Venue fit
Sport type, finish-line position, available light, camera placement, and review location.
Support
First Event Readiness.
Support starts before the first race. Review the venue, camera position, light, operator workflow, timing connections, backup plan, export needs, and support expectations early.
Operator workflow
Who sets up, who captures, who reviews, who approves, and who needs visibility after the finish.
Support expectations
Onboarding, remote or on-site support needs, early-access maturity, and first-event risk review.
Readiness checklist
What we should know before race day.
A practical support conversation should make the first event feel less unknown, not bury the team in documentation.
Questions
Early customer details.
Is Lion Timing available now?
Lion Timing is currently in development. The website supports early-access conversations, demo calls, pilot discussions, introduction price interest, and newsletter signup.
What does the introduction price mean?
The introduction price is EUR 5,990. The planned final price is EUR 7,990. Exact scope, tax, shipping, installation, and support details are confirmed directly.
What should I confirm before comparing photo finish quotes?
Confirm the whole race-day package, not only the camera body: lens, software license, start and arrival controls, interface boxes, battery or UPS backup, PC/network requirements, shipping, onboarding, and support. A lower headline price can still become a different decision once the event-ready scope is clear.
Who is Lion Timing for?
Lion Timing is being developed for race organizers, professional timing teams, sports clubs, athletics tracks, horse tracks, federations, event operators, venues, training facilities, and race technology teams.
How does the camera know when the race started without a cable to the start?
With GPS timing, the start device and camera can share satellite time. The start device timestamps the start event; the camera timestamps the finish image lines; and the result is calculated from the difference. The message can arrive after the event because it carries a timestamped measurement, not the accuracy itself.
Can I get custom views for commentators, judges, or public screens?
Yes. The operator dashboard is the race-day control surface. Custom views for commentators, judges, public screens, or venue-specific displays can be built around the documented API. Lion Timing can assist with examples and onboarding. Custom views support the workflow but do not replace the operator review/approval process.
How does the camera perform at night or in bad light?
Honestly, like every photo finish system, it depends on light. Thousands of lines per second means each line has very little time to collect light. The practical levers are to open the lens, scan only as fast as the sport requires, and raise gain last because gain adds noise as well as brightness. RAW is a safety layer that preserves more of what the sensor captured, but if the venue is the real problem, lighting the finish line is often the correct fix.
How can I verify timing accuracy myself?
The zero test is an established on-site verification method. The start gun is fired on the finish line: its trigger starts the clock at 0.000, and its flash appears in the photo finish image at that same point. The first flame should read 0.000. This checks the trigger path, clock start, line timestamps, and image pipeline together.
Do I need photo-editing skills to use this camera?
No. The operator workflow is designed for ready race-day review and export. RAW-first recording is the safety layer underneath: useful when light was wrong, setup was rushed, or a result is questioned.
What does RAW recording actually mean, and why should I care if I’m not a photographer?
RAW recording keeps the sensor’s source measurement before JPEG export. That matters because a too-dark image, changed light, or disputed edge can be reviewed from source data instead of only from a processed picture.
What sensor is inside the camera? Is it as good as what established brands use?
The useful buying question is what is built around the sensor: light handling at racing line rates, timing discipline, RAW-first evidence, backup recording, review workflow, and support. Lion Timing is deliberately sensor-agnostic and chooses the best suitable part for the job.
Will AI make the finish decision?
The planned direction is operator-controlled AI assistance. AI may assist the workflow, while the operator remains responsible for the final decision.
Next step
Review your first-event risk.
Bring photos of your finish line, your current timing setup, and the event date if you already know it.