Video Camera Connection to PC -- How to get the fastest frame rate transfer?

[fog37]

Hello,

What is the fastest connection method (i.e. type of cabling) to transfer images from a video camera to a computer, i.e. what type of connection gives the highest frame per minutes? Is a USB connection fast? If not, why not? Should I look at a camera that connects in a different way?

Thanks!
Fog37

 

[mfb]

You are limited to the connections the camera provides and to the readout speed of the camera sensor.

Glass fibers for example can transmit huge amounts of data (orders of magnitude more than the camera can read out), but typically a camera won't have a suitable connector.

USB speeds are easy to look up.

 

[fog37]

Thank you!

Aside from various cable speeds, etc. what is considered a good frames per second number?

 

[mfb]

Depends on what you want to do. Show the video at normal speed? 50-60 frames per second are good, 25-30 are not bad, if there is no fast motion you might get away with even less. If you want to show it in slow motion, you'll need more frames, if you want to show it sped up, a lower number is sufficient.