Tag Archives: improvements

ASUS ZenFone 5Z Firmware Improves Slow Motion Quality!

ASUS ZenFone 5Z Firmware

The ASUS ZenFone 5Z (ZS620KL) Phone is a new addition to the company line but seems it was a little rushed in the camera department. IT has just started shipping to customers worldwide and there is already a firmware update. The phone is a flagship device with a starting price of $499 which is not bad at all considering it sports some of the best hardware features in Android land. With dual cameras, 6GB of RAM and the latest Snapdragon 845.

The 5Z Phone is a midrange slow motion performer with 120fps and 60fps 1080p recording and the super slow motion mode capping out at 720p 240fps.  The improvements in the new firmware improve the recording quality overall and codec bit-rate of the 240fps 720p mode. Since ASUS does not give out the particulars in the bit-rate department it is hard to say how much better it will be. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Sony 1000fps Sensor for Smartphones Developed!

Sony 1000fps Sensor

You have to hand it to Sony for their continued hardware innovation. The sensor technology that brought you the RX Camera series with stacked CMOS Technology; which is DRAM included as a middle layer along with signal processing makes it possible to capture data at tremendous pixel rates in the sensor block which leapfrogs competitors products.

That same 3-Layer stacked design is now unveiled on a cellphone geared sensor with a maximum performance at 1080p 1000fps and 4k 60fps. It is using the same buffer DRAM technology that will let you record for a limited time window and then save and process on your handset.   Considering the speed quoted it is not out of the question to expect the Sony RX series of cameras to reach or exceed this level on upcoming iterations. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Sony RX10 III Ships and Reviews Start to Show!

RX10III

The Sony RX10 III has been the talk of the town as of late with an impressive lens 24-600mm 35mm equivalent  or 25x from wide to telephoto.  For us the value lies in the High frame rate or HFR mode that has the same specs as last year’s darlings the Sony RX100 IV and RX10 II.

At first glance the quality seems to be the same in terms of sensor response as all of these cameras share the exact same stacked 1″ sensor with blazing fast memory attached.  While the stills quality will not win any awards compared to 4/3, APS C or Full Frame cameras; it is still a big step up compared to small sensor P&S cams or smartphones. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Sony RX10 III Continues Slow Motion Features!

RX10III

Just announced is the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 III or Sony RX10 III for short.  It is no direct replacement for last year’s Sony RX10 II which at first glance looks very similar.  They are essentially the same camera featuring the same video recording features. The real change comes with the incorporation of a monster zoom lens made by Carl Zeiss with a 24 -600mm FF equivalent compared to the now paltry 24-200mm FF equivalent of the RX10 II.

The lens is impressive for a super zoom camera capable of 25x zoom range. Wide end of 24mm has an aperture of f2.4 with the Tele end closing to f4 which is still pretty respectable for such reach.  It has stabilization also which Sony claims 4.5 stops worth of handhold-ability which seems the best case scenario. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Moto X Force will it do 240fps?

Droid2TurboMotoXForce

The Moto X Force is the international release version of what is known in the USA as the Droid Turbo 2 which lacks a good slow motion mode in itself. However there is a big rumor that the international version will have a 240fps 720p slow motion mode. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

One Plus 2 Released and Moto X low Slowmo!

OnePlus2

Today has been quite busy in portable device land with the release of the Moto X, Moto G and the One Plus 2 handsets. The hype and rumors regarding slow motion modes on these phones turned out to be way ahead of the norm and what we are left with is the same tired old specs of yesteryear when it comes to slow motion performance. 720p at 120fps seems to be the norm for an afterthought slow motion feature. Apple for example continues to up the ante with 240fps and possibly more in the upcoming iPhone 6s refresh. There is nothing wrong with these phones but if you want slow motion performance in your portable handset, the latest Moto and One Plus 2 are not what you would consider optimal. They however offer pretty good feature sets and great cameras for normal video applications and still capture.

One Plus 2 Camera specs:
  • 5.5 inch : 1080p Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels), 401 PPI Screen
  • Sensor: 13 Megapixel (1.3um)
  • Lenses: 6 lenses to avoid distortion and color aberration
  • OIS: Yes
  • Laser Focus: Yes
  • Flash: Dual-LED
  • Aperture: f/2.0
  • Front Camera: 5 Megapixel – Distortion free
  • Video: 4K resolution video, Slow Motion: 720p at 120fps

The One Plus 2 is a phone flagship design for less money than you would normally pay for such a  device. it has a modified Android OS “Cyanogenmod”  that is fast, free of bloatware and very good with battery life.  It has optical image stabilization, large pixels for a 13 megapixel sensor, fingerprint sensor and a great alert switch so you can deactivate alerts in a custom way when you are sleeping, in a movie theater or simply want to disconnect for a while.  It is a lot of phone for the price. Even the One Plus 1 is still used in benchmarks today as a competitive phone in the mid range. → Continue Reading Full Post ←