Niiiice camera on eBay: Leonardo Selex Horizon MWIR 1280x720, 80-960mm AF zoom

[Ultrapurple]

There's a really nice-looking MWIR camera on offer at the moment - eBay auction: #292306578350 - 1280 x 720 cooled MWIR with a zoom lens the size of a telescope. Asking price is £33,500 (gulp) - but I think that's probably actually on the cheap side. There are some nice photos on the auction, including the internals.


To quote the description (more or less in full)

For sale is one of the world's most powerful cameras, which can detect the human body from a distance of 30.3km (18 miles). This is a dual-use medium wave infrared thermographic military-grade camera designed for battlefield situational awareness, extreme long range surveillance, border enforcement, and search & rescue. This is the camera that was used to film the award-winning video art installation Incoming, which won the Prix Pictet in 2017. This is a thermal camera which images heat, including body heat, day or night.

The camera's owner has worked with the camera's designer to refine and develop an ergonomic and stable work flow for professional cinematography in the field. The camera can be operated by xbox controller through adapted Panasonic Toughpad and has been modified for near-field and macro use along with extreme long range zoom. The camera kit includes everything required for operation including Panasonic Toughpad, Atomos Blade video media recorder with SSD chip, three battery packs for long lasting shoot duration, chargers, all comms, power, and HD-SDI cables, xbox controller, and back ups.

The Horizon Medium Wave Infra-Red (MWIR) thermal imaging camera employs the latest focal plane array technology to meet long-range surveillance and target identification for early warning of threats and detection of illegal activities to satisfy border control, coastal security and surveillance requirements. The camera is fitted with a high definition detector array and is qualified to operate in the most stringent land and maritime environments. The system is able to detect vehicles at up to 50km and personnel at ranges of up to 30km. One camera can therefore monitor hundreds of square kilometres of terrain. The crisp imagery allows rapid identification and detailed investigation of suspicious movements and activity. The latest generation of algorithms provide additional image enhancements for harsh environments, these include turbulence mitigation, Local Area Contrast enhancement (LACE), edge enhancement and image stabilisation. Horizon provides a wider Field of View (FoV) for greater Situational Awareness, whilst delivering a narrower IFoV for longer range target identification and engagement.

Key benefits:
• Designed, developed and manufactured in the UK
• ‘Dual Use’ rated
• Very low through-life cost - 50,000 hours cooling engine life
• Ease of integration – video and communication over Ethernet
• Multiple digital and analogue video outputs
• ONVIF control and video interface
• Latest image processing
- Turbulence mitigation
- Image stabilisation
- Local area contrast enhancement
• Ultra narrow field of view: 0.6°
• Qualified to operate from -40°C to +55°C

Technical Specification
Detector array resolution 1280 x 720 (HD)
Detector pitch 12µm (HD)
FOV 11.0 x 6.2 degrees to 0.9 x 0.5 degrees (HD)
Detector technology CMT
Band 3.7µm - 4.95µm
F/Number F/4
Focal length of continuous optical zoom 80-960mm
Comms RS-422 / Ethernet
Analogue video output NTSC / PAL (CCIR) / HDTV 720p
Digital video output HD-SDI / Ethernet (H264, ONVIF)
Operating temperature -40°C to 55°C
Weight 23kg
Size (L x W x H) 596.5mm x 299mm x 299mm
Power source 28VDC (18-32V)
Nominal power at steady state <25W
Dynamic range enhancement LACE / Linear / Edge enhancement
Image stabilisation
Turbulence mitigation
Auto focus
Cooling engine Long life linear (50,000hrs)
Non-uniformity corrector Built-in reference and quadratic NUC
E-Zoom Interpolated (up to 8x)

Dear Santa,

I know I haven't been a completely good boy all year, but...

[Vipitis]

I would like to try it.... I wonder if there is old military grade hardware laying arround somewhere

[Fraser]

Impressive

this is the sort of technology the BBC are using on Autumnwatch. From memory they are using a Selex Galileo high resolution camera that they hire-in for the work.

It would be interesting to know the history of this camera. I suspect it is the property of a video production company who no longer have a use for it.

Thankfully they understand the regulations associated with shipping the unit. I was a little surprised to read that shipping would be from Ireland, yet the camera is stated as being located in London.

A very nice camera to own but it does contain a Sterling Cooler and no matter what the specs say, they can fail early on in life without warning. Just ask NASA as they have done extensive life testing to better understand the technology for use in their space vehicles. To have the Cooler repaired by Selex would likely cost almost as much as the cameras asking price.

I would prefer someone else to own it, and the maintenance costs and just borrow it when needed

I do wonder if this auction will get pulled though. Selex is part of Finmeccanica, a military equipment manufacturing company. I suspect they may not approve of one of their cameras appearing on eBay, just a hunch I have as I have worked with them.

Fraser

[nidlaX]

Very nice, check out some frames from the film: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/feb/15/richard-mosse-incoming-review-barbican-curve-migrant-crisis

[Bud]

Certainly adds some drama to scenes.