Tag Archives: hero

GoPro Hero 7 Black Has Killer Stabilization but Same fps!

GoPro Hero 7 Black

GoPro has released 3 new cameras including the Hero 7 Black which is now the flagship product for the company.  The key feature is HyperSmooth which is a predictive stabilization technology based on scene analysis and sensor telemetry to accurately anticipate motion and correct the image to generate a gimbal-like smooth appearance to the video.  When you see the footage it is clear it is a huge improvement compared to even the Hero 6 Black which had a pretty good stabilizer.

The Stabilization, however, is limited to  4k 30/60p and other resolutions below 120p but anything above 120fps will use the previous stabilization feature which is not predictive and have no stabilization support at all at 1080p 240fps which is the highest slow motion mode.  No 480fps or other higher fps settings are available as the camera uses both the same Hero 6 Black sensor and the same GP1 system chip for this new camera. → 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 ←

Sony FDR-X3000 4K Action Cam Update!

Sony FDR-X3000

In a very quiet update last week Sony released a low end action camera to cater to the lower end crowd that wants better performance than the current GoPro options but with a limited budget resource. In comes the Sony FDR-X3000 4K Action Camera that brings 4k and impressive image stabilization to the $399 USD action camera bracket.

The big deal in this camera is the Balanced Optical SteadyShot (or B.O.S.S.) which uses the entire optical lens path to reduce vibration and motion. Previous systems only moved an element inside the lens to alter the light path. The new system is  more effective at reducing rolling shutter artifacts and wearer induced motion to produce stable and less jittery video even at 4k. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Veho and Firefly 6S aim for Gopro Market!

Veho K2_4k

Action camera clones are propping up everywhere and that is one of the reasons GoPro as a stock investment has under performing. The plethora of options keeps getting more diverse and at even lower entry prices.

The Firefly 6S and Veho K-Series K-2 Pro and K-1 are such products that aim to do it all for the action camera enthusiast while competing at a lower entry price. This doesn’t necessarily mean cutting corners do to lower prices and these two brands seem to fit the bill in one way or another to fill the shoes of a GoPro Action camera competitor. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Ambarella H2 Promises 4k at 120fps!

Ambarella-H2

Regardless of what the GoPro and Ambarella marriage can provide in tandem hardware it is clear the company wants to branch out of the fledgling sales of GoPro which have tanked in recent quarters and the stock price from a high near a $100 USD is now trading at a mere $12 which is half the IPO price.   By branching out it seems they want their chips in many more imaging devices and be less affected by the GoPro product cycle.

The announced H2 and H12 chips are able to provide beefy 4k specs at high frame rates for mobile devices at a mere 2 Watts of power. As to 1080p frame rates it will remain to be seen how this powerful new chip can handle that in a camera design and how it is implemented to squeeze that performance.  120fps at 4k from the H2 in theory should be able to yield 480fps at 1080p just counting the Pixel processing.  This however can be limited by the rest of the components like imaging sensor. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Sony FDR-AX53 & HDR-AS50 Cameras!

AX53

Another big set of releases at CES regarding cameras that have a slow motion mode fro the consumer are the Sony Handycam and Action cam models that were refreshed.   The Sony FDR-AX53 is the most interesting of the two as it is probably the smallest and lightest Handycam from Sony that shoots 4k in a near professional quality level.

It offers so much for under 1k that it will pose some problems for other cameras in it’s segment.  It is not as advanced in the zoom department as the Panasonic WXF991 which can ramp zoom and focus on dolly motion but it does have a jack of all trades feel about it. → Continue Reading Full Post ←