Krontech Gets a Visit From Linus Tech Tips!

Krontech Gets a Visit From Linus Tech Tips! 1.4 Linus Tech Tips

Linus Tech Tips is probably the most well-known hardware enthusiast show on the net today. You can find all sorts of cool geeky stuff tested, assembled and destroyed in some cases.  This time it was the turn for Krontech.ca to get a visit from the Linus team which funnily enough is very close to them geographically in the vicinity of Vancouver BC, Canada.

There is a quick tour around the startup headquarters as well as a nostalgic look back at the prototype cameras that evolved in what we know today as the Chronos 1.4c which is capable of 1,502fps at 720p resolution and recently able to record in RAW 16bit DNG format which makes it professionally usable in any setting given an adequate amount of light. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Casio Slow Motion Pioneer Kills Consumer Camera Line!

Casio Slow Motion

It seems that the cellphone has once again taken no prisoners when it comes to the portable consumer camera. Casio which was probably the most influential affordable high-speed camera developer 10 year ago with the EX-F1 has now decided to retrench and effectively end their portable consumer camera development due to mounting losses with no clear path to profitability for the division.

The Japanese hi-tech company generated a loss of 500 million Yen (or $4.6 million U$) in the 2017 fiscal year for the division. They will effectively pull out of the market to stop the bleeding.  It is quite sad to see a company that created the EX-F1 and the excellent EX-FH20 eliminate their entire consumer camera division. Could things have been different and could they have avoided the phone camera erosion that has obliterated the sales of most manufacturers? Our only thought would be that they did not innovate fast enough to remain competitive for the consumer to be a real alternative. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

eBay Slow Motion Camera Listings April 2018!

eBay Slow Motion Camera Listings

We are constantly looking for high-speed camera bargains and one of the best places to find them is on eBay where used cameras go to find a new home.  It is hard to judge the actual state of a product until you use it but that is why you can ask questions to the seller and reach a deal if needed.  You also have to take into account that many cameras get used in dangerous situations to record events where no human can be close to like on a rocket launch pad or testing artillery.

Make sure if you purchase a camera to be given a determined time to test it and make sure it is working as described. The whole point of finding these bargains is to save a boatload of money compared to purchasing them outright from the manufacturer.   HSC is not paid a commission or promotion fee for these listings so make sure you do your due diligence before buying, we are not affiliated with the sellers. This month a few diamonds in the rough were found that could really bring an edge to your slow motion shooting. Let’s dig in! → Continue Reading Full Post ←

fps4000 Camera Available for Rent in the UK!

fps4000 Camera

Warning: The parent company of FPS cameras “The Slow Motion Camera Company Ltd.” went out of business and entered liquidation proceedings. No further development of cameras is expected. More information here on Google Search

The fps1000, fps2000 and fps4000 projects are alive and well and are progressing forward with a unified hardware base. We are not able to share information the current state of the project other than it is advancing to a ready to ship point in the future to all outstanding backers. The fps4000 camera is able to be rented now in the United Kingdom at this website for £150.00 pounds a day plus VAT & Insurance. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

GoPro Being Acquired by Xiaomi?

GoPro Being Acquired by Xiaomi

Last week the site The Information posted a piece stating the possibility of GoPro being bought out by Chinese electronics company Xiaomi which are the makers of the main competitor to GoPro in the same form factor with the Yi camera line.   We liked the Yi 4k+ last year as it delivered pretty acceptable quality in 4k 60p in a GoPro like the body+enclosure design. We were not thrilled by the bit rates or the slow-motion quality but it was in the running for the best alternative action camera with a lower price.

If the rumors are true Xiaomi will be consolidating the Action camera market and improving the Yi camera line overnight by rebranding it to GoPro as the name might be just as valuable as the technology being acquired.  Most of the current Yi camera products share the components with pre Hero 6 Black cameras like the Hero 5 Black as they were based on the Ambarella chips that GoPro used for a decade. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Z Cam E2 Best Value 4k Slow Motion Cam?

Z Cam E2

Z Cam the relatively new Camera company from Shenzhen, China has announced the Z Cam E2 at NAB 2018 MSRP $1,999.00 USD. It is not a direct replacement for their ambitious but half-baked Z E1 m4/3 camera which costs $399.   The new camera is a beast specs wise with up to 120fps 4k  and full HD 1080p at 240fps.  The codecs will be H.264 and H.265 at 10 bit but no RAW support so far which might be acceptable if the codec is clean enough and their promised Log Flat curve preserves the estimated 13.5 stops of dynamic range.

The camera is still being developed for a June 2018 estimated ship date. It lacks a back screen and relies on a Wifi or Gigabit Ethernet link to their dedicated control application. They intend to support iOS devices and or a PC client. No mention of Android support or Mac which should be included in order to maintain the widest compatibility.  We feel lacking Android control is a big deal and should be promised in a future update. It is also unclear if the camera will be possible to use by using a touch screen field monitor which probably will not be the case. Using an iPhone or an iPad as the control interface is probably the best use case. → Continue Reading Full Post ←