Scientific Camera Selection Guide

Thorlabs offers three families of scientific cameras. Our Quantalux^® monochrome sCMOS camera features extremely low read noise for low light applications and is housed in a compact, passively cooled housing. Kiralux™ cameras have CMOS sensors in the same compact housing and are offered in monochrome, color, and polarization-sensitive versions. The polarization-sensitive Kiralux camera incorporates an integrated micropolarizer array that, when used with our ThorCam™ software package, enables the creation of images that express degree of linear polarization, azimuth, and intensity at the pixel level. Our scientific CCD cameras are available with a variety of features, including versions optimized for operation at UV, visible, or NIR wavelengths; fast-frame-rate cameras; TE-cooled or non-cooled housings; and versions with the sensor face plate removed. The tables below provide a summary of our camera offerings.

Compact Scientific Cameras
Camera Type	Quantalux® 2.1 MP sCMOS	Kiralux™ 2.3 MP CMOS	Kiralux™ 5 MP CMOS	Kiralux™ 8.9 MP CMOS
Item #	Monochrome: CS2100M-USB	Monochrome: CS235MU Color: CS235CU	Monochrome: CS505MU Color: CS505CU Polarization: CS505MUP	Monochrome: CS895MU Color: CS895CU
Product Photos (Click to Enlarge)
Electronic Shutter	Rolling Shuttera	Global Shutter
Sensor Type	sCMOS	CMOS
Number of Pixels (H x V)	1920 x 1080	1920 x 1200	2448 x 2048	4096 x 2160
Pixel Size	5.04 µm x 5.04 µm	5.86 µm x 5.86 µm	3.45 µm x 3.45 µm
Optical Format	2/3" (11 mm Diagonal)	1/1.2" (13.4 mm Diagonal)	2/3" (11 mm Diagonal)	1" (16 mm Diagonal)
Peak Quantum Efficiency (Click for Plot)	Monochrome: 61% (at 600 nm)	Monochrome: 78% (at 500 nm) Color: Click for Plot	Monochrome & Polarization: 72% (Over 525 to 580 nm) Color: Click for Plot	Monochrome: 72% (Over 525 to 580 nm) Color: Click for Plot
Max Frame Rate (Full Sensor)	50 fps	39.7 fps	35 fps	20.8 fps
Read Noise	<1 e- Median, <1.5 e- RMS	<7.0 e- RMS	<2.5 e- RMS
Digital Output (Max)	16 Bit	12 Bit
Available Fanless Cooling	Passive Thermal Management
PC Interface	USB 3.0
Housing Dimensions (Click to Enlarge)	Compact Scientific Camera
Typical Applications	Fluorescence Microscopy VIS/NIR Imaging Quantum Dots Autofluorescence Materials Inspection Multispectral Imaging Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH)	Fluorescence Microscopy Immunohistochemistry (IHC) Machine Vision Inspection General Purpose Imaging	Monochrome & Color Models: Fluorescence Microscopy Immunohistochemistry (IHC) Machine Vision & Inspection Polarization Model: Machine Vision & Inspection Transparent Material Detection Surface Reflection Reduction	Fluorescence Microscopy Immunohistochemistry (IHC) Large FOV Slide Imaging Machine Vision Inspection

• Rolling Shutter with Equal Exposure Pulse (EEP) Mode for Synchronizing the Camera and Light Sources for Even Illumination

Scientific CCD Cameras
Camera Type	Fast Frame Rate VGA CCD		1.4 MP CCD	4 MP CCD	8 MP CCD
Item # Prefix	Monochrome: 340M	UV-Enhanced Monochrome: 340UV	Monochrome: 1501M Color: 1501C	Monochrome: 4070M Color: 4070C	Monochrome: 8051M Color: 8051C	Monochrome, No Sensor Face Plate: S805MU
Product Photo (Click to Enlarge)
Electronic Shutter	Global Shutter
Sensor Type	CCD
Number of Pixels (H x V)	640 x 480		1392 x 1040	2048 x 2048	3296 x 2472
Pixel Size	7.4 µm x 7.4 µm		6.45 µm x 6.45 µm	7.4 µm x 7.4 µm	5.5 µm x 5.5 µm
Optical Format	1/3" (5.92 mm Diagonal)		2/3" (11 mm Diagonal)	4/3" (21.4 mm Diagonal)	4/3" (22 mm Diagonal)
Peak QE (Click for Plot)	55% (at 500 nm)	10% (at 485 nm)	Monochrome: 60% (at 500 nm) Color: Click for Plot	Monochrome: 52% (at 500 nm) Color: Click for Plot	Monochrome: 51% (at 460 nm) Color: Click for Plot	51% (at 460 nm)
Max Frame Rate (Full Sensor)	200.7 fps (at 40 MHz Dual-Tap Readout)		23 fps (at 40 MHz Single-Tap Readout)	25.8 fps (at 40 MHz Quad-Tap Readout)a	17.1 fps (at 40 MHz Quad-Tap Readout)b	17.1 fps (at 40 MHz Quad-Tap Readout)
Read Noise	<15 e- at 20 MHz		<7 e- at 20 MHz (Standard Models) <6 e- at 20 MHz (-TE Models)	<12 e- at 20 MHz	<10 e- at 20 MHz
Digital Output (Max)	14 Bitc		14 Bit	14 Bitc		14 Bit
Available Fanless Cooling	Passive Thermal Management		-20 °C at 20 °C Ambient Temperature		-10 °C at 20 °C Ambient	Passive Thermal Management
Available PC Interfaces	USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet, or Camera Link					USB 3.0
Housing Dimensions (Click to Enlarge)	Non-Cooled Scientific CCD Camera		Cooled Scientific CCD Camera Non-Cooled Scientific CCD Camera			No Face Plate Scientific CCD Camera
Typical Applications	Ca++ Ion Imaging Particle Tracking Flow Cytometry SEM/EBSD UV Inspection		Fluorescence Microscopy VIS/NIR Imaging Quantum Dots Multispectral Imaging Immunohistochemistry (IHC) Retinal Imaging Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH)	Fluorescence Microscopy Transmitted Light Micrsoscopy Whole-Slide Microscopy Electron Microscopy (TEM/SEM) Inspection Material Sciences	Fluorescence Microscopy Whole-Slide Microscopy Large FOV Slide Imaging Histopathology Inspection Multispectral Imaging Immunohistochemistry (IHC)	Beam Profiling & Characterization Interferometry VCSEL Inspection Quantitative Phase-Contrast Microscopy Ptychography Digital Holographic Microscopy

• Limited to 13 fps at 40 MHz dual-tap readout for Gigabit Ethernet cameras; quad-tap readout is unavailable for Gigabit Ethernet cameras.
• Limited to 8.5 fps at 40 MHz dual-tap readout for Gigabit Ethernet cameras; quad-tap readout is unavailable for Gigabit Ethernet cameras.
• Gigabit Ethernet cameras operating in dual-tap readout mode are limited to 12-bit digital output.