Summer can be fun but it also can be quite dull for camera releases; most of the exciting cameras have already been released and nothing really big will surface until September like the iPhone 6 replacement or a new GoPro Hero camera. This however opens the window to admire some of the latest high speed videos shot around the web. They originate from cheap cameras to ultra expensive mortgage your home systems. Price however is no match for creativity and outright luck in capturing these phenomena.
So in the spirit of enjoyment sit back, relax and have some fun watching some amazing high speed footage.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
The Odyssey7Q+ by convergent design has always been able to record faster than normal frame rates but now it is able to do so directly into Pro Res bypassing RAW capture all-together which yielded massive file sizes. With the new ProRes recording workflow you can use more high frame rate capture in your productions without needing new hard drive arrays.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
The Kinefinity KineMAX 6k camera has been shipping to customers and now we have a look at the first slow motion video images produced by this behemoth of a camera. The hardware as of now can produce 4k footage at 100fps and 3k at 150fps both with a sensor crop and while the image has some slight moire and aliasing it is nothing that will impact image quality greatly. It is not as good as the RAW 4k or 3k modes but it does allow for fast frame rates on an already very affordable professional tool. A package with the KineMAX 6k capable body, Canon EF mount and the Slow Motion Package comes in at just under 10k US or $9,997.00. Of course you will still have to buy SSD media to store those mammoth frame sizes.
As you can see the size of a 6k frame is hard to comprehend to HD shooters. You can fit 9 1080p full HD frames into a single 6k frame. You will reach new levels of detail with this camera, that as of recently was only available with a RED Dragon camera. However the price of entry is much lower with Kinefinity and the Chinese company will probably start carving a niche in cinema production quickly with these prices. If you need 6k RAW imaging and high frame rates at 4k and 3k at $10k US budget this is the camera for you.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
There is a lot of expectation for the release of the Panasonic DVX200 4k camera. It has been proclaimed as a true professional tool that will last the test of time among other superlatives. What intrest us most is that the camera will offer the ability to shoot 60p at 4k and 120fps at full 1080p HD. While non of the frame rates are what we would call groundbreaking; they do serve the vast majority of the video production crowd with the most usable aspects of overcrank for sports and shooting techniques relying on fast panning motion and action shots.
While there is still a blackout of shots at 120fps there have been a few 4k released shots that show what the pre-production cameras are capable of. The performance of the Micro 4/3 sensor and the built in Leica 13x f/2.8 – f/4.5 Lens seems to be very good. The samples however show Dynamic range which is rated at 12 stops in the specs to be close to what a GH4 with VLOG can produce. Since these are pre production shots you cannot base the final image quality of the camera from these samples but the quality is there and it can only go up from here. As for low light abilities it will remain to be seen but if you expect Sony A7s quality you are barking at the wrong tree. It should perform close or better than what the Lumix GH4 is able to do. The camera should be released sometime in October this year with a MSRP of $5000 USD.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
The OnePlus 2 has been a big success in pre-orders with over 30,000 phones ordered in 64 seconds. However people from the company got the One Plus 2 phone early and have been shooting footage and images with the phone in the last week. The quality is nothing short of amazing for regular video with macro capabilities that rival the best video cameras of a few years ago. The quality of the codec and detail extracted by the lens are extremely good.
When it comes to slow motion the quality of 120fps 720p is also better than other rivals in the Samsung and HTC space with less aliasing and Moire artifacts. It is still not perfect 720p but it comes very close. The iPhone 6 still provides a better slow motion capability with 240fps as an option also. Things are going to heat up with more releases soon in the mobile world, Apple 6s phone will probably debut sometime in September with improved specs and Android phones with better resolution and slow motion frame rates should be available by Christmas.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
The newly announced Canon ME20F-SH Camera besides it’s overly unpronounceable name and a price tag of $30,000 USD has what could be a record for any sensor to date. The ISO 4 million mark on this camera/sensor is able to record footage in full color at night. It over exposes footage only lit by a full moon. The Sony A7s last year was a revelation of where sensor technology is going with it’s close to 1/2 million ISO at 409,600 . It could shoot in near complete darkness and could do a good job at it. What Canon has done with the ME20F-SH is build their peak sensor technology into a 35mm Full Frame Sensor but with only 1080p Full HD resolution. The Sony A7s can shoot 4k footage with the HDMI output on an external recorder. This makes the pixel size on the Sony more constrained even with a Full Frame Sensor.
The pixel pitch size on the Sony A7s (12MP on a full frame CMOS Sensor) is around 8.4 µm; in contrast the new Canon ME20F-SH has a 19 µm pixel size in a Full Frame Sensor. This is an amazing performer in low light and probably the most sensitive sensor ever made for commercial purposes. At 2.26 Megapixels this is the state of the art for large pixels with impressive dynamic range and low light. It is unclear how the low resolution in such a large sensor will behave when it comes to moire and aliasing artifacts.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
