Snapping at an unbelievable 1 trillion frames per second – yes, that's 1,000,000,000,000 fps – sounds like the dream of every sports or wildlife photographer, and probably would lead to even more hours of post-production. For reference, the Panasonic Lumix G9 snaps at 60fps, which is considered fast! It's almost surreal what this revolutionary technology, developed by scientists at MIT and Caltech, is capable of; this camera is so fast it can literally capture light in motion.
Created by Linhong Wang, Bren Professor of Medical Engineering and Electrical Engineering, this ultra-fast femto-photography system is a leap far beyond anything we as 'normal' photographers know.
At this speed, the camera can visualize the invisible – specifically light waves travelling through space and interacting with materials. The result is a mind-bending look into the physics of our world and some seriously exciting opportunities for science and technology.
Let's put that into perspective. What's the highest fps you've ever shot with?
Go ahead and check your specs – and if you're new to this, fps refers to how many photos your camera can take per second in burst mode (when you hold the shutter down continuously). So, fps is not the same as shutter speed; this is how long your sensor is exposed to light.
DSLRs top out at around 14fps (like the Nikon D6) to 16fps (like the Canon 1DX Mark III). Top-tier mirrorless models stretch to 30fps (like the Sony A1 or Canon R3) and 60fps (like the Olympus E-M1 Mark II), but usually with trade-offs like reduced resolution or autofocus limitations.
Now compare that to 1 trillion fps – we're talking 10 billion times faster than even the fastest pro mirrorless. It makes our beloved gear look like it's standing still.
As amazing as this is, the trillion-fps camera isn't made for snapping sports or wildlife – it's built for science. The ultrafast system uses lasers and ultra-precise sensors to reconstruct what's happening at an atomic or molecular scale – speeds at which light itself becomes visible – and far beyond what our cameras can do.
For researchers, this opens up incredible possibilities. With this kind of speed, scientists can observe shockwaves, heat transfer, and microscopic changes in real-time. This is crucial in fields like medical imaging, biology, material science, and energy research.
The newer system, known as pCUP, can even capture one-time-only events, like a chemical reaction or a biological process, and do so in a single shot. This is something previous versions of femto-photography couldn't do.
It's about visualizing the invisible. And watching light travel is hypnotic. It's strange, beautiful, and something we've never been able to witness before.
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If you are interested in what camera technology can do in the name of science, have a look at the following articles:
- AI for good: This wearable AI camera helps visually impaired people navigate
- Breakthrough 1-pixel camera records holographic video – built at microscopic scale
- This camera can change the world (seriously) with ultra-high-resolution imaging, biomarker mapping and AI
