The recently announced Octopus Cinema Camera with a modular sensor, mount, and other components could, in theory, become a customizable professional solution slow motion camera that is unencumbered by firm specs but by a fluid and upgradeable sensor and component path. The Axiom camera is also something akin to this but has yet to ship. The Octopus has in prototype form been fitted with a 4/3 sensor capable of up to 240fps in 2k RAW and a full-frame that allows 3k up to 100fps.
The body looks eerily similar to Phantom cameras with the white machined exterior with fans and ports protruding the body. While 240fps at 2k is not what we could call really professional slow motion, it is based on an open architecture in hardware and software that could window the sensor down and possibly offer more frame rates at 1080p and 720p for maybe a 480fps RAW capture in HD.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
Two brave filmmakers Ryan Chylinski and MaryLiz Bender used autonomous remote high speed cameras powered by solar power, batteries & placed at SpaceX launchpads to show the stunning power and luminosity of these modern marvels or rocketry. While you can see some vertical banding in the darkest shots “Probably lack of dark calibration before a long wait” there is no denying that the result is breathtaking. No word on which type cameras were used to shoot this material but we estimate it was at 1080p FHD and maybe a Chronos 1.4.
“We place autonomous ultra-high speed video cameras at the launchpads of SpaceX, NASA, and ULA. These are cameras we position well ahead of the liftoff, design to survive the elements and, since no humans can be anywhere near the rockets, trigger without any interaction. The results are stunning.” Project & Support Link Here!→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
This year there have been a few surprises that got our attention in the high frame rate market. Some are firmware related, some are entirely new cameras and others are simply rumors that have yet to appear. We found a few things on the web that may shed some light on these happenings. But First…
Note Advisory:It is kind of disheartening that many Youtube channels are posting fake slow motion videos from cameras & Phones that they have no access to in order to receive clicks and advertising. We encourage you to report these videos on the Youtube interface as inaccurate or misleading. That way we may get less garbage and more real samples in the future. Thank you!→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
The Introduction of the DJI OSMO Action camera marks what many called the ultimate silver bullet to counter the GoPro Hero camera line. It is an evolutionary step that takes most of what made the GoPro Hero Black series amazing and even goes further by improving in areas where GoPro has fallen behind. The Stabilizer seems better as is the addition of a secondary selfie screen in order to frame yourself while recording.
It gets the usual frame rates of 120fps & 240fps 1080p full HD and the 4k 60fps spec. None of these are revolutionary or groundbreaking which means this is a version 1 product for DJI. Phones, for example, are already in the 960fps and 1000fps spec even when they are limited to fractions of a second. A Camera like the OSMO Action could have gotten a bit of this slow motion prowess and differentiate from GoPro even further but not this time around. We have a few samples of the higher frame rates for you too look at and see if it makes sense to acquire this camera instead of other options.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
The OPPO Reno 10x is getting a lot of attention due to the inclusion of a supposed 10x optical telescoping lens which uses a prism and a series of stabilized lens elements to create the first built in telephoto option on a camera phone. In testing, this turns out to be about a real 5x optical lens with very clever processing to generate even higher software magnification. However, you will be sad to know that the 10X version of the phone does not shoot Super Slow Motion.
The Regular OPPO Reno which is cheaper and lacks the 10X camera does shoot up to 1080p 240fps which is not class leading and there are as of this time no samples to speak of. We believe this phone uses slow motion as an after-thought spec and focuses more on the stills and 4k 60p video mode only on the 10x version which are a higher selling point. We still believe the OPPO Reno is a worthy phone for anyone wanting cutting edge optics on a phone but not as a slow motion contender.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
The Kinefinity Terra 4k camera which starts at $3,999 body only and a ready to shoot package at $5,499 has now released information of a new firmware upgrade that will be released in May of this year which increases the slow-motion capabilities of the camera markedly. The camera was no slouch before when it came to frame rates which had 240fps at 2k and 100fps at 4k. It actually records in RAW and has excellent quality with no moire and aliasing since it is effectively cropping the sensor area to get a 1:1 pixel read-out for the slow mo.
For this low a price you really have no viable options that shoot these frame rates in excellent quality except for the recently announced Chronos 2.1 HD which does 1000fps at 1080p in DNG RAW. The Kinefinity line of cameras has started to become a go-to place for cinema quality at reasonable prices. Many Video Pros are actually becoming owners of the camera and praise the rock-solid quality of the build, operation and beautiful image quality with ample dynamic range. The Chinese have really built the Cinema camera for the common man.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
