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Whether you’re exploring plankton imaging for the first time or comparing technical specifications, this page answers many of the questions researchers ask before selecting an imaging system. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, our team is always happy to help.
Welcome. No prior experience with plankton imaging or with Bellamare is expected, and most of the researchers we work with are approaching this for the first time too. A good first step is simply exploring the site to get a feel for the instruments we build and the kinds of research they support.
From there, take a look at our Featured in Research page, where you can see Bellamare equipment referenced directly in published, peer reviewed literature. It's a helpful way to see the science in context before deciding what fits your own work.
When you're ready to think through your specific project, reach out using our Research Planning form (if you know details and specifics about your project) or through our more general contact form, both found on our website.
Plankton imaging uses cameras, rather than nets, to observe plankton and other small marine organisms directly in the water.
Because it captures organisms in their natural setting, it can reveal patterns in distribution, abundance, and behavior that are difficult to see with traditional sampling methods.
If your work touches larval fish, zooplankton, or other small taxa, in situ imaging is worth exploring, whether or not you've used it before.
That depends on what you're trying to measure, at what scale, and in what kind of environment, which is exactly why we'd rather hear about your project directly than have you guess from a product page.
Optical resolution and sampling volume involve real tradeoffs: a system built to capture the smallest organisms isn't necessarily the best choice for larger, faster-moving taxa, and vice versa.
The Research Planning Form is the fastest way to get pointed toward the configuration that actually fits your question.
We don't provide funding directly, but we know navigating funding and timelines is often one of the first hurdles for a new project. Our Research Planning Form includes a section addressing funding considerations, worth a look if you're still in the early planning stages.
Typically somewhere between 6 and 30 weeks, depending on the complexity of your project and the configuration you need.
Once we understand your research goals through the Research Planning Form, we can give you a clearer sense of where your project is likely to fall in that range.
ISIIS stands for In-Situ Ichthyoplankton Imaging System. Our system was originally developed to image large volumes of water and resolve ichthyoplankton patchiness.
As the system evolved, its defining strength became clear: the ability to image a large depth of field while capturing far more than just plankton. To reflect this broader capability, DPI was added to the name, it stands for Deep-focus Particle Imager.
Today, ISIIS-DPI is used to image a wide range of particles and organisms across multiple scales.
Because every hero needs a trusted partner.
Think of Batman and Robin, Sherlock and Watson, or R2-D2 and Luke Skywalker. The main sensor is the hero doing the heavy lifting, but the SIDEKICK is the loyal ally making the magic happen behind the scenes.
We named it SIDEKICK because it is the ultimate mission partner for your oceanographic data. It is autonomous, friendly, and always ready to adapt as your research evolves. It keeps the tech simple so you can focus on the science, making sure your focus is always on the questions you are there to answer.
SIDEKICK is Bellamare's instrument hub, the system that manages power, data logging, and communication for your sensors during a deployment.
Rather than wiring together separate loggers and power supplies for each instrument, SIDEKICK brings them under one reconfigurable, autonomous unit built for oceanographic missions.
Yes. SIDEKICK is built to integrate with a range of third-party sensors, not just Bellamare's own instruments, through configurable serial and network connections.
A system claiming superior resolution based on camera pixel count or sensor size alone is not providing a meaningful comparison.
The only number that matters is the object-space pixel pitch: how large a region of the flow field each pixel actually represents. A system with a smaller camera sensor and fewer pixels can outperform a high-megapixel system if it achieves a finer object-space pixel pitch through higher magnification.
This is one of the most important questions to ask when evaluating any optical measurement system. See the linked technical comparison document, “ISIIS-DPI Resolution FAQ.”
Since object-space resolution equals pixel size divided by magnification, the only genuine path to finer resolution is increasing the magnification: bringing it closer to 1. This means covering a smaller field of view with the same pixel count, so that each pixel represents a finer region of the flow field.
Higher magnification always comes at the cost of reduced field of view and sampled volume. This is a fundamental optical trade-off, not an engineering limitation. There is no optical design that simultaneously improves both resolution and field of view for a fixed collecting aperture, which is precisely why the ISIIS-DPI product family spans multiple configurations.
Each instrument represents a deliberate choice along the resolution-versus-volume continuum, matched to the biological scale of the target organisms. When we help researchers select the right system, we are not selling specifications, we are matching the instrument to the science.
A concise reference explaining the optical principles behind Bellamare's imaging systems and performance specifications.