Although it’s not ready for the open market yet, Casio is showing off a prototype camera at this year’s IFA trade show which can shoot six-megapixel images at 60 frames per second. To give you an idea of how fast this is compared to other cameras, the top-end Canon EOS-1D Mark III DSLR can only shoot at 10 frames per second (albeit at 10 megapixels).
Even kookier, this prototype Casio can shoot VGA-quality images at 300 frames per second. Why would you want to do that? Slow motion. And because, you know, why not?
Of course, the amount of memory it will take to shoot these sort of images will quickly limit practical use, but give everything a couple more years (2008 for the camera, at least) and you’ve got a little glimpse of the future.
Casio Digital Camera Could Take 60 FPS Images, 300 FPS Video [CrunchGear]
Press Release (Japanese) [Casio.co.jp]
Update: Changed title from “DSLR” to “Camera,” after a commentor noted that it’s probably not a DSLR, unless Casio has figured out how to flap the mirror 300 times per second. (Unlikely.)
It’s not a DSLR, it’s an EVF camera. To build a DSLR capable of shooting at 60fps you’d need the mirror assembly to flip up and down 60 times a second; something tells me such an assembly probably wouldn’t last very long.
@Anonymous: I’d guess you are right. Plus I don’t know that Casio makes any other DSLRs. I’ll tweak the headline.
It would be possible to build a DSLR that fast by using a “non-flapping” mirror. Canon’s EOS-1n RS SLR used a fixed mirror that reflected some light to the viewfinder and the rest to the film. Gave the camera 10fps and extremely fast shutter response at the cost of 2/3 f-stop and a darker viewfinder (but with the benefit of not having the blackout of a closing mirror).
Dear sirs and madams,
besides the fixed mirror option it’s possible a rotating mirror a la movie cameras can be used, also a more complicated revolving polygonal mirror as is used in very high speed motion picture cameras.
When high-speed shooting multiple frames,
it would probably be OK if the viewfinder
did not work – so you wouldn’t need to flap
the mirror up and down for each shot.