Resolution is one of the most important aspects of any camera image. In slow motion it could be the difference in showing important details or just obscure an event all-together. In machinery failures during manufacturing; low resolution and high resolution can mean the difference in spotting a crack or bend in the process and that is hugely important.
For film makers and videographers resolution weights a lot when deciding upon a slow motion camera solution. Not to long ago slow motion cameras at or under 1 megapixel 1024*1024 for example was a novelty and a luxury. Nowadays 1280*720px or the lower end of HD resolution is easy to find and widely used. However 1080p and or 4k are the resolutions that seem to cause the most interest.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
Aalborg University’s Drone Research Lab based in Denmark has tested a catapult contraption with a Drone rotor and propeller against pig flesh. The results seem to be as you would expect even before you attempt the experiment. A given hypothesis is that a high speed propeller can cause some damage to skin or flesh as any sharp object would.
It is interesting as an experiment but there seems to be a lot of negative press about this from several news and tabloid sources. Drones get a bad rap and continue to be a favorite of regulation advocates for privacy and security. There will be more experiments made with larger and diverse drones as time progresses.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
Lytro started in the consumer space a few year’s back by enabling light field camera sensor technology in a portable package. Back then it allowed the user to select the focus point in the image to control depth of filed after the shot had been taken. This is emulated by Panasonic on the GX8 and GH4 with Post Focus but that is a feature that does some tricks with multiple images and lens focus points to select final depth of field.
Lytro does this by capturing all the rays of light entering the sensor at different angles and times to create a light field or three dimensional map of a real subject or scene. The consumer cameras sold in less than stellar numbers due in part to low resolution and while they tried with the Lytro Ilum to bring a more SLR like camera with 40 mega-rays or down-converted to 4 traditional megapixels. It also bombed as the post focus feature was not enough pull to get consumers to adopt the platform; along with claims of low dynamic range and artifacts in bright spots. The Ilum camera is still available for purchase at under $370 USD from the 1299 introductory price; quite a drop!→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
The DJI Phantom 4 quad copter drone has started shipping in some parts of the world and we now have a few samples of what the slow motion 1080p 120fps mode looks like. At first glance it looks to be ok with few artifacts controlled aliasing and moire and while compression seems severe, it is above 720p pixel quality which is encouraging.
There is an inherent softness as with many other 120fps modes used in similar action cameras like the GoPro Hero 4 or Sony Action Cam which spread the bit-rate of their maximum throughput and dice it to 120fps in the case of full HD.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
While the equipment is daunting to the common man and probably the rental price is equivalent to the price of a mid size sedan; it should not deter you from taking a look. High speed is especially suited to this kind of robot as the quick and rock solid movements are ideal to control every angle during a slow motion shot that lasts a few hundreds of a second to few secs.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
The recently announced DJI Phantom 4 Drone is finally pushing obstacle avoidance technology to the point where you are no longer worried about hitting trees, people or god forbid birds other flying craft. There is technology here that just 5 years ago would have been extremely expensive, however don’t expect this self awareness of space to translate into a perfect set and forget technology for now.
There is a lot of improvement here and the mobile application lets you track subjects and paths with just touch and drag. There are things that drone makers like DJI are working behind the scenes to get obstacle avoidance and self awareness even further to a level where people and governments can relax about these craft being a danger to society. We are still not there but things will continue to improve along those lines.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
