Tag Archives: Analysis

Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Has Full HD at 120fps!

Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless

Sony is taking straight aim at Canon and Nikon’s Professional sports photography market with the new Alpha a9 Mirrorless. It shoots 20fps full frame at 24.2 Megapixels RAW 14 bit up to a maximum  241 raw frames or 12 seconds before writing to the card. This is not only impressive but world class leading. Furthermore the camera is able to do it with full AF using a new 693 point system and without frame blackout in the viewfinder.

The Camera has a now standard slow motion mode in Sony cameras of 120fps at Full HD 1080p resolution with great detail. This is done with the help of a new stacked full frame sensor which is the technology perfected in the Sony RX series and now the Xperia Phones. However the lack of any professional video profiles like S-Log3 will put off the video centric crowd. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Nikon DL is Killed Off, Now What?

Nikon DL is Killed Off

The Nikon DL was really the only strong contender in the pro-sumer compact camera line from Nikon to offer fast frame rates if it had shipped.  The only other remotely considerable high speed option by the company is the Nikon 1 series in their V and J options which haven’t been updated in a while.

The cancellation of the Nikon DL series was due mainly to technical issues with the image processor which made the company miss the June 2016 target ship date & second, a  restructuring effort after the company reported a net loss of ¥831 Million Yen or 7.3 Million US Dollars .  This is no small predicament as the company had reported in the same time frame last year a net profit of  ¥18.71 billion Yen or $165 Million USD.   → Continue Reading Full Post ←

iPhone 7 Slow Motion Tests and Examples!

iPhone 7 Slow Motion

We waited long enough and now we have real world samples and comparison tests from the iPhone 7 in regards to higher frame rates. The iPhone 6s was the king of slow motion quality last year and now there were high hopes for the iPhone 7 to continue that reign however what comes down to is a mix of technology stagnation with a measure of slight improvement when it comes to shutter speed control and detail.

The iPhone 7 does 120fps 1080p as well as 720p at 240fps which is the same spec as last year’s iPhone 6s and a continuation of the feature. It has been used in many productions big and small as a crash camera for hard to get shots and some fun slow motion YouTube clips. The iPhone 7 may not be the best slow motion phone out there when it comes to quality but since it is the most ubiquitous; we are sure to see it grace your screen more often than the competition. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Hasselblad True Zoom Signaling the Future?

Hasselblad True Zoom moto mods

The recently announced Hasselblad True Zoom is an add on module for the Moto Z + Moto Mods™ smartphone platform which lets you add modules to your already very capable phone to increase it’s feature set.  A Pico Projector, a much larger battery, a JBL speaker set and now the Hasselblad True Zoom 10x Optical zoom are the current back plate options for this new ecosystem.

What may look like a gimmick to some; it may be the advent of a personalized and very powerful experience for the future of smartphone use. What if you could add the advantages of a larger camera sensor and higher frame rates with built in processing to your phone when needed. What if you could add a built in microscope back plate to the phone for biologists on the field or a sensor module for tracking scientific concepts with the phone as a central part of experiments. The sky seems to be the limit here. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Google Phone SDK 3.0 Hints at 240fps!

GoogleCamera3

The website Android Police has done a pretty robust tear down of the new android Camera SDK v3.0 giving a sneak peak of what is to come for many android phones that support the camera module application.  The SDK v3.0 comes bundled with the Android 6 release which means all compatible devices upgraded to the new OS will have a chance to try some or all of the new features planned for the camera release.  Your mileage depending on your phone manufacturer may vary but it could mean support for many new features like 240fps slow motion video which will compete favorably with the iPhone 6 and 6s in these high frame rate modes.

Top features in the SDK 3.0:
  • Smart Burst- Fast burst of images if supported by hardware!
  • Creations: Includes animated images and Auto Awesomes.
  • Slow Motion:  120fps or 240fps User selectable!
  • Auto HDR+ Plus: HDR images from a rapid burst.
  • Dirty Lens detection: Tells user if lens is smudged!
  • Improvements to the interface.
Code regarding slow motion settings in SDK 3.0!
<string name="hfr_mode_120fps">Slow motion is set to 120 fps</string>
<string name="hfr_mode_240fps">Slow motion is set to 240 fps</string>
<string name="hfr_mode_off">Slow motion is off</string>

Note:  Regarding  “Google Phone SDK 3.0 ” be aware that if your sensor and portable device combination do to limitations is not able to do higher frame rates these new features will not be accessible.  It will be interesting to see which phones are upgraded with the capability as the Android 6 marshmallow updates roll out!  → Continue Reading Full Post ←