Camera suggestion for Machine Vision with OpenCV [closed]

Question

Edit: Skip to the end to see which camera i bought.

For a University Project i have to film a semi-transparent Window, detect certain shapes and send the results to another computer. (Example Picture at bottom of post) The detection is done with c++ using OpenCV in Win7.

I think the simplest solution is to connect the camera directly to a computer and do the Computation on the machine. I need to have at least 20fps, a resolution of 1280 x 1024 would probably be enough for the detection.

I am relativly free in the decision which camera i want to use. Can you suggest a camera that works well with OpenCV and is easy to use?

This Question has been asked a few times, but most of it has no answer or is old:

Recommended HD camera (Best thread i found. suggests logitech quickcam 9000 pro, not on market anymore)

Which Machine Vision Vendor provides OpenCV support (General Advice not sure what to make of it)

Which Camera for body detection (2010, no clear answer)

OpenCV Webcam Compability (2011)

List of compatible camera tested with opencv (dead link, no copy found yet)

Industrial Camera in Python (no answer and not what i need)

Edit: Just for future readers: We are gone use a Logitech HD Pro c920 for currently 70€. A suitable "professional" camera would cost 330€ (without lens).

Edit2: A little update after two month using it.

The Camera has a smaller angle than is communicated on the official forums. Here is a SO Question, in which i uploaded some example pictures.

The Camera also runs only on 15 fps with the default driver, so avoid installing those at all costs!

Also newer models (like the one i got) are glued together, so you can't break them open and adjust the depth manually easily anymore.

Edit3: Just a last update. My Project is almost finished, nothing else occured. :)

Answer 1

It was a little late for you. But it will help others who want to develop a Machine Vision project. Also you are right about there are not a lot of detailed resource about OpenCV and Machine Vision.

First of all a web-cam will be an amateur solution for commercial applications. If you want to make an industrial application for inspection, you need a special illumination, and an industrial camera. You can work with video or trigger mode on camera. Also think about strobe mode illumination can give better results on a production line. An example camera model which I bought, is PointGrey. Some models can be triggered outside(you can use a sensor for trigger):
http://ww2.ptgrey.com/camera-applications
http://www.baslerweb.com/Cameras-42173.html
There are also other smart cameras which don't need any PC or illumination like: http://www.teledynedalsa.com/imaging/products/vision-systems/cameras/-boa-overview http://www.datalogic.com/eng/products/industrial-automation/machine-vision/a30-series-pd-549.html http://www.microscan.com/en-us/Products.aspx

All camera manufacturers supplies their own SDKs. It shows how you can get frame raw data and convert it to any format like bitmap, OpenCV data format, save as jpg, etc. Some examples for PointGrey:
http://www.ptgrey.com/products/pgrflycapture/samples.asp
It is easy to convert frame raw data to OpenCV image format, you should copy raw data to OpenCV image data. You can use memcpy. Some examples here:
http://www.technical-recipes.com/2011/integrating-the-flycapture-sdk-for-use-with-opencv
http://kevinhughes.ca/tutorials/point-grey-blackfly-and-opencv
For all other camera manifacturers you can use similar way. Also I suggest to prefer GigE interface cameras, they are becoming standard.

Good luck.