When considering the purchase of a high-speed digital camera to analyze equipment malfunction or study high-speed motion mechanics, the first question to ask is “what frame rates do I need to capture the events that I need to see?” In the case of production machinery, it’s tempting to simply divide the camera frame rate in seconds by the line speed in units per second to obtain the number of frames per unit.

For example, let’s assume that a high-speed digital camera captures images at 250 frames per second (fps). If liquid filler runs at 500 containers per minute (about 8 units per second) we divide 250 frames/second by 8 units/second to get 31.2 frames per unit. Since 30 frames per unit is usually considered to be enough to adequately analyze an event, a 250 fps high-speed digital camera would appear to be the ideal choice for this application.

Reprinted with Permission from Fastec Imaging Corporation