The digital high-resolution stillvideo camera Kodak DCS200 has reached a high degree of popularity among photogrammetrists within a very short time. Consisting of a mirror reflex camera, a high resolution CCD sensor, A/D conversion, power supply, and data storage capacity for 50 images, it can basically be considered a comfortable, autonomous device for digital image data acquisition, especially for industrial applications and for architectural photogrammetry. First tests of the camera showed a high precision potential: 1/20-1/30 pixel in image space could be achieved in several applications, and with large self-calibrating networks relative precisions of 1:100,000 and better have been reported. To be able to make more detailed statements on the accuracy potential of the camera, a thorough accuracy test was performed at ETH Zurich by taking 150 images of a 186 target 3D testfield. Although the precision estimates of this large block were exceptionally good, strong systematic object deformations were found in comparison with theodolite-measured reference coordinates of the testfield points. The reasons for these deformations are most probably temporal instabilities of some camera parameters, which could make the use of this camera very problematic for high accuracy applications. It is argued that these instabilities are caused by the weak fixture of the CCD-chip to the camera body. In this context it is often overlooked that this camera was not developed for precise measurement applications but rather for professional photographers.

Date Published: 13 September 1995
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 2598, Videometrics IV, (13 September 1995); doi: 10.1117/12.220923

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2598:
Videometrics IV
Sabry F. El-Hakim, Editor(s)