Category Archives: Announcements

MISC Announcements

Canon M50 Will Have 120fps HD & 4k!

Canon M50

Has Canon finally woken up from the deep slumber that has crippled the progress in their camera line when it comes to video performance?  On paper, the Canon EOS M50 a mirrorless camera that seems to improve in almost every way to previous efforts by the company. We have 4k recording at 24/25 but where is 30P? 120fps slow Motion 720 HD Video in a lower cost body and their excellent Dual Pixel AF System which is one camera feature where the others are playing catch-up.

If the rumors are solid; which seem to be considering the images leaked and detailed information then Canon may finally be releasing cameras that will be worth your while and a clear path out of the EF mount into a mirrorless future.  We remain detached until we have image samples and slow-motion footage but its clear Canon and possibly Nikon will not remain still for much longer and let Sony, Olympus, Panasonic, and smartphones eat their installed user base little by little. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Fuji X-H1 Aims to Compete in Pro Video!

Fuji X-H1

The Fuji X-H1 just announced does a lot of things right; It has a 200mbps 4k codec in UHD / DCI, 120fps Full HD which from the initial looks of it looks gorgeous and it finally has the 5-Axis Stabilizer on the sensor 5.5 stops worth that had eluded Fuji cameras for two years now.  It even has a new Eterna color profile which makes it easy to color correct without being too flat or too processed.

However, the X-H1 is based on the same 24MP X-Trans APS-C sensor found on the X-T2 which while overall good, it has problems with color moire and fine textures due to the processing on the unconventional RGB pattern which has 4 adjacent green pixels and differs quite a lot from Bayer sensors. See this article from PetaPixel comparing both technologies here.  But as far as video mode is concerned it looks to be a good contender to options like the GH5 and Sony 7 series. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Panasonic TZ200 does 1080p 120fps!

Panasonic TZ200

Panasonic announced two new cameras this week the ZS200 America / TZ200 Europe  which offers the worlds longest wide to super zoom range in a 1″ sensor form factor with a 24-360mm equivalent F3.3-6.4 lens and the larger sensor 4/3ds 20MP “Same as GH5″ Lumix GX9 which tops out at 60fps 1080p which we will not cover any further. We have a cut off of 120fps for slow-motion cameras.  The ZS200, however, looks to be Panasonic’s answer to the excellent and full-featured RX series of cameras like the RX10 IV and RX100 V.

The main selling point of this camera is the appeal of carrying a 15X zoom in your pocket along with a 1″ sensor which beats most superzoom cameras that use tiny 1/1.8″ or 1/2.5” sensors.  Panasonic is able to do this by extending the lens to almost 3 times the camera’s width footprint including lens ring which looks kind of ridiculous but is effective at contracting enough to fit on a large pocket.   The image below shows only 3/4ths of the extension. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Chronos 1.4 RAW Video Frame Samples!

Chronos 1.4 RAW

We received a set of Adobe DNG image samples from Krontech to check the resolution, dynamic range and grading potential of the camera when using the  RAW recording mode. As of now the utility to convert the raw data is still being tested but we were impressed by the results the camera was able to achieve by offloading the de-bayering process to a more capable converter like the Adobe Camera RAW module.

The Chronos files were already good when properly exposed but did suffer from some aliasing and moire in fine detail while resolution also took a hit by saving in a compressed H.264 format.  Now with the DNG RAW capability, we are glad to see that the camera image quality made an enormous improvement in the resolution, color fidelity, and dynamic range. It really brings out the real potential of the camera for a variety of applications, also creating a cleaner result in the noise department when processed correctly. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

GH5s Slow Motion Quality is Inferior to GH5!

GH5s Slow Motion

As expected based on early comments of the slow motion mode on the GH5s, the camera has pronounced aliasing “seen in this video by Max Yuryev” and softness the higher the frame rate goes. Even at 120p it is less detailed than the standard GH5.  It may be a function of supersampling in the higher megapixel  20MP GH5 vs the 10.2MP GH5s which is creating the new artifacts.

While the GH5s can shoot up to 192fps without cropping the sensor, anything above that up to 240fps it has a slight sensor crop which further decreases quality.  While the VFR mode on the camera is better than most cameras in the price range that attempt the feat, it is of note that the quality instead of increasing or remaining the same as the sister model takes a hit which may kill it as an option for slow motion needs.  We still believe the standard GH5 is the best Lumix option even when compared to the G9 in VFR mode. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Phantom v2640 Launches with 6600fps at 4MP!

Phantom v2640

The folks at Vision Research creators of the Phantom line of superfast high-resolution cameras have unveiled their latest and greatest with the v2640, which takes the line to unprecedented levels of resolution and frame rate combinations. At a maximum res of 6,600fps at full resolution of 2048 x 1952 & 1080p Full HD @ 11,750 fps it makes your eyes water with time detail never before seen.

Of course, as it is customary, the camera is not listed with a price tag but expect it to be in the range of 100k USD if you venture out to get one.  It is still a great deal for labs, engineers and imaging studios but surely out of reach for most lone experimenters.  The sample video shows a water balloon being struck by an arrow at 17,000fps at HD 720p resolution which is mind bendingly cool. We will not list this camera on our guide as it exceeds the low cost threshold by a large margin. → Continue Reading Full Post ←