Our instructors provide an in-depth customer-focused hands-on learning experience for all of our Phantom products as well as the basics in photography through a combination of lectures, exercises, labs, and training solutions. Classes can be held at our Wayne, NJ training center or at your site. Click here to start the ball rolling.
When you have hardware problems getting repairs can become time consuming and expensive. That’s why we want you to know about our extended service contract options. Key features of a Vision Research service contract include:
Worldwide Vision Research owned repair facilities.
The annual price of a service contract is less than the typical cost of a single non-agreement repair.
Only factory direct repair parts are used.
Before we ship a camera back into the field we make all applicable engineering changes, full calibration, and overnight testing to ensure the camera’s best performance.
Our Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) Solutions team can customize Vision Research imaging technology to fit your requirements. OEM Solutions are built around the Vision Research sensors which determine the maximum speed, sensitivity and resolution of the camera. OEM Solutions have been implemented for vision, airborne, medical and entertainment applications.. Click here for more information on our OEM program.
FOCUS is VR’s blog / online newsletter. In it you will find company information, new products announcements and launches, recently released case studies, and innovated ways our high speed digital video cameras are used around the world. Think of FOCUS as your one stop shop for all news Phantom.
Yes, simply go to the FOCUS web site and sign up for RSS notification. Then, any time we post an article to FOCUS announcing new products or downloads, you will be notified via your RSS reader
Phantomography is a by-no-means complete list of TV and film productions where our Phantom cameras were used. If your project is not listed on Phantomography and would like to share, email us the details, links, videos, etc and we’ll post it for you.
BTW, some of the listings in Phantomography provide complete workflows, blogs, and even websites dedicated to how the Phantom digital high speed video cameras were used in the production their projects. Be sure to check it out!
Vision Research welcomes slow motion videos from our industrial users as well as our entertainment customers. Submission is easy. Send us an email (randy.feldman@ametek.com) that explains what you’d like to share. In the body of the email give us all the details about your shoot, equipment used, workflow and anything else you think we need to know. We will send you a permission to use form to complete. This form gives us permission to use your footage and tells us how to credit your work. Once we get the completed form, we’ll work with you to get the footage (we prefer the original cine file). Then, we’ll post your high speed video in the Gallery and on our YouTube channel.
Slow motion videos in our Gallery are rotated on a weekly basis and randomly chosen for inclusion into the Gallery.
Currently we have no positions available at any of our worldwide facilities. We do, however, invite you to send us your resume. eMail to: employment@visionresearch.com.
Yes you can! Surf you way over to the Document Downloads page of our Support section. Scroll down the page until you find the Discontinued/Obsolete Products section. The datasheets are in model numbered order.
Each slo-mo Phantom camera comes with a fixed amount of very high-speed dynamic RAM. When the camera is in the pre-trigger mode (you've pressed "Capture" in the user interface), the camera is continuously recording images into that memory. When it gets to the end of memory, it cycles back to the beginning and continues recording. This behavior is called "circular buffer recording".
The slow motion camera is always "live". What you end up actually saving in memory is a function of how you've set up your trigger. You can set it up such that only frames that occur after the trigger are saved, so any images already in memory are overwritten and you record an event after the trigger (until memory is full). If you set the trigger to stop the recording and save all frames up to the time of the trigger, the camera will simply stop recording upon the trigger and all the frames in memory before the trigger will be saved. Finally, you can set the trigger anywhere in the middle, for example having 90% of the recorded movie be what happens prior to the trigger and 10% after the trigger.
EDR stands for "Extreme Dynamic Range". It is a capability first pioneered and introduced by Vision Research.
If you are shooting an event that has high contrast, you may need to adjust the camera exposure (lens aperature and exposure time) such that you can see details in the dark part of the image. However, this may mean that the light/bright parts of the image are overexposed and become saturated.
The EDR features give you two exposure times for a single frame. Here is how it works at a high level:
Assume your camera is set up for a 100 microsecond exposure (exp) and EDR is set to 75 (edr). At a certain time during the frame exposure (calculated as exp-edr) the camera will reset all pixels that are above a pre-set threshold back to that threshold and then allow all pixels to continue being exposed. This pre-set threshold is set at the factory to a level that is about midway between black and saturation.
It is kind of like putting a brake on those pixels that are charging so fast they are destined to become saturated before the exposure time expires. It makes them back up a little, and then keep going. This means those pixels are likely not to saturate and the details in the "whites" of the image will be as good as those in the "blacks".
Optimum EDR settings usually require some experimentation.
CAR stands for "continuously adjustable resolution". This means you can select resolutions other than the maximum resolution of the camera. On most cameras, both the horizontal and vertical resolutions can be adjusted. The main reason you would want to decrease the resolution is to get a faster frame rate.
Lower resolution means less pixels in the shot. The smaller the pixel count in the shot, the faster the camera can run. So, to get faster frame rates, you can simply decrease the resolution. Since many events take place within a small area or have a "natural" aspect ratio, adjusting the resolution to exactly match the area of interest in the shot makes sense.
It is important to periodically "calibrate" a CMOS sensor to pure black in order to get the best possible images from the camera. This is particularly important when image quality is paramount such as studio work, table-top work, etc. This is done on Phantom® cameras using either a Black Reference (BR) or Current Session Reference (CSR).
A Black Reference calibrates the entire sensor and should be done when shooting at the full resolution of the camera. A Current Session Reference only calibrates the part of the sensor currently selected (which may be less than the full resolution). You should always use CSR when shooting at less than full resolution and BR when shooting at full resolution.
A CSR will typically be faster since it is calibrating a smaller sensor area. The CSR is stored in an STG file that is session-specific. You should save the STG file to disk (when prompted) and upload it to the camera. Any time you change any camera settings (resolution, frame rate, exposure), you should repeat the CSR. You may notice that after you do a CSR the next time you open the Phantom software with the camera, you get a message stating that "this session is the result of a CSR." At this point you should place the camera back into full resolution and do a BR.
Any time the operating temperature of the camera changes more than a few degrees, you should do a BR.
A BR takes longer than a CSR since the entire sensor is being calibrated. The BR information is automatically stored in the camera default STG file and should be uploaded to the camera as well.
One final note: you should always power-up the camera well before you plan to take any shots with it and allow it to come to operatiing temperature. Then, set it to full resolution, do a BR. Now you can reset the camera parameters and begin operating as described above.
Over time, you will accumulate a lot of session-specific STG files on your computer. Once you've finished a shoot and have powered the camera down, you can delete those files.
It depends on the level of your camera and the temperature it is running. There was a time we were setting the cameras to run at maximum fan speed all the time to keep the internal temperature as low as possible; however, with some of our more recent camera models this is no longer necessary. The fan will be quiet up to a working temperature of about 40 degrees. For more information on your individual camera, please contact support@visionresearch.com.
Sensor cleaning is a hot topic for digital camera users - Phantom and otherwise - and there are definite techniques on tackling it. Depending on your lighting situation, a tiny speck of dust on your sensor can lead to a big ugly spot on your images, which is a shame because it is usually avoidable. The longer the lens and smaller the aperture, the more pronounced the spots will appear on your image.
The #1 rule is that if the dust can be removed without using a solvent, you will save yourself a lot of headaches in getting rid of it! I have used the Sensor Sweep brush (link below) and I really like it, as it attracts the particles to the bristles. It really works when you follow the directions. You must clean the brush by blowing air on it and sweeping it across a vellum-like surface to charge the bristles before each sweep on the sensor glass. You can also use the brush to clean the area around the sensor as dust can settle there and then get attracted back onto the sensor glass. Make sure to always blow the bristles free of dust before storing it within its container.
Compressed air is OK as a quick solution, but always test the spray first away from the sensor to make sure none of the fluid comes out. Use short bursts and hold the can upright. A better solution would be to use a blower that recycles air to force the dust off of and from around the sensor.
If there is a smudge or dust that won't go away, try a microfiber lens cleaning cloth to gently wipe the smudge away. Just like the brush, keep the cloth clean, if you reuse them they can build up residue which will end up back on the sensor glass. For very stubborn smudges, you might want to wrap the microfiber cloth or a piece of lens tissue around a pencil eraser or long swab for better control. If that doesn't work, a drop or spray of lens cleaning solution on the cloth will do the trick.. make sure it isn't too wet before wiping it on the sensor glass. Lens tissue folded into a point with a drop of lens solution can help very concentrated spots as well.
Tips:
Use a tiny flashlight to look at the sensor, its easier to spot the dust.
Always have a clean microfiber cloth handy for more serious dirt.
Cotton swabs aren't a good idea unless they are wrapped in a microfiber or lens tissue like material. They leave behind more than they remove.
Never use your finger to get a speck of dust off, its going to make things much worse.
Never blow on the sensor itself (as tempting as it is).
Always keep the Phantom Body cap on the camera when there is no lens attached.
Copper Hill Images makes great sensor cleaning products. I started using them with my SLR but found they work great with Phantom cameras
Lenses gather a lot of dust as well, which can also wreak havoc on your images. Always keep the rear and front elements protected with their lens caps. There are many products out there safe for cleaning lenses, I find that a microfiber cloth with one spray of Eclipse or Pan-cro solution (on the cloth) works the fastest with the best results.
We recommend you blow off the camera using forced or compressed air and a damp cloth. For cleaning the Phantom CineMag’s contacts please use a cotton-swab and electrical contact cleaner (or alcohol safe for electronics). Be very gentle. For cleaning sensors we recommend using a brush-based cleaning solution or forced air (do not blow on the sensor or use canned air).
We do not manufacturer such equipment, however, there are several manufacturer's of underwater housings for all types of TV equipment.
The good people at Corel Sea TV are making some custom enclosures for our Phantom v640 and Phantom HD GOLD cameras.
Prevco is a subsea engineering consultancy and manufacturer specializing in submersible pressure vessels, instrumentation housings, junction boxes, vent plugs, pressure relief valves and other accessories to meet all your underwater equipment needs for the Phantom line of digital high speed video cameras.
Please visit the Phantom Gallery for a ton of great work submitted by Phantom users. If you would like a demo DVD please contact us at phantom@visionresearch.com and we will be happy to send one out to you. We have some HD footage available for download on our transfer site. Here is the link and instructions:
1. Go to xfer.visionresearch.com User: support
Password: vritechsupport
2. Click on the SUPPORT directory
3. Look for and select drip_1920X1080_HD.cin
The Phantom HD Gold is our second-generation Phantom HD high speed camera and the new standard for HD digital high-speed image quality. While the specs of the camera do not change, there have been many improvements implemented based on feedback from existing Phantom users. This slow motion video camera maintains a solid black level and is the ultimate in color and image quality.
Yes. But it works very differently from the Phantom v-Series cameras you may be used to.
Changes to the horizontal resolution have no impact on recording speed on the Phantom 65 and Phantom HD. It will impact the saved (not cine) file size, but not recording speed.
Changes to the vertical resolution (in 8 pixel units) on both cameras will impact recording speed.
See the cameras' individual product pages for more information:
The Phantom HD sensor is a 2048 x 2048 pixel sensor -- a full 4 megapixels. You can set the camera to record at any resolution within these maximums.
If you order your Phantom HD with an F-mount lens mount, you can image onto the whole 2048 x 2048 sensor successfully.
However, with the standard PL-mount, the maximum imaging resolution is 2048 x 1536 pixels.
The most popular imaging resolution is HD (1920 x 1080), however the 2048 x 2048 sensor allows you to ovesample some, if you choose. Or, you can shoot at 2K resolutions for digital cinema.
Segmenting the memory was not going to work because he needed more than 4 segments. Since the flight was so long he wanted to record his segments to the camera’s 16GB CF card. Another problem he was running into is that he could only control the camera through the capture connector; there would be no Ethernet connection only the power and capture connections were available. To further complicate the issue, the operator also needed to know when the camera completed saving and was ready to be triggered for the next shot.
Below is the mission workflow once the aircraft is airborne:
1. The camera starts recording into the camera’s circular buffer, DRAM, at power up.
2. When the event is ready to be recorded, the camera is triggered by either the operator or the pilot and the cine is recorded into the camera’s DRAM.
3. At the end of the recording, the camera automatically saves the cine to the compact flash card. While the upload to compact flash is taking place, the camera is unavailable to acquire images.
4. After the upload to the compact flash is complete, the camera immediately starts recording to the circular buffer and provides an indicator to the operator that the camera is ready for another trigger.
5. Steps 2-4 are repeated until either the mission is complete or there is no more room on the compact flash.
To configure the camera to perform the mission described, follow the steps below:
1. Connect the camera to the controller, power up the camera, and launch the Phantom application. Configure the camera for resolution, frame rate, exposure, Post Trigger, etc.
2. Go to ACQUISITION followed by CAMERA OPTIONS.
3. Change the START IN mode from WAIT PRETRIGGER to RECORD. This will put the MIRO camera in Record mode at power up without having to use the Phantom software to put the camera in capture mode as during the flight there would be no Ethernet connectivity.
4. In the END OF RECORDING ACTIONS section, check the box labeled SAVE TO FILE. Also specify the starting frame and number of frames you want to save, or if you want to save full cines, check the FULL CINE box. This will allow the camera to save the cine to the compact flash immediately after the circular buffer is filled up.
5. In the END OF RECORDING ACTIONS section, check the box labeled RESTART RECORDING. This will allow the camera to start recording a new cine after the previous cine has been saved to compact flash.
6. In the READY SIG. ENDS AT section, check the box labeled RECORDING END. If the camera is connected to an oscilloscope, the READY signal will go high when the save to compact flash is complete. The capture LED will turn red indicating that the camera is in capture mode, waiting for a trigger. In this application an operator monitored the LED and when it turned red, either the operator or the pilot could trigger the camera
Below is what the CAMERA OPTIONS screen will look like after the camera is configured:
Our customer has informed us that he has had two successful flights where all cines were recorded and had analog video backups.
All Applications (USA only) -- Vision Research rents several of our Phantom high-speed video cameras for industrial applications. The cameras are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Our high speed rentals come complete with a controller (laptop), cables, and a lens. There is a 2 day minimum on all camera rentals. Please contact rentals@visionresearch.com for more information and a quote. Production & Entertainment Applications (World-Wide) -- Visit our directory of world-wide high speed rental partners.
Vision Research is proud to announce the availability of Phantom Camera Control (PCC) software. This software has been written “from the ground up” to provide Phantom camera customers with a modernized user interface that makes it easier to get full value from Phantom cameras.
This installer will install PCC as well as the latest version of legacy Phantom Application (version 687). The legacy Phantom application as well as all relevant DLLs in the Phantom folder on your computer will be replaced. So, before running this installer, you might want to make a backup of you Phantom folder. While we hope you will immediately start using PCC, if you have any problems, you can use Phantom 687 as a back up. Please provide feedback via the PCC forum in the Phantom Zone at www.visionresearch.com/PhantomZone.
PCC is required to take advantage of several new features in Phantom cameras including Image-Based Auto-Trigger and the new Canon EOS lens mount.
There is a thorough help system available just navigate to the “Help” menu selection.
We recommend that the computer you use have a Pentium class microprocessor running 1.7 GHz or higher. The software will install on the following operating systems:
· Windows 7 (32 & 64 bit)
· Windows Vista Business Edition (32 & 64 bit)
· Windows Vista Enterprise Edition (32 & 64 bit)
· Windows Vista Ultimate Edition (32 & 64 bit)
· Windows XP Tablet Edition
· Windows XP Pro Service Pack 3 (32 & 64 bit)
· Windows 2000, Service Pack 4
We also recommend you have 4GB of memory and at least 80GB of disk space.
A more powerful computer and fast disk drive will deliver faster display and playback speeds as well as shorter save and download times.
Warning: This version of software has only been tested with the firmware versions shown in the table below. It will work with these or later versions. If you choose to use the software with an untested version, please be sure to provide feedback about any problems you have. Just send an email to support@visionresearch.com. We will update this table as we continue testing.
To check the firmware version of a camera, run your existing version of the Phantom software, connect to and select the camera of interest, go to "Help --> About" in the Phantom software. If your camera does not meet the minimum firmware requirements and you would like a firmware upgrade, please contact VRI Technical Support.
Camera Minimum Firmware to run PCC or 687
Phantom v4.0, v4.1 - Not Recommended
Phantom v4.2, v4.3 - Not Tested
Phantom v5.0, v6.0, v6.1 - Not Recommended
Phantom v5.1 - Not Tested Phantom v6.2 - Not Tested
Phantom v5.2 - 543
Phantom v7.0, v7.1, v9.0 - Not Tested
Phantom v7.2 - Not Tested
Phantom v7.3 - 381
Phantom v9.1, v10 - 381
Phantom v12 - 522
Phantom v12.1 - 573
Phantom MIRO 1, 2 - 479
Phantom MIRO 3 - 414
Phantom MIRO 4 - 479
Phantom HD, 65 - 514
Phantom v210 - 630
Phantom v310 - 609
Phantom v710 - 635
Phantom v640 - 630
Phantom Miro eX Family - 479
Currently there is no way to run a Phantom camera on the Mac operating system. You can, however, run the Phantom software on a Mac running Boot Camp with Windows XP or a similar PC emulator. There is a plug-in available from Glue Tools that allows the Phantom raw cine file to be read natively on a Mac, and imported directly into Final Cut.
The best way is to use the Quicktime plugin from Glue Tools. Installing this plugin allows you to open Phantom® Cine files in Quicktime or any compatible application. You can even drag cine files directly onto the FCP timeline and edit them without rendering.
Here is an alternate way to get Phantom Cine files into Final Cut Pro for editing:
Use "Process and Convert" in the Phantom software to create a directory that contains sequential TIFF files, each file representing a frame in the cine. You can find detailed instructions on how to do this elsewhere on this web site or in the Phantom software help, but in summary: create a new directory (named appropriately), select the cine you want to convert, choose to save it as a TIFF 16/48 for maximum bit-depth preservation, set the destination to the new directory and the filename to "frame+5". Be sure to do this onto an NTFS formatted external disk connected to the PC.
When the convert process is done, move the external disk to the Macintosh computer and mount it. Optionally (but recommended) copy the whole directory to a Mac volume.
Use Quicktime Pro on the Mac to "Open the Image Sequence" by navigating to the directory and selecting the first TIFF frame. You will need to decide what your "play" frame rate will be at this point. Do "Save As..." and be sure to save the exported movie as a reference movie. You won't be able to save into the same folder as your TIFF files unless you moved that folder to a Mac disk drive. However, that is a good idea, that way your reference movie and all the frames it points to are in a single directory on the Mac.
Launch Final Cut Pro and do "File --> Import --> Files..." and select the reference movie you just created. You now have that clip in FCP, ready for editing.
But first, go to your sequence settings and create a setting that matches the resolution of the cine and be sure to select the "TIFF" compressor. This will give you a "real time" timeline that avoids rendering during editing. (Of course if you apply any filters, etc. you will need to render.)
When you are done editing, color correcting, etc. render the file and export it as a Quicktime (not a reference file), with no compression.
You can now use Compressor, Sorenson Squeeze or Telestream Episode to convert your movie to any desired formats and compression schemes. The Quicktime movie is your master.
Phantom software is not supported by Linux. The only operating system is supported by Phantom software are: Windows 2000, Windows XP Pro (32 & 64 bit); Windows Vista Business Edition (32 & 64 bit); Windows Vista Enterprise Edition (32 & 64 bit),Windows Vista Ultimate Edition (32 & 64 bit); Windows XP Tablet Edition
It’s easy to capture a single image from a Cine file using the Phantom software. The best way to do this is to hit the ‘DISPLAY’ button from the Cine playback screen. When you close out of the playback window the displayed image will be there, ready to be saved in a variety of formats.
You can convert a raw Cine file to other formats easily by using our Phantom operating or viewer software. In the File -> Convert & Process menu, there are a series of file formats available to you.
The most popular video formats are AVI or uncompressed Quicktime. The Cine can also be converted to high quality TIFF of DPX images. This is recommended when you need to retain the optimal image quality. That batch of image files can then be imported into a professional editing system directly and re-compiled there.
For detailed instructions on batch conversions, please refer to our operation manual or contact tech support.
We also make available to our customers viewer software which will allow you to covert Cines to a variety of formats. Download the viewer
The Phantom software might look different based on the screen resolution of your monitor. We rearranged the software components to maximize the space for the resolution of your monitor.
You can batch process cine files into TIFF sequences for overnight or unattended processing.
In the Phantom software, choose File -> Process & Convert cine...
Select all the cine files you want to convert. You can use the CTRL key to make multiple selections. Click on Open.
Select the TIFF format that you want to use.
Select the hard disk location where you want to save the TIFF sequences.
As a filename, type in "img+5".
Click on Save.
The Phantom software will now create a new folder for each cine file, naming each folder after the cine. And, the TIFF sequence for each cine will be stored in its folder. The TIFF files will be named "img00001.tif", "img00002.tif", etc.
A cine file is the name we give to the Vision Research proprietary file that holds the images in the camera memory. The file can be written to a disk drive and then read and manipulated with the Vision Research Phantom Software. The file format is "lossless" meaning all of the sensor data is available without any compromise or compression.
If you save the file as cine RAW, the file contains the uninterpolated raw sensor data.
If you save as just a cine file, the file contains RGB information for each pixel interpolated from the raw sensor data.
MPEG 1 and 2 have been removed from the current versions of Phantom software due to licensing issues. Cine Raw, Cine, Cine JPEG, AVI, Multi Page Tiff, MXF (PAL and NTSC) and QuickTime are currently available for conversion. A common workaround is to convert the Cine file into a QuickTime movie, then export the file to MPEG-4 format using QuickTime Pro.
It's easy. For legacy software: Power up your camera and connect it to your controller and launch the Phantom application. In the application go to HELP and select ABOUT. The following screen will show up:
The firmware version in your camera will the number next to the word Firmware and the bin version will be the number next to the word, Fpga.
If you are using our current PCC software: If you are using PCC, power up your camera and connect it to your controller and launch the Application. In the application go to CAMERA and select PROPERTIES. The following screen will show up:
The firmware version in your camera will the number next to the word, "Firmware version", and the bin version will be the number next to the word, "Fpga version".
Please have the model and serial number of your camera ready, as well as a 1-frame cine showing the problem if at all possible. Please jot down the camera and environmental parameters exactly as they were when the issue occurred as well. The more information we have the better chance we have on a quick solution.
The Phantom Camera sensor is made up of thousands of pixels whose sensitivity can drift due to changes in resolution, exposure, time andtemperature.A Current Session Reference calibrates all the pixels that will be used for a given set of camera parameters.It is usually good practice to perform a CSR anytime a change is made in camera settings or lighting.This ensures that the camera sensor will deliver the best possible picture available.
We recommend that you visit the PhantomZone regularly. The PhantomZone is our user community where you are free to post your questions and learn from existing Phantom users as well as our Vision Research support team.
We have also developed some calculators, converters, tutorials, books -- tools to help you better understand and use high speed imaging. Check back often to our resources page as we are constantly adding new tools. If you need a tool and don’t see it on our resources page please let us know. We’ll see what we can do to help.
There are several steps in troubleshooting this problem. Here is the procedure (if your camera is of the firewire variety please contact tech support:
1. Click the Windows START button and select the RUN command.
2. Type: CMD, and click the OK button.
3. In the C:Windowssystem32cmd.exe window, type: ping <IP Address of the camera> at the C: prompt. (the IP address of the camera is located on the bottom the camera).
4. Click Enter.
a. If properly installed the camera should reply to the Ping Request.
b. If the Phantom Control Unit fails to detect the camera:
1) Unplug the Cat-5 cable from the Network Phantom Control Unit computer, and ensure the proper cable type is being used.
2) Re-insert the proper cable.
3) Verify the TCP/IP addressing information is correct. The steps to verify the TCP/IP addressing information is contained in steps 5-9.
4) Shutdown the Network Phantom Control Unit computer.
5) Remove power from the camera.
6) Restart the Network Phantom Control Unit computer.
7) Re-apply power to the camera.
8) Ping the camera again to verify the Phantom camera replies to the Ping Request.
5. From Windows' Start button, go to Control Panel>Network Connections.
6. Right-click Local Area Connections>Properties to view a list of components used by your system.
7. Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
8. Click the Properties button.
9. When the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) properties box opens:
a. Select Use the Following IP Address and enter the following:
1) IP Address: 100.100.100.1
NOTE: If multiple Phantom Control Units will be used to access the same Phantom cameras, each controller unit requires a unique IP Address. For example:
Controller Unit 1: 100.100.100.1 (255.255.0.0);
Controller Unit 2: 100.100.100.2 (255.255.0.0), etc.
2) Subnet mask: 255.255.0.0 or (255.255.255.0 for v7.0 only)
b. Select Use the Following DNS and leave the entry blank.
c. Click OK to complete the setup
10. From Windows' Start button, go to Control Panel>Windows Firewall and verify that the firewall is set to OFF.
11. If the above steps do not resolve the issue, please contact technical support at support@visionresearch.com
The Vision Research camera models V4.0, V4.1 and V5.0 cameras all use the IEEE-1394 interface to communicate with the host controller. This interface can still be used at this time with the proper PC interface card and device setup. We have prepared a technical paper on the very subject. You can download it by clicking here.
A: Here are the steps to reload the camera’s factory STG
1) Power up the camera
2) Open the Phantom software, but do NOT go into acquisition/set up & recording. (If you get any messages about updating or copying STG files at this point, just dismiss them)
3) Minimize the Phantom software (do not close)
4) With the software and camera running, go into Windows Explorer and locate the existing STG. The existing STG can be found in the following path: Program Files -> Phantom -> XXXX.STG where XXXX is the S/N of the camera
5) Delete the old STG file ("serial number".STG AND ALL ‘long’ STG files)
6) Copy the STG file from either your CD or the STG that you downloaded into the Program Files -> Phantom folder. If you cannot locate the CD, please contact Technical Support at support@visionresearch.com and we’ll get you the most recent factory STG file
7) Maximize the Phantom software
8) Select Acquisition Menu
9) Select Restore NV Memory
10) Select Load & Write to NV Memory
11) Close
12) Exit out of the Phantom software
13) Reboot the camera by removing and replacing power
14) Open the Phantom software
Most image issues can be resolved by performing a Current Session Reference (CSR) or reloading the cameras factory .STG file. If either of these two methods doesn’t work, please send a 3-4 cine to support@visionresearch.com. The cine file will provide the most of the information about the camera so we can diagnose your problem. support@visionresearch.com
In the camera’s STG file there is a setting for the color filter array which will get set to the black and white setting once and a while. The procedure below will allow you to restore the setting.
1. Connect your camera to a PC using Ethernet.
2. Go to the Windows START button and select RUN...
3. In the RUN window that pops up in the line that reads OPEN, type in the following: telnet XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX 7115
Where XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX is the IP address of the camera and is located on the underside of the camera. Also there is only one space between telnet and XXX and only one space between XXX and 7115.
4. Press OK
5. Press ENTER two times. The controller will respond with "?".
6. For all cameras with the exception of HD and P65 cameras, type in the following command: set info.cfa 3
There is only one space between set and info and only one space between CFA and 3.
7. For HD and Phantom 65 camera’s type in the following command: set info.cfa 4
There is only one space between set and info and only one space between CFA and 4.
8. Press ENTER once. The controller will respond with "Ok." Close the Command Prompt window, power cycle the camera and the color will be back on.
What's happening is the firewall is protecting the controller from the camera. To alleviate this problem, the firewall needs to be disabled. In order to do this, you may need administrator privileges. Go to the control panel and locate Windows Firewall and double click on it. In the pop-up window verify the firewall is set to off.
The Phantom Camera Control software allows the user to assign a user defined, static IP Address to an Ethernet Phantom camera by performing the following steps:
Ensure that the Camera Control Unit has a dedicated IP Address of 100.100.100.1 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0
Ensure camera is cabled properly and apply power to the camera.
Start the Phantom Camera Control application
Click on the Acquisition menu option
Click Restore NV Memory
With the Restore Non-Volatile Memory Setting dialogue window open, press and hold the ALT key and press the :I: key on the keyboard to invoke the Set the Camera IP Addresses dialogue window
In the Set the Camera IP Addresses dialogue window, enter the appropriate IP information for your network. If you not sure what to enter, check with your local network administrator.
Power down the camera.
Change the IP Address and subnet Mask information on the Camera Control Unit to ensure that both the camera and the control unit have been assigned to the same network (not the same IP address).
Restart the control unit
Re-apply power to the camera.
Restart the Phantom Camera Control application.
Note:
If the control unit does not detect the camera, recheck the settings of the control unit.
Setting the IP Address of a camera does not remove its default IP address. In the event you need to verify the camera's user defined IP Address, or made a mistake entering the information, simply reset the control unit's IP Address to 100.100.100.1, and reconnect to the camera making any necessary changes using the steps above.
A log can go a long way in determining what's going on inside the camera and the performance of the controller. To create a log, perform the following steps:
Start the Phantom application.
Go to the HELP tab and then select ABOUT.
Select LOGGING from the ABOUT window.
Click on the ALL button from the LOGGING OPTIONS window.
Select OK from the LOGGING OPTIONS window.
Select CLOSE from the ABOUT window.
Close and restart the Phantom application.
Perform the steps to create the issue in question.
Go to the HELP tab and then select ABOUT.
Select LOGGING from the ABOUT window.
For a single camera, click on the EXTRACT and then select OK from the LOGGING OPTIONS window. For multiple cameras, select EXTRACT ALL and then select OK from the LOGGING OPTIONS window.
Select the NONE button from the LOGGING OPTIONS window.
Select OK from the LOGGING OPTIONS window.
Select CLOSE from the ABOUT window.
Exit the Phantom application.
Create a C:LOG directory.
Go to the Phantom Directory (C:Program Files>Phantom) and locate PhCon.log and move the file to the C:LOG directory. Attach PhCon.log to an e-mail to technical support.
Go to the Phantom Directory (C:Program Files>Phantom) and locate the internal camera log. The format for the file is CAM<S/N>.log where S/N is the serial number of the camera. Move the file(s) to the C:LOG directory Attach the CAM<S/N>.log file(s) to an e-mail to technical support.
While all Phantom FireWire cameras are discontinued and only supported on a "best effort" basis, following the procedure in this document, will usually resolve connectivity problems. The necessary 1394 drivers can be downloaded from our Software Downloads page on this web site.
