Tag Archives: 2019

Fran 8k Camera Line is Announced!

Fran 8k Camera

The Spanish company Cinemartin known for their camera monitors is now officially launching the Fran 8k line of cameras in three flavors. The Fran 8k LT at an introductory price of €7,920 Euros or $9,000 USD which shoots 8k at 24p and up to 96fps in 2k resolution in either DNG RAW, PNG or ProRes while sporting a 37 mm x 27 mm (Diagonal 46.2 mm) sensor size slightly larger than a Full Frame 35mm. The LT version will not sport features like Programmability and image stabilization which the other higher cost models will support.

The cameras are built to order and require a 10% deposit when reserved. They are geared at the commercial and cinema markets which require the utmost image quality and 8k resolution on a very large sensor. The frame rates at 4k max out at 60p and at 2k max out at 120fps on the two higher-end models.  The introductory prices will only be available until 31st of December 2018. looking at the video samples released it is clear the quality of the image will be cinematic and contain extreme detail. The file sizes will also be enormous but that is to be expected with a frame size of 7920px * 3024px or 24Megapixels on the LT and 47MP on the Plus! → Continue Reading Full Post ←

iPhone XS Slow Motion Samples!

iPhone XS Slow Motion Samples

After a few weeks of iPhone XS ownership, we can already gage the quality of the video coming out of the device in 1080p slow motion mode. We have a dozen samples for you too look at and make a decision. It is, however, a bittersweet realization that last year’s iPhone X is pretty much just as good as the XS in slow motion with just a tiny difference in per-pixel quality and dynamic range.

If you own an iPhone 8, X or Samsung Galaxy S8 or S9, for example, the slow motion feature on the iPhone XS should not be a factor in your decision to upgrade. The new XS has the best 4k video the iPhone has ever produced and the image stabilization is also much improved. The XS camera shoots pretty amazing still images and regular frame rate video but it is competitive with the best out there. The phone still is the best 240p 1080 mobile device today, see why below. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Google Pixel 3 Slow Motion is Lackluster!

Google Pixel 3 Slow Motion

The newly announced Google Pixel 3 and 3 XL phones do impressive things with machine learning when it comes to their camera app. The ability to do resolution comparable 2X  zoom to an optical lens by using exposure merging is genius.  Their portrait mode is also the best ever made on a phone with incredible separation of background and foreground depth of field based on learning algorithms that can tackle hair transitions and other objects all with only a single lens.

When it comes to video however it is not as good as either the Samsung’s or Apple’s latest flagship phones. The pixel tops at 4k 30p and the slow motion while doing 240fps which matches the iPhone XS it is only 720p instead of 1080p. Google seems to have beefed up the phone for still images and selfies and left the video features on a secondary plane. The slow motion mode is essentially identical to last year’s Pixel 2 and 2 XL at 120fps 1080p and 240fps 720p. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Panasonic S Series Could Taper Slow Motion Curve!

Panasonic S Series

The announcement of the Panasonic S series is a complete acceptance that smaller m4/3 sensors are not the future but the past. As now Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Sony, Leica and now Panasonic have shifted priorities to Full Frame Sensors as mirrorless has allowed the smaller form factor without compromising low light performance and absolute stills image quality.  Fuji is also going strong on Medium Format stills oriented cameras like the new portable GFX 50R which meshes a rangefinder camera with a huge MF sensor.

The move by Panasonic, which had been leading in mirrorless frame rates in continued recording with their Lumix GH5 and GH5s Series up to 240fps 1080p,  will now focus on larger sensors that produce more heat and may be much slower to read at high speeds.  Sony has so far been able to only have 120fps 1080p recording in their a7 series for example.  If the Panasonic S1 at 24MP can only do 120fps 1080p which is still unknown, it will not bode well for slow motion frame rates for some time. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

GoPro Hero 7 Black Has Killer Stabilization but Same fps!

GoPro Hero 7 Black

GoPro has released 3 new cameras including the Hero 7 Black which is now the flagship product for the company.  The key feature is HyperSmooth which is a predictive stabilization technology based on scene analysis and sensor telemetry to accurately anticipate motion and correct the image to generate a gimbal-like smooth appearance to the video.  When you see the footage it is clear it is a huge improvement compared to even the Hero 6 Black which had a pretty good stabilizer.

The Stabilization, however, is limited to  4k 30/60p and other resolutions below 120p but anything above 120fps will use the previous stabilization feature which is not predictive and have no stabilization support at all at 1080p 240fps which is the highest slow motion mode.  No 480fps or other higher fps settings are available as the camera uses both the same Hero 6 Black sensor and the same GP1 system chip for this new camera. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

iPhone Xs Slow Motion Official Apple Sample!

Apple has released a preview video showing the video capabilities of the iPhone Xs in 4k 30, 4k 60 and slow motion 1080p 240fps.  You can see in the liquid and sound part of the demo the quality delivered by the full HD slow motion but it is hard to judge per pixel sharpness and or artifacts from such a short high shutter video. We will need more real-world samples in order to see if there has been an improvement from the iPhone X of 2017.

We have isolated a part of the footage to see the slow-motion compression and we could detect aliasing in the edges, softness and compression artifacts which are typical of mobile phone high frame rates. The iPhone Xs seems to still have them to some degree. Color and motion on the codec seem to be excellent especially in 4k which looks extremely detailed and with more than acceptable dynamic range. → Continue Reading Full Post ←