Tag Archives: improved

Sony RX100 V Has Extended Slowmo Mode!

Sony RX100 V Camera

Sony today announced the Sony Cyber-shot RX100 V portable 1″ sensor camera. It replaces last year’s excellent RX100 IV which is at #8 rank in our HSC Camera Guide for slow motion gear on a budget.   This next iteration is more robust in several aspects including HFR record time which is nearly doubled due to a larger and faster frame buffer. This makes it much more useful in Quality Priority mode offering up to 4 seconds 240fps NTSC or 250fps PAL at almost Full HD 1080p resolution.

The camera has also new tricks up it’s sleeve like oversampling the pixel area of the sensor by 1.7x to deliver a down-sampled artifact free 4k result using a larger area of the sensor plane to avoid the crop in previous models.  The sensor read out is also much faster according to Sony which should further reduce rolling shutter skew and aid in the slow motion capture aspects for better fidelity. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Google Pixel Phones Offer up to 240fps!

googlepixelflat

The Google Pixel and Pixel XL phones released this weeks offer some pretty robust features when it comes to the camera and video recording.   It offers UHD 4k at 30fps and keeping up with the Google Nexus 6p of last year it retains the slow motion mode that made it competitive with the iPhone 6s and 7.  However there are no further improvements when it comes to frame rates above 240fps.  It is however a much better phone with faster CPU and GPU which should help with all imaging tasks.

The new Pixel Phones are by any measure the flagship Android phone for those seeking Google update support and a more pure Stock Android OS experience. You get the benefit of no bloatware, No Android skinning  and up to date updates that made the Nexus line of phones so desirable to users of the platform. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Chronos High Speed Camera Demo Released!

chronos1_4

David Kronstein the mind behind the Tesla500 Youtube channel has released new footage and information from his latest high speed camera prototype.  Now aptly  named Chronos high speed camera it features a fully machined metal enclosure, with a variety of modern ports and full touch GUI with full color or monochrome capabilities depending on the sensor chosen.

The current prototype is based on the camera David created in his garage/lab that shot most of the high speed footage for his channel. You can read about the previous HSC768 camera prototype here.  This is a gigantic leap forward from that earlier camera and David was kind enough to supply detailed info about the specs and upcoming Kickstarter campaign so you can fund it and own a camera yourself. → 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 ←

Panasonic HC-X1 Packs Some Serious Performance!

Panasonic hc-x1

In a launch that was mostly subdued, a new camera was launched in August; the Panasonic  HC-X1 which is a mid range professional fixed lens ENG or EFP camera with some serious specs to go behind it.  For starters there is 4k at up to 60fps a format that we hope to see in upcoming ILCs like the GH4 successor and Sony Cameras.  The other is 100fps PAL or 120fps NTSC 1080p which is now a must have slow motion standard for any serious camera.

The qualities of the new Panasonic HC-X1 do not stop at higher frame rates; it features a fantastic 3 independent fly by wire ring system for focus, aperture and the last for zoom which starts at a very wide 24mm to 480mm at the long end or 20x optical. The camera also features  a built in ND Filter wheel from 1/4th to 1/64th for effortless 180 degree shooting outdoors. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Hasselblad True Zoom Signaling the Future?

Hasselblad True Zoom moto mods

The recently announced Hasselblad True Zoom is an add on module for the Moto Z + Moto Mods™ smartphone platform which lets you add modules to your already very capable phone to increase it’s feature set.  A Pico Projector, a much larger battery, a JBL speaker set and now the Hasselblad True Zoom 10x Optical zoom are the current back plate options for this new ecosystem.

What may look like a gimmick to some; it may be the advent of a personalized and very powerful experience for the future of smartphone use. What if you could add the advantages of a larger camera sensor and higher frame rates with built in processing to your phone when needed. What if you could add a built in microscope back plate to the phone for biologists on the field or a sensor module for tracking scientific concepts with the phone as a central part of experiments. The sky seems to be the limit here. → Continue Reading Full Post ←