Chronos High Speed Camera — 1000 fps in HD

Camera News

by Florian GintenreiterJanuary 8^th, 2021

Canadian film tech company Krontech, which launched its low-cost high-speed Chronos High Speed Camera back in 2016 released a new 2.1 version that can now record in Full HD.

The company that started out ten years ago as a one-man-band founded by engineer David Kronstein, has releases a new version of their compact, self contained high-speed camera: Chronos 2.1. According to their goal of making the world of high-speed imaging available to the masses they have delivered again.

High speed?

The Chronos 2.1 is a high-speed camera that is ready to shoot and fits in the palm of your hand. We are talking about real high-speed not overcranking a camera to 100 or 120 frames per second here. True high-speed of 1000 fps, that usually is ridiculously expensive to shoot.

The new model shares a great deal of specs with it’s predecessor, but while the Chronos 1.4 had a maximum resolution of 1280×1024, the new Chronos 2.1 shoots in 1080p. With a world moving towards 4K delivery, the extra resolution is more than welcome.

Chronos high speed camera – the facts

Chronos cameras work with a “constant pixel throughput” principle. That means the flow of data from the sensor into the camera’s buffer storage is always a constant 2.1 Gigapixels per second. The user can balance resolution for speed: The Chronos 2.1-HD offers up 1,000fps at full resolution and 24,046fps at minimum resolution.

As with most high-speed cameras, the Chronos does not store directly to a removable medium. The camera writes the image data to an internal buffer. The new 2.1 model is available in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB versions, which can record 2.3, 2.5 or 11 second shots respectively. The camera can be triggered with TTL, switch closure, image change, sound or accelerometer data – depending on your application. So, when the buffer is full, the recorded clip needs to be written out to SD card or alternatively offloaded via two integrated USB host ports to HDDs or flash drives. In addition a 3G sSATA port is also available.

Keep in mind: The offloading of — for example — a full 32GB buffer to an SD card can take quite a while.

Notable features

• Available in color or monochrome version
• CS, C, Nikon F and Canon EF mount lens support available as field-swappable options
• Focus peaking (focus assist) and zebra exposure indicator
• BASE ISO 500 (color model), 1000 (monochrome model)
• Record time: 2.75s (8GB), 5.51s (16GB), or 11.03s (32GB)
• 1h runtime on field-swappable EN-EL4a battery
• NEW: the Chronos 2.1 now has a HDMI video output
• Body Dimensions: 155mmx96mmx67.3mm (6.11″ x 3,78″ x 2,56″)
• Weight: 1.06kg (2.34lb)

Pricing and availability

The camera can be pre-ordered at Krontech’s webshop for $4995.00 and new camera orders are expected to ship in March.

Cameras with similar features are much more expensive. Chronos is cheaper, with more features, smaller size, and better usability. However, it depends on the kind of productions you do, but if you have a use-case for high-framerate shots, the Chronos 2.1 is worth a look. For more information head on over to Krontech’s website.

Do you have experience with high-speed shooting? Have you used the Chronos, plan to buy one or have questions? Please put them in the comments below.