The Samsung NX500 has just been updated with firmware 1.10 There are several improvements and like it’s larger sibling the NX1 now the slow motion mode of 120fps at 720p in this camera is more easily accessible. The NX1 has a better slow motion mode than the NX500 as it is 1080p Full HD instead of 720p but this camera is also much less expensive and has also 4k video. These enhancements add a lot of oomph to an already good pocket-able large sensor camera.
The biggest improvements are codec quality bit-rate up to 70Mbps and the large sensor readout for up to 60fps at full HD 1080p which reduces aliasing and moire in normal speed frame rates. It is rare for companies too add so much in firmware but it is encouraging to see Samsung not only try but constantly deliver useful firmware updates to their cameras. It shows they are serious for their camera imaging department.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
For many of us it seems counter intuitive to own a camera that doesn’t shoot color images. In this day and age of technological marvels, being constrained by black and white / monochrome output on recording is a strange proposition. For the world of high speed imaging however you have to re-examine the entire debate from a benefits point of view and why it could be ideal to have monochrome instead of RGB color as your high speed option.
Depending on the intended use Monochrome might give you more bang for your buck and save you a lot of money on lighting and power requirements to run those lights. To understand the benefits we need to dig in on why Monochrome camera sensors excel in areas where color sensors suffer and why this will hardly change with current sensor technology in the near future.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
The recently announced Sony RX10 II and RX100 IV have just been released for Pre-Order.
In some recently released information by early hands on previews of the cameras it was revealed that the fast memory buffers attached to the backs of the sensor block only allow for 2 seconds or 4 seconds recording at the highest frame rates aswell as the lowest frame rates of the HFR modes i.e. 960fps to 240fps ; depending on the HFR mode chosen for quality or recording time you get 2 seconds or four seconds capped recording time. See this hands on link for more info. Thanks to our reader Slowmosage for pointing this out.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
In what may be the most important announcement of 2015for affordable slow motion video; Sony has unveiled the DSC RX10II (DSC-RX10M2) which is the DSLR like long zoom pro-sumer camera direct replacement of the RX10 and the DSC RX100 IV (DSC-RX100M4) a3x zoom compact camera a replacement of the RX100 III of last year. The kicker here is the amazingly featured super slow motion mode offering 120fps, 240fps, 480fps all the way up to 960fps with a pre trigger function and using the XAVC S Codec in a 1080p frame.
At first glance the LG G4 Android smart phone with it’s RAW image capture and completely manual camera might seem like the best ever camera phone to date and it is in many respects but; when it comes to slow motion it is barely mentioned in the specs. It does have a slow motion mode but after looking at samples it is far away from an iPhone 6 in quality and even below the Galaxy S6 which disappointed.
16 Megapixels
Aperture f/1.8
Sensor size 1/2.6
Image stabilization
Auto focus type: Laser
4k UHD 30p Video
1080p 60fps – 120fps 720p*
Flash Single LED
RAW+JPG capture
HDR And full manual aperture and shutter
Full Manual White Balance
5.5″ 1440 x 2560 pixel Display
The 120fps mode is limited to 720p HD resolution which is now standard on most high end to midrange phones. The quality is not even 720p in closer inspection it is more like 960*540px or lower scaled up showing all sorts of artifacts from heavy pixelation, aliasing & moire.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
During the review of the edgertronic camera;HSCasked Mike Matter the brains behind it a series of questions “some submitted by our readers” regarding past present and future of the high speed camera market, sensors and where things are going in the camera market. Many of his answers are very detailed and offer a glimpse into his own efforts and how he sees the future evolving with the continual adoption of high speed capable devices.
