Versatile microsecond movie camera

A laboratory-type camera is readily assembled using the following off-the-shelf components: a 3-mW He-Ne laser; an acoustooptic modulator; an electromechanical beam deflector; and a video (TV) tape recorder. The present camera is distinct in its operation in that submicrosecond laser flashes freeze the image motion while still allowing the simplicity of (millisecond range) electromechanical image deflection. The gating and pulse delay circuits of an oscilloscope synchronize the modulator and scanner relative to the subject being photographed. The pictures consist of a 3-64 frame sequence; the interframe time ranged from ∼1 μsec to > 1000 μsec. Video recording provides immediate monitoring of the picture quality and accuracy of synchronization. A number of variations are available for particular applications. For example, one can change the electrical pulsing to produce either streak or stroboscopic pictures instead of frames, and film can be substituted for video recording in order to retain more details of the image. © 1980, Optical Society of America.