prism gun and site, which can see around corners, but without the prism and awkwardness. What a weapon for surveillance and reconnaisance that would be.
August 3rd, 2012 at 10:29 am
Its nice to see technology reaching its furthest extent in any area. Obviously, as far as visible wavelengths go- this is the fastest any camera can ever go. Only different wavelengths could go faster- but human kind has reached natures limit. This cannot be said for ANY other technology. We are no where near the strongest magnification possible, or the fastest vehicle speeds possible. But now – now we can say that the fastest shutter speed / visible light camera that CAN be created HAS been created. Its a good feeling.. a great one actually! Surely there will be new and exciting applications for this technology. but we lived to see a finite limit on something in our universe. This is truly magical!
Craig – nearly all tech was made in the name of military. Only they have the funding to follow the tech to its logical conclusion. Other firms or entities do not have the resources necessary to complete such projects. However – from their work will come countless new civilian technologies. It is SAD though – I agree- that we put so much effort into new ways to kill and destroy. It is the disgusting nature of humans to act this way. There are those amongst us that do not wish to destroy – but they are the minority. When we get mad we scream, we hit, we kill… more-so than any other species, and with greater efficiency too.
August 4th, 2012 at 7:48 am
Imagine the post-processing!
August 6th, 2012 at 8:49 pm
Thats the sort of spped i need ot catch a shot of my salary in its bank account, up until now it has left the account 1 trillionth of a second after entering it
Will I be able to combine those shts into an HDR image, if so, what PC should I buy ?
August 6th, 2012 at 10:33 pm
@Jason…I agree. I suppose a lot of military technology nowadays is good compared to old days stuff, in the sense of SMART technologies etc. If a camera like this could be developed into gun sights for inclusion on all manner of machines, for example, submarines, multi-role combat aircraft, ships, tanks and artillery, it would reduce civilian casualties, blue-on-blues, and reduce calateral damage too.
I’m facinated by the light ray ripples that behave totally different to what was expected. What could the implications be for the future of imaging technologies and for that matter, everything! The mind boggles.
August 6th, 2012 at 10:35 pm
@michael hughes: LOL:)
I think we use the same bank.
August 7th, 2012 at 12:51 am
could you imagine if you really could shoot a trillion frames per second? What would the competition come up with? A trillion and 1?
August 7th, 2012 at 12:57 am
That’s how the Nikon1 works, right? It just shoots a trillion frames and automatically picks the “best” one? Don’t worry, it saves the other 999,999,999 to clog up your hard drive.
August 7th, 2012 at 4:26 am
who cares.i have all i need with my nikon d90 and i love it.good photos great fun and its paid for
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