Filaments are studied by examining fast camera images on the
Wendelstein 7-X stellarator. Fast cameras offer a unique perspective, revealing
the complex 3D structure of filaments in the entire poloidal cross-section of the
plasma. By correlating individual pixels, their location, shape, and movement are
analyzed in standard and high-ι configurations. The presence of filaments is not
uniform poloidally around. The number of active areas matches the number of
magnetic islands in both configurations. Filaments are found to extend to multiple
toroidal turns in standard configuration. No time delay is observed between the
different toroidal sections. Such behavior is not seen in high-ι configuration.
Filaments are observed within and without the edge shear layer, indicated by the
direction of their poloidal rotation. Inside the shear layer, their velocity scatters
around 1.25 km/s, accompanied by a lifetime between 80-120 µs. Outside, their
velocity shows greater absolute values and variance, but still in a few km/s range.
The similarities and differences between the two configurations are discussed and
compared to previous results.