I am looking for a camera for a project which will take 2.5 million images over one year, with something like 10 megapixels or more and decent available lenses.
If I used a consumer DSLR, I could probably expect a 50,000 exposure shutter life, which means I would have to replace the shutter 50 times over the course of the year (which probably means having at least 4 of the same camera and rotating them in and out of service). However, it is important to have as little downtime as possible on this project so a shutter failure once a week is far from ideal.
I had a look at the Canon G10, thinking that it had an electronic shutter only, but the specs say 'mechanical and electronic', so I assume there are moving parts there too. In addition, the aperture mechanism is also a point of failure. I can't find any official figures for the typical lifespan of a camera like this.
The camera will be permanently mounted in one position and the subject will be in a fixed position too, so autofocus won't be necessary. I could use an old fashioned manual lens with the focus and aperture mecahnically set, so that those items could be eliminated as a point of failure. The tricky part is finding a camera with an extreme shutter life, which probably means electronic only.
kevintiqui wrote:
why not shoot this project in film?
Wow, seriously? That would cost several hundred thousand dollars to have processed? Or do you think he should process 70,000 rolls of film himself (That's 1300 rolls per week)? Then there are proofs, scanning, etc...
Hey, wait, was that a joke? 'Cuz, I read this at 5:30am, I'm still a little sleepy.
Most DSLRs have at least a 100K shutter life now, and many will last a lot longer than that. You're definitely talking either a lot of bodies or a lot of service, or both, regardless of your chosen camera (though you might get lucky and get a 30D that lasts a million shots). And what do you need to photograph every 12 seconds for a year?
Anyway, I'm not sure that the G9-G10 etc have any mechanical parts. I know my shutter sound on the G9 is purely electronic. There's no shutter, at least to my knowledge.
I think that the shutter button on a lot of cameras will be the first thing to break. Obviously we're talking intervalometer etc.,...
Recommendations:
- Go with a "pro" body, ...(see below) 1Dmk2
- Join CPS
- Keep a couple cameras as spares
- Rotate strictly based on exposure count
- Get Canon to profile you in their mag., it'll make your career
The pro body (and two red ring lenses) gets you into CPS...and CPS gets you the marketing opportunities for the end result!
MichaD wrote:
Well, why not get a high res C-Mount industrial camera then?
If there is a suitable one, then great. However we need DSLR quality and resolution, and the industrial cameras I've seen to date have been very low resolution with unknown quality.
I don't about point and shoots, but DSLR's with CCD sensors have both electronic (sensor turned on/off) and mechanical shutters in order to deal with the range of "shutter speeds" needed. Perhaps this is true for the G10 also?
Original 1Ds, intervalometer, adapter for non-EOS lens with manual diaphragm locked at the appropriate aperture.
Get three bodies, have all the shutters replaced before starting the project, swap body at 200,000 frame intervals and send out for shutter swap.
About five frames per minute should be an ideal rate (i.e. slow and steady) for maximum shutter life. Shouldn't be failures before 200k, and if it happens, you've got the extra body waiting.
foto-z wrote:
I am looking for a camera for a project which will take 2.5 million images over one year, with something like 10 megapixels or more and decent available lenses.
If I used a consumer DSLR, I could probably expect a 50,000 exposure shutter life, which means I would have to replace the shutter 50 times over the course of the year (which probably means having at least 4 of the same camera and rotating them in and out of service). However, it is important to have as little downtime as possible on this project so a shutter failure once a week is far from ideal.
I had a look at the Canon G10, thinking that it had an electronic shutter only, but the specs say 'mechanical and electronic', so I assume there are moving parts there too. In addition, the aperture mechanism is also a point of failure. I can't find any official figures for the typical lifespan of a camera like this.
The camera will be permanently mounted in one position and the subject will be in a fixed position too, so autofocus won't be necessary. I could use an old fashioned manual lens with the focus and aperture mecahnically set, so that those items could be eliminated as a point of failure. The tricky part is finding a camera with an extreme shutter life, which probably means electronic only.
Photon wrote:
Original 1Ds, intervalometer, adapter for non-EOS lens with manual diaphragm locked at the appropriate aperture.
Get three bodies, have all the shutters replaced before starting the project, swap body at 200,000 frame intervals and send out for shutter swap.
About five frames per minute should be an ideal rate (i.e. slow and steady) for maximum shutter life. Shouldn't be failures before 200k, and if it happens, you've got the extra body waiting.
