Point Grey announced the addition of a new 1.3 megapixel USB 2.0 model to the company's Firefly MV line of FireWire and USB digital camera products.

The new FMVU-13S2C model is designed around the color version of the highly sensitive 1/3-inch Sony IMX035 CMOS image sensor, which features a 1328 x 1048 square pixel array, high signal-to-noise ratio, superior color fidelity, rolling shutter, and no smear. The Firefly MV's easy-to-use USB 2.0 digital interface, small size, and low price further make this new model an ideal choice for microscopy, bioscience, medical and visualization applications.

"The color quality, sensitivity, and performance of the Sony IMX035 make this a truly exceptional sensor," says Vladimir Tucakov, Director of Sales and Marketing at Point Grey. "Integrating it into our Firefly MV allows us to bring a very unique product with unbeatable value to the market, and nicely complements existing models that use the wide-VGA Micron MT9V022 CMOS. By offering it with a USB 2.0 interface, we also address the needs of customers who want to simply plug the camera into a computer without connecting a separate interface card."

The Firefly MV line now offers a total of 11 different combinations of image sensor, form factor and interface that are designed to address a wide variety of applications in industrial and non-industrial imaging. The camera's high-speed USB 2.0 480 Mbits/s digital interface transfers both data and power and allows full 1328 x 1048 raw Bayer images to be acquired at 23 FPS, or VGA at 60 FPS using either of the sensor's 2 x 2 pixel binning or region of interest modes.

The FMVU-13S2C is housed in a small and lightweight 44 x 24 x 34 mm plastic case, and is equipped with a CS-mount lens holder, removable IR cut filter, and a 7-pin general purpose I/O connector that can be used to synchronize the camera to external devices, such as an external trigger or light source. A board-level option, which measures just 40 x 25 mm, is available for qualified OEM's.

Like all Point Grey cameras, the Firefly MV complies with the IIDC v1.31 specification. Existing Point Grey camera users will benefit from the seamless software integration that is available using the FlyCapture Software Development Kit (SDK). The FlyCapture SDK is compatible with both FireWire and USB 2.0 cameras using the same API, and includes support for ActiveX, TWAIN and DirectShow.