A SLO-MO CAMERA WITH AN INSANELY HIGH FRAME RATE (AND PRICE TAG)

VISION RESEARCH INC.

The most incredible super-slow-motion videos you’ve ever seen were probably shot with one of Vision Research’s Phantom cameras. They’re as high-speed as they are high-priced; past models have cost more than $100,000 and shot video at frame rates up to 22,000 frames per second at 1,280 x 800 resolution and a million frames per second at a teeny tiny 128 x 32 resolution.

Now there’s a new flagship camera in the Phantom ultrahigh-speed lineup that ramps the speed up even further at full resolution. The just-announced Phantom v2511captures 25,600 frames per second at 1,280 x 800 resolution with a sensor roughly the size of a full-frame imager (or a frame of 35mm film).

Even with that amply-sized sensor, the Phantom camera's shutter speeds are so fast that gathering enough light is a serious challenge. In broad daylight, the v2511 shoots at ISO 6,400. At faster speeds and more-challenging lighting conditions, it goes up to ISO 32,000 and captures only in black-and-white.

The Phantom v2511 has a Nikon F-mount out of the box, and there are options that support Canon’s EF-mount lenses and 16mm C-mount lenses. This isn't a rinky-dink pocket camcorder: It weighs close to 17 pounds without a lens attached.

For microscopy video, the Phantom has a mode that lets you silence its fan to reduce camera shake and blur. But if you’re using it handheld, you don’t really need a stabilization system with a Phantom Camera. Its capture speed is so fast that shaking the camera around still allows the footage to look smooth. At full resolution and 25,600 fps, each second of video translates to roughly 7 minutes at 60 fps, 14 minutes at 30 fps, and almost 18 minutes at 24 fps during playback.

The new v2511 will be available in August, and configurations will start at $150,000. There are other Phantom cameras that up the resolution at the expense of frame rates, but they’re still mighty fast. The Phantom Flex4K boasts 4,096 x 2,160 capture at 1,000 fps and 1080p recording at up to 2,000 fps. That one will only set you back about $110,000.