David Kronstein, the man behind the machine, launched a Kickstarter campaign for it on Wednesday, and within just five hours enthusiastic backers helped it smash through its CAD$50,000 (about $37,000) funding target.
Decent high-speed cameras are still out of the price range of many filmmakers, but electronics engineer Kronstein is aiming to begin shipping the Chronos in March 2017 for just $2,500.
The Chronos 1.4 camera allows you to capture incredibly detailed slow-motion video at up to 1280×1024 resolution. Frame rate ranges from 1,057 fps at full resolution up to a whopping 21,600 fps, though at that rate the resolution drops to just 640×96.
Settings are selected via the device’s rear-located touchscreen, and video is saved to an SD card in the MPEG-4 format. Once you’ve recorded your sequence, you can select in and out points allowing you to save only the frames you need, thereby enabling you to reduce file size and transfer time. Helping you to select those points and review footage is a handy “jogwheel” located beside the display that moves through the content frame by frame – take a look at the demo above to see it in action.
The Chronos 1.4 takes C-mount lenses, and adapters are available to attach glass from companies such as Nikon and Canon. Power comes via standard Nikon EN-EL4a batteries.
“We started on the journey that lead to Chronos because we believe high-speed imaging should be for everyone, not just scientific research labs and TV productions with massive budgets,” Kronstein says on his Kickstarter page.
The Chronos 1.4 camera will ship as body-only, though early-bird backers who’re quick off the mark can get a lens as part of the package, too.
