Tag Archives: review

Chronos 1.4 Passes FCC & CE Certification!

Chronos 1.4

The Chronos Kickstarter high-speed camera project is getting a big step closer to shipping units with the passing of the FCC & CE emissions certification. It means the camera is working under the guidelines for electromagnetic interference from the device. FCC will be the Federal Communications Commission in the USA and CE for the European Union EMC and Safety.

This is no small feat as many projects can get delayed severely by this testing.  On other notes from the update, the LCD touch panels for the camera are already ready to ship by the suppliers on May 2nd which means the cameras can be now fully assembled and shipped to early bird backers of the project and a little later to batch #2. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Sony a9 Slow Motion Has Impressive Quality!

Sony a9 Slow Motion

The Sony a9 impressed with its full frame 20fps Stills shooting at  24.2 Megapixels.  It is probably the most groundbreaking camera performance wise we have come across for sports shooters in a decade.  The AF performance is second to none and as recent samples show it is just as good in video mode. Sony has cracked the continuous AF for video performance threshold where it can be used for production. That is no small feat.

What was totally unexpected was that the 120fps slow motion mode at full HD, which has a full sensor downsampling without crop of the 35mm FF sensor, is not only good; but probably the most detailed full HD slow motion mode we have seen in a DSLR or Mirrorless camera to date. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Panasonic Lumix ZS70 / TZ90 with 120fps HD!

Panasonic Lumix ZS70

Panasonic has released a new compact super zoom camera in the  Lumix DC-ZS70 (TZ90 outside of US & Canada). The camera is no slouch with a 20.3 MP new MOS Sensor with their Lumix Depth from Defocus or DFD AF technology; present in cameras like the GH5 & GX85. The camera also re-stocks the bundle with the compact lens that is able to offer 30X, 24-720mm in 35mm equivalent terms.

The camera also has 4k video at 30fps but excludes for some reason the 24p mode which film makers crave. Slow motion features are present but modest at 1080p 60fps and 720p 120fps which work across the entire 30x zoom range.  This camera is a powerful point & shoot option that won’t break the bank at $447.99 USD MSRP. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Has Full HD at 120fps!

Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless

Sony is taking straight aim at Canon and Nikon’s Professional sports photography market with the new Alpha a9 Mirrorless. It shoots 20fps full frame at 24.2 Megapixels RAW 14 bit up to a maximum  241 raw frames or 12 seconds before writing to the card. This is not only impressive but world class leading. Furthermore the camera is able to do it with full AF using a new 693 point system and without frame blackout in the viewfinder.

The Camera has a now standard slow motion mode in Sony cameras of 120fps at Full HD 1080p resolution with great detail. This is done with the help of a new stacked full frame sensor which is the technology perfected in the Sony RX series and now the Xperia Phones. However the lack of any professional video profiles like S-Log3 will put off the video centric crowd. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

GoPro Trade Up Program Worth it?

GoPro Trade Up Program

GoPro has instituted for a limited time a Trade Up program to get a brand spanking new Hero 5 Black or a Hero 5 Session by turning in your old GoPro Hero camera all the way back to Version #1 to the Hero 4.  The program will shave off $100 off a GoPro Hero 5 Black or $50 of a GoPro Hero Session.  It can also be traded in if it’s dented, damaged, not working, destroyed or fried.  They will pay for shipping both ways.

So does it make sense to do it? Depends on which GoPro you wan’t to exchange in return for a new 5 model.   We believe you should look for any GoPro you have around and the older the better as newer models will still be in our view as valuable or more so than the trade in. We analyze if it make sense to do it. The Hero 5 Black is a pretty good slow motion camera on a budget that just works! → Continue Reading Full Post ←

DJI Phantom 4 Advanced Has 4k 60fps!

DJI’s refresh of the Phantom 4 is a mid-range model that sits between the Standard Phantom 4  & Phantom 4 Pro.  It has either a few features left out from the Pro and or some added from the standard model that make it into a category of it’s own.  The camera however seems to be identical the the Phantom 4 Pro which supports 4k at 60fps.

The UHD 60fps video spec is finding it’s way into more and more products as it becomes popular on video social media sites like Youtube and Vimeo.  Consumers expect the ability to have some slow motion capability on 4k without dropping resolution to 1080p or 720p. However the 120fps spec at 4k might take a few more years to become commonplace due to data rates which will push storage requirements and tax processing capabilities. → Continue Reading Full Post ←