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 ←
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 ←
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 new v2.02 firmware update for the Panasonic EVA1 includes improved bit rates at a variety of frame rates like: 2k- 422-Intra Frame Recording 200M/100M Max 120fps (equivalent to 400Mbps) Which may improve slow-motion quality considerably by allowing more data to be saved instead of scrapped.
For digital recorder owners, there is a lot to be excited about as the camera will now output RAW data at: 5.7K/30p Full sensor, 4K/60p Crop , 2K/240p Sensor Crop. Since the 240fps mode saved internally exhibited very severe aliasing, moire and line skipping; the fact that RAW is now a possibility should bring the camera’s capabilities up a notch and deliver excellent slow-motion quality. We hope to have some samples of the RAW recording on the EVA1 in a future update.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
On Semiconductor has launched two new 4k ready CMOS global shutter sensors with new technology for reduced noise and improved image quality. The parts are geared to surveillance, automotive, consumer devices and industrial applications. Both sensors are able to do high frame rates at 4k at full resolution.
The XGS 8000 is an 8.8 Mp (4096 x 2160) 4k / UHD resolution Global Shutter CMOS image sensor in 1/1.1 inch optical format capable of 120fps at full 8.8MP resolution. This first one geared for smaller devices. The XGS 12000 is a 12.6 Mp (4096 x 3072) CMOS image sensor in 1″ inch format, supporting up to 90 fps readout at full 12.6MP resolution. This sensor is better for higher resolution solutions.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
By now between the Oscars Galaxy sponsorship & a lot of tech Vloggers going wild about the Samsung handset you should be pretty well informed on the Galaxy S9 capabilities. We covered it last week and went into the particulars of the super slow Motion feature which allows for 0.2 seconds of recording at 720p in 960fps frame rate. Needless to say, we were unimpressed with the quality initially based on early tests and we called it out for not really delivering 720p but some low-res aliased abstraction.
But with the new crop of video samples, we were impressed by some footage and let down by other attempts. There is a lot to like in this phone but also something to keep in mind is that a dedicated slow-motion camera will keep the edge over a phone at least for the next few years in quality and detail retention. Dig in for the samples and judge for yourself…→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
