The hegemony of phone sensors has been the purview of Sony with their Exmor sensors for many years but now Samsung has started making inroads in the space with their ISOCELL chips. The latest is currently mass-produced and shipping in handsets already which is not a paper launch, but a real thing. The chip is capable of massive low light improvement compared to other sensors because it is essentially a near 1″ sensor with 1/1.12-inch measurements. This is close to what Sony RX cameras use as a main sensor, and a first for a phone.
As to how they are able to fit this sensor on phones, it is a dance between a protruding camera bump that is a little larger than usual and also a lens system that creates a full imaging circle from a minute distance. The GN2 is capable of recording 480fps in HD 720p, 4k 120fps, 30fps in 12.5MP windowed size and 10fps in 100MP mode which uses a clever algorithm and three RGB exposures to derive a 100MP image from the 50MP source. → Continue Reading Full Post ←
Xiaomi has surprised this year with now the Mi 11 Ultra phone which is a big step up from the Mi 11 released earlier this year. The huge difference lies in the size of the sensor which is close to a 1″ camera sensor like those found on the Sony RX camera series for example. The phone has two 48MP sensors and a main 50MP sensor for the main camera with a highly protruding camera bump that really screams for a case to be able to balance well on a flat surface.
The slow motion modes on the phone are rumored to be the garden variety with 120fps/240fps 1080p, 60fps 4k, and also a selfie camera that does 720p 120fps which is becoming commonplace. What is really peaking our interest is the 1920fps slow motion mode that is touted by some reviews. It is unclear what the phone is capable time-wise as the specs are still not all there. The samples we have seen show detail loss and the clear signs of interpolation. → Continue Reading Full Post ←
One of our favorite high speed camera companies has shared a lot of information regarding it’s COVID pandemic operations as well as unit shipments for their cameras. It looks like Sanstreak corp the parent of edgertronic is considered an essential business to the government which is probably because of the support and software development they do with clients for important government agencies. They have sold thousands of cameras to date and the company seems to be on firm footing to continue solidly into the future.
Their product line has the SC1, which is the 700fps 720p camera that started it all, as well as the SC2/SC2+ 720p at over 4000fps and SC2X over 2000fps at full HD 1080p. Check our page here for full in-depth reviews on these three cameras. Our favorite the SC2X is capable of a beautifully detailed and artifact-free image that can be used for cinema and broadcast. The SC2+ has the edge in frame rates with speed as a primary focus being able to record 6x the frame rate of the original edgertronic. The cameras have Color and Monochrome options if needed.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
OnePlus has finally released its new flagship 2021 phones. And they have built a new 3 year partnership with medium format camera maker Hasselblad to build their phone camera modules. On this first iteration, we get Ultra Wide 50MP, Wide 48MP or standard and a 3.3x telephoto with 8MP which is the lower quality of the bunch.
OnePlus has respected its own heritage when it comes to frame rates as the new 9 handsets retain the 240fps in Full HD 1080p and 480fps in HD 720p mode for somewhat super slow motion and a new mode of 120fps in full 4k which is exciting. OnePlus had the edge in recording duration in previous phones and this new variant might keep that edge. However, we feel disappointed the resolution did not go up to full HD at 480fps and allow for a 960fps HD mode like many other phones out there.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
There is always an outlier when it comes to phone innovation and we have to give it to Oppo in 2021 as it seems to have created a phone that really delivers features that seemed impossible just months ago. The Oppo Find X3 Pro can deliver the usual 4k 30p and 60p video and up to 720p 480fps slow motion along with the common standard of 240p at 1080p. Where the phone jumps ahead of the pack is the inclusion of a real microscopy camera module that has a ring light to boot.
The Microscope camera can deliver a mind-altering 60x microscopy range magnification that looks so good that you might think it was taken with a professional clinical microscope. It will not be enough to show blood cells that usually require over 100x to be appreciated but it delivers detail on small insects, fibers, textures, and electronics that previously required a complicated camera setup attached to a multi-lens instrument.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
The scientists at Vision Research are at it again at their favorite pastime of hyper slow motion gear creation. The new TMX 7510 Phantom camera is the fastest ever in their arsenal with a mind-bending spec of 75 Gigapixels throughput which is capable of delivering 76,000fps 1 Megapixel resolution or slightly higher than HD at 1280 x 800px.
The camera features the first BSI or Back-side illuminated sensor ever used in a Phantom camera. This allows for much better low-light performance which is crucial for slow motion applications. The camera tops out at a ridiculous 1.75 million fps frame rate at 1280 x 32px in standard width mode or 640 x 64px in Binned mode. One second recorded at that speed creates a file that plays back for 972min or just over 16hrs in a 30fps timeline. Yikes!→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
