It’s that time of year when we examine the best deals out there for super slow motion capable cameras. Some discounts are hard to pass while others are downright ridiculous compared to retail prices when the gear was launched. If you are thinking to buy a gift for someone or yourself that does high frame rates then we have a few picks that will make it easier.
There is a plethora of options to choose from but we will focus on the best category contenders that have received a type of deal that does justice to either Black Friday or Cyber Monday! We will outright reject anything that just barely does higher frame rates and focus on cameras that do them well and have in some cases room for going head to head with very expensive ones.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
The end of 2015 is upon us and now it is time to look back and see what the year brought us in the shape of affordable slow motion gear. While many cameras had higher frame rates, only a few really shined and delivered on the promise of offering HD quality and higher than normal frames per second in an attractive price point and one that you may already own if you have a recent mobile device.
Blackmagic Design has now made it a tradition to blow away the competition when it comes to NAB announcements. This year it seems it is no different with refinements to almost every product in their arsenal including DaVinci Resolve which has also a major update which will make it an even better video editing solution. Which is also bundled with their cameras.
The Blackmagic URSA 4k Professional camera is one awesome powerhouse for standard frame rate productions with it’s three high quality LCD screens and RAW / Prores recording at just $5,995 USD. Prior to the most recent 1.9.9 Firmware it was capped at 60p for 1080p and 4k but after the update the camera gained 80fps for both 4k and 1080p.
Although the frame rate at 80fps is still low compared to most high speed offerings, the fact that it is 4k makes it a special milestone for the resolution. The URSA uses the CMOSIS CMV12000 Global shutter sensor which is the same to be used by the prototype 4k fps1000 camera upgrade option. The sensor is capable of producing from 150-300fps at full sensor resolution and it will be exploited by the fps1000 4k in full resolution. The URSA will record in a 12 Bit 3:1 RAW format for the high frame rate of 80fps costing no quality but saving space in memory and cards. As of this writing the URSA is the highest quality RAW 80fps image under $8k. It is an expensive camera which cost it some points in our camera guide as quality is not a definitive factor in final ranking . Price and workflow also are important. If you need RAW 4k up to 80fps the URSA at $5,995 is your cheapest option until the fps1000 ships. You can also get 4k at higher frame rates like 240fps on the Sony FS700 or FS7 but you will need an expensive external recorder or Sony module which is orders of magnitude more expensive. If you don’t need RAW or 4k Slow motion other cameras like the FS700 plain or the edgertronic are less costly options with higher frame rates.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
NAB 2014 has already started to look like a 4k camera and UHD workflow oriented show from all angles. Manufacturers seem determined to push 4k at all costs and it seems looking at the product ranges that it will probably be adopted fully by the production crews of major TV Shows and News outfits. There are definite advantages to shooting 4k as opposed to 3D which is really a specialty format for limited uses. 4k can be used to create incredible looking crisp FHD 1080p that far out-resolves any 1080 camera to date, plus use footage as a canvas for re-framing and stabilization from wobbly shots.
What this means for slow motion cameras is that, as hardware has become 4x as powerful in order to capture and encode four times as many pixels as FHD 1080p, we get to reap the benefits in lower resolution modes. 4k capture permits lower resolution modes to jump as a side effect of more camera power as follows:→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
