Tag Archives: best

Canon Sensors at CES 2018 With Impressive Specs!

Canon Sensors

Canon at CES 2018 was showing three CMOS sensor products that can be used in a variety of devices like DSLRs, Mirrorless, Surveillance, Manufacturing and Scientific experimentation. These new parts feature massive improvements in resolution, class-leading low light ability and a Global Shutter in one instance.

While none of the sensors could be named a really slow motion capable part, the 5 Megapixel 2/3″ sensor can scan the full chip at 120fps which may mean higher frame rates if using windowed resolution.  The small size of the sensor also means it will need a lot of light to deliver a noise-free image.  This sensor also sports a global shutter design which is perfect for high-speed applications. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

DJI Mavic Air Ultra Portable 4k Drone!

DJI Mavic Air

The new Mavic Air may actually be the drone you have been waiting for.  It has most of the technologies that have evolved on pricier drones like the Inspire series and Phantom high-end consumer offerings like obstacle avoidance, awareness sensors, and now at this tiny size, a 4k 30p 3-axis gimbal stabilized camera.  The 4k recording ups the ante at 100mbps compared to the Mavic Pro’s 60mbps which was a big issue for motion artifacts and clearly separated the quality lines on phantom and Mavic series.

The new drone also has the ability to shoot 120fps Full HD 1080p video in what looks like improved quality “but still a little noisy” which is also a plus.  The sensor is the same as on the Mavic Pro with a 1/2.3″ size at 12MP with HDR still shooting mode and an 85°-degree FOV. The main feature of course is the size which is slightly bigger than last year’s spark but with finally 4k image quality. Portability is probably the most important drone feature today. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Panasonic GH5s Boosts High ISO dumps IBIS!

Panasonic GH5s

So the rumors proved to be accurate on the GH5s and now we have a low light version of the GH5 that can shoot cleanly up to ISO 12,800 with up to 100k ISO and by then a much noisier picture. It is claimed by Panasonic that there was a 1.5 stop improvement in noise performance.  Judging by the initial video samples it is clear that the new 10.28MP sensor along with dual native ISO circuitry for each photosite “one at ISO 400” and “one at ISO 2400” make a huge performance leap if low light is desired in a m43 camera.

All is not rosy in Lumix land however as the camera now lacks IBIS or In Built Image Stabilization on the sensor which was a main selling point of both the GH5 and the G9.  Panasonic claims that it was a decision made to cater to filmmakers that need no wobble or vibrations in a shot that can be produced when the stabilizer fails. But why not just add an On-Off switch? 1080p 240fps is also included in the camera but as initial samples show it reduces quality substantially. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Lumix GH5 vs G9 High Speed VFR Mode Capped!

Lumix GH5 vs G9 High Speed

As suspected in a previous article from HSC the Panasonic G9 bitrate for VFR or high frame rate mode is much lower than on the GH5. The Manual has been released for the G9 showing this lower spec.  It is of note that the codec used on both cameras is very efficient which lends itself to good quality even at 20mbps.  However, for those that want to prioritize fine detail and the utmost sharpness, the GH5 will, in the end, be the better option for slow motion.

There is also the upcoming announcement rumor of the GH5s Lumix camera now with leaked images here with 240fps at full HD using a completely new sensor which may be able to improve of the GH5 slow-motion quality which in our analysis was lacking when using 150fps and 180fps on the regular GH5. Aliasing and moire were evident in footage which is not present in the 120fps mode.  Considering the GH5s might be recycling the same image processing engine but with a new sensor, we may still see some artifacts. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS OF 2017!

BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS

The end of 2017 is upon and its time to look back through the year’s camera releases and see which delivered quality at an affordable price in slow motion.  HD quality slow motion options took a big leap this year in the phone space and on new entrants in the semi-professional camera fields. It was quite a year in many respects!

Many promised cameras still have not seen the light of day which means they will not be counted in the running. Only cameras that are shipping in quantity with a reasonable wait time and available now are being considered for this post. We will still make note of what may be coming soon for high-speed enthusiasts. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Panasonic EVA1 Ships Starts to Show Footage!

Panasonic EVA1

The Panasonic EVA1 camera has started to ship to pre-order owners and some footage has started to show on the web.  The camera seems to be very good at low ISOs and up to ISO 5000 it defends itself well. After that banding and heavy noise starts to become a problem.    One thing to keep in mind is that the 5.7k sensor is intended to supersample for 4k to deliver unbelievable detail levels while having a detrimental effect on super high ISO.   The dual native ISO settings of 800 on the low end and 2500 ISO on the high end help the camera achieve dependable noise free and extremely clean footage in those modes.

The camera can also shoot up to 240fps full HD and or 2k super slow motion video and use it’s improved sensor specs to reduce rolling shutter. The camera should be able to deliver excellent high frame rates in good light but it seems the slow-motion option offers lower quality in codec and also in noise control. We have no clue what is causing this but it is apparent from the samples that detail and quality take a hard hit in these modes. → Continue Reading Full Post ←