The Weisscam Company develops digital high-speed cameras. The cameras are mainly used in commercials, imagefilms and in shootings of athletic activities. The Weisscam Company was founded by Director of Photography (DoP) Stefan Weiss.
History
In 2005, WEISSCAM began developing the first prototype of the HS-1 camera for international commercials. After high-speed shoots with the prototype, WEISSCAM collaborated with P+S Technik to launch a redesigned camera in 2006–2007. Subsequently, from 2007 to 2008, WEISSCAM expanded their product line by developing the HS-2 Camera, DM-2 Digimag, DBB Debayerbox, and HU-2 Handunit, aiming to create a standalone camera capable of working in both HD SDI and RAW formats.
WEISSCAM HS-1
The equipment of the digital high-speed camera WEISSCAM HS-1 includes the camera HS-1, the Hand Unit and the Controlunit.
Camera
The Weisscam HS-1 camera body is designed as a combination of the classic form of 2/3“ video camera and the clarity of a film camera body. P+S Technic’s interchangeable mount is integrated to make available the maximum range of lenses designed for 35mm format – motion or still photography You can choose any frame size to fully utilise the camera’s memory. Frame rate up to 1000 frame/s are possible. Maximum resolution of the HS-1 model is 1280 x 1024 pixel.
Hand Unit
With the Hand Unit most important recording features of the camera can be remote controlled: START/STOP, frame rate adjustment, frame rate ramp settings, frame rate jumps. The ergonomic design allows comfortable one hand use to start and stop recording. With the well fitted hand wheel the frame rate can be changed smoothly while recording.
Control Unit
The WEISSCAM HS-1 Control Unit is a complete, portable power PC with dual core processor technology. The unit comes with a removable S-ATA hard disk drive for data exchange, an integrated monitor and a waterproof keyboard. The software offers multiple features for image control, color correction, frame size adjustments and shutter control.
Filmed with WEISSCAM HS-1 (alone or with other cameras) 2009: LU („Le petit déjeuner“), Wagner Pizza („Die Hitze des Vulkansteins“), 2008: Nestlé („Nestlé Classic“), Suzuki („Rock the Road“), Head („Racket“), LIG TV („Station IDs'08“), LU („Le petit déjeuner“), Baden Württembergische Bank („Tee“) 2007: Nike Europe („Nike T90“), BMW Mini („Urban Style on Tour“), Schwarzkopf („Bunch of Roses“), 4711 („Das Wunderwasser“), BMW (Showroom Film „Mini Collections“) 2006: Braun Multiquick („Celebration“), Milka („M-Joy“), Cortal Consors („Gold“), SWR-Trailer („Sport im Dritten“)
WEISSCAM HS-2
The equipment of the digital high-speed camera WEISSCAM HS-2 manufactured by P+S Technik includes the camera HS-2, the WEISSCAM Digimag DM-2, the WEISSCAM Debayberbox DBB and the WEISSCAM Hand Unit HU-2.
Camera
The WEISSCAM HS-2 is developed as a stand-alone camera targeted toward the needs of cinematographers. The HS-2 has a full format Super35 CMOS sensor with a global shutter. By using the Interchangeable Mount System (IMS) you can attach nearly every lens on the camera (PL Mount, Nikon F-Mount, Panavision Mount, etc.). The output of the WEISSCAM HS-2 offers two streams at the same time and uses the HD SDI interface for both signals. With the WEISSCAM "RAW IN HD SDI" mapping, you are able to transport the RAW files via the worldwide standard and fast HD SDI single and dual link interface. The HD stream offers YCbCr in 4:2:2. You can choose between linear standard curves like ITU-R 709 or log curve for a higher contrast range within the HD SDI image. The RAW stream is a 12-bit uncompressed WEISSCAM RAW file and gives you the freedom to demosaic in post production. With the WEISSCAM HS-2 there are 2000 frame/s in full HD possible. To record more speed one needs to reduce the recorded resolution on the sensor. For example, in 720p one can record up to 4000 frame/s with the WEISSCAM HS-2.