Tag Archives: android

Alice Camera and why the Future is Bright!

Alice Camera

The Alice Camera, launched to great success this month has to be the most hopeful product for the future of cameras that we have seen lately. It marries the Sony IMX294, a 10.7 megapixel 4/3 sensor with a custom chipset including the Edge TPU chip from Google for AI and an FPGA for calculations.  The result is a camera body with the same sensor as the GH5s which is a killer low light camera capable of excellent 4k footage and images with super low noise.

Then the camera back is attached to your Android or Apple smartphone to gain an interface and software to control it. The camera is capable of using the latest research for computational photography including HDR with multiple exposures merging, tracking, night mode, averaging of pixels, and as an open-source architecture, you can add features by other coders or your own to make the camera increase the feature set. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

P40 Pro Super Slow Motion extends Huawei’s reign!

P40 Pro Super Slow Motion

Last year the Huawei Mate 30 Pro was our slow motion phone of the year with its real 1920fps 720p with interpolated 4x mode to 7680fps and real 960fps at full 1080p. Now Huawei has again brought back the same performance with an even better optical system and what looks like better interpolation algorithms to the new P40 Pro and Pro Plus phones.

The phones have gathered little attention outside of China as Android cannot be updated and the Play Store is not accessible due to US restrictions on Huawei as a technology company that poses a risk to national security. Most of these phones are acquired by the use of importers or the pre-owned market and no US carriers offer them. Still, it is the amazing hardware design and the best slow motion performance on any phone to date that makes it impossible to ignore.

P40 Pro Plus Camera Specs:

Back Module Five on Plus

4x on Pro

50 MP, f/1.9, 23mm (wide), 1/1.28″, 2.44µm, omnidirectional PDAF, OIS
Periscope 8 MP, f/4.4, 240mm (telephoto), PDAF, OIS, 10x optical zoom
8 MP, f/2.4, 80mm (telephoto), PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom
40 MP, f/1.8, 18mm (ultrawide), 1/1.54″, PDAF
TOF 3D, (depth)
Features Leica optics, LED flash, panorama, HDR
Video 2160p@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, 720@7680fps, 1080p@960fps, HDR; gyro-EIS
SELFIE CAMERA Dual 32 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/2.8″, 0.8µm, AF
IR TOF 3D, (depth/biometrics sensor)
Features HDR
Video 2160p@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps

It is important to note that only The Pro and Pro Plus will have the full slow motion capability. The regular P40 has 3 camera modules and a top slow-mo spec of 960fps at 720p, missing the best features. The best value in our opinion will be the P40 Pro non-Plus version but if you can afford the Plus, by all means, it may be the phone to beat.

The Phone largest sensor is 50MP at 1/1.28 inches but that is reserved for stills and regular video. The sensor used for Ultra slow motion is the 40MP 1/1.54″ sensor which looks similar to that of previous phones.

We see improvements in processing and the AI interpolation is doing an incredible job of extrapolating 1920fps of real 720p data and slowing that by 4x to 7680fps. The end result has much fewer artifacts than the Mate 30 Pro especially in occultation background objects.  It is of course not flawless as interpolation as of now is no match to real captured frames.  Anything with a busy enough detailed background will create distortion and mush artifacts that are not valid for any scientific experimentation. You will have to cap the phone at 1920fps 720p or 960fps 1080p for real frame capture.

We were able to find very cool samples of the phone shooting slow motion below:

Huawei P40 Pro Slow Motion Video Initial  Samples:

Huawei P40 Pro Ultra Slow Motion – 7680 FPS Slow Motion by TheFonoGuy:

Huawei P40 Pro Plus Ultra Slow Motion – OMG 7680 FPS ULTRA SLOW MOTION IS SUPER by MKP Captain: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Google Pixel 4 Slow Motion Specs Unchanged!

Google Pixel 4 Slow Motion

Today Google unveiled the heavily leaked Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL phones which have the latest and greatest camera module geared up for computational photography enthusiasts.  It brings in the dual camera back design of many competitors and also drops the notch in turn for a thicker bezel which looks in our view better.  The phone is sporting the latest Snapdragon 855, 6GB of RAM and up to 128GB of fast flash memory.

Sadly the phone is keeping the exact same high frame rate specs of the Pixel 3 of last year. So 240fps is staying at 720p and 120fps at 1080p is the max at that resolution. It is clear Google is not interested in delivering performance in high frame rates like their rivals in the Android space. Even Apple offers a much better 1080p 240fps spec which is offered on the back cameras with little trouble. Even the iPhone 11 bests the Pixel 4 in the Selfie department as it allows up to 120fps 1080p for (Slofies™) which is a prominent feature of the handset.

Google Pixel 4 Slow Motion Specs:

  • Rear Camera:
  • 1080p @ 30 FPS, 60 FPS, 120 FPS
  • 720p @ 240 FPS
  • 4K @ 30 FPS
  • Front Camera:
  • 1080p @ 30 FPS

Rear Camera Specs:

  • Camera 1
  • 16 MP
  • 1.0 μm pixel width
  • Autofocus with phase detection
  • Optical + electronic image stabilization
  • Spectral + flicker sensor
  • ƒ/2.4 aperture
  • 52° field of view
  • Camera 2
  • 12.2 MP
  • 1.4 μm pixel width
  • Autofocus with dual pixel phase detection
  • Optical + electronic image stabilization
  • ƒ/1.7 aperture
  • 77° field of view

Front Camera (loses the dual camera of pixel 3):

  • 8 MP
  • 1.22 μm pixel width
  • ƒ/2.0 aperture
  • Fixed focus
  • 90° field of view
  • NIR flood emitter
  • NIR dot projector
  • 2 NIR cameras

Pricing: 

  • Pixel 4 is priced at $799
  •  Pixel 4 XL is priced at $899
  • Available at all US carriers GSM and CDMA for the first time outside of Verizon!

The Pixel 4 & 4 XL have competitive camera modules when you compare other flagship phones.  Google went with a dual-camera design without adding the super wide-angle one common on Samsung Galaxy and iPhones for example.  With computational photography, the Pixel is very capable and probably will become one of the best cameras out there like the Pixel 3 was all of last year by generating the best reviews for still images on a phone.

As a video shooter, the phone should do well but will not beat the best out there and probably the iPhone 11 will have a clear win in the motion department with their emphasis on professional video shooting on the 11 Pro.

Slow Motion ZZZzzz?

By staying at 240fps 720p the Pixel 4 shows they are not interested in improving that spec which seems to be frozen for now 3 generations of Pixel phones. They are all about a rounded phone with impeccable still image quality and not focused on being the best at video capture.  Sony with their Xperia One and others have much better video specs and of course, the slow motion crown falls now on the  Huawei Mate 30 Pro with 1920fps at 720p for a 1/2 second or 960fps 1080p at 1 second. No other phone has yet to match this performance.

Google Pixel 4 event in 10 minutes by The Verge:

Google Pixel 4 camera test by Phandroid: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Insta360 One X Breaks the 3k 100fps barrier!

Insta360 One X

The Insta360 seems to be on a roll by delivering several products this year in quick succession. They want to own the 360-degree video market and they have no plans of letting go of that goal by making some very cool new features available to the masses.  The new Insta360 One X camera is able to stabilize the footage on the fly with incredible accuracy and steady-cam like feel without gimbals with its high-resolution capture and by using cropping along with telemetry data and a proprietary algorithm they are able to deliver rock-solid imagery in heavy motion environments.

The small camera is also able to shoot 100fps at 3k which is a first in the segment will let you crop if needed to get a better frame of the action.  There is also a very clever rubber housing that is designed to be thrown aerodynamically  “Drift Shot” while leaving the camera well protected on impact. This revolutionary technique is really something out of the box and what this camera will probably be known for. Expect to see an explosion of these shots in TV and film pretty soon as others copy the technique.

 Insta360 One X Main Features:

Aperture: F2.0

Photo resolution: 18 MP (6080*3040)

Video resolution: 5760*2880@30fps, 3840*1920@50fps, 3840*1920@30fps, 3008*1504@100fps

Photo format: insp, jpeg(can be exported via App), RAW(dng)

Video format: insv, mp4(can be exported via App), LOG

Video coding: H264

Stabilization: Built-in 6-axis gyroscopic stabilization

Compatible devices iOS :Phone Xs, iPhone Xs Max, iPhone X, iPhone8/8 plus, iPhone 7/7 plus, iPhone 6s/6s plus, iPhone SE iPad Pro(10.5-inch), iPad (2018)

  • Insta360 ONE X Android minimum configuration requirements:
  • 1. OTG: Supports OTG
  • 2. System on Chip(SOC): Qualcomm 653/Qualcomm 820/Kirin 950/Exynos 8890 or above
  • 3. System Version: Android 5.1 or above
  • 4. RAM: RAM 2G or above
  • Insta360 ONE X Android compatible devices (Phones not included in the list do not necessarily mean they are incompatible. Please refer to the minimum requirement of phone configuration.)
  • HUAWEI: P20 Pro/P10/P9/Mate 9/Mate 10/Honor 9
  • Samsung: S9/Note 8/S8/S7/S7 Edge
  • XIAOMI: Mix/Mix2/Note3/6/8
  • OnePlus: 5t
  • Google:Pixel/Pixel 2
  • Vivo: X9Plus L
  • OPPO: R11
  • Waterproof 5m and 30m with optional enclosures!
  • MSRP $399

Insta360 ONE X – Introducing the Insta360 ONE X:

The camera does a lot of things right like really great stitching, color accuracy and by reducing the mega-pixel count to 18MP from 24MP in their previous consumer camera they have improved per-pixel quality while gaining better low light and detail remains very close.

The slow motion at 3k 100fps is a great feature that can be accessed in real time and you can switch on the fly while recording from 30, 50 and 100fps modes with the expected resolution loss all recorded in the same clip without interruption which is pretty amazing.

FlowState Stabilization:

The 100fps 3k quality looks like a good 720p but not close to a good 1080p when you are looking at a specific portion of the 360 frame. That is to be expected as all-around video tends to be intended for VR displays which need full coverage. Your 100fps 3k frame will look extremely distorted if you want to do  a planar projection but can look good as a special effect with spherical deformation. Do not confuse this camera as a 100fps 3k rectangular camera because the resolution un-wrapped will be just regular HD in your vision. It is a good image overall but we could spot some aliasing and moire in the 3k 100fps mode which is still in its infancy when it comes to cameras targeted to consumers.

INSTA360 ONE X: Best 360 Camera of 2018? by Ben Claremont: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Red Hydrogen One Might Be Best Slow Motion Phone Ever!

Red Hydrogen One

The RED Hydrogen One phone has a lot to live up to but contrary to many doubters it may be just that good when it comes to video and photo quality. How good? By some accounts, it may be unrivaled by any phone currently and possibly for the foreseeable future thanks to the special software that is running on that last year’s Snapdragon 835 chip which is now outdated but still usable to create what RED touts as an imaging phone for the connoisseur.

We expect 4k quality in better codecs than the competition, with the ability to surpass 4k 60p which is the current phone upper limit for frame rates and resolution. As far as higher frame rates go we simply cannot find a lot of information when it comes to the way video is captured but read along to see something that may get a little closer to unraveling the mystery. New phone final body images have been released here in the forums.

Red Hydrogen One Is this the phone we have been waiting for?

As you can see in the image above which was found on the RED Hydrogen forum here there seems to be an ability to move frame rates on the phone to 120 and 240fps even in UHD and 2k cinema resolutions, but it could also mean that only the green portions are available for each resolution and the greyed out ones are not selectable as indicated by a commenter below. As to the validity of this, we will have to wait and see but it is quite encouraging to see an interface devoted to professional video options which take care to establish frame rates as a prime feature.

The Youtuber Marques Brownlee has also posted a Hydrogen One Prototype unboxing which you may find interesting and will give you a sense of what the phone is like physically.

RED Hydrogen One Unboxing! (Houdini Edition) by Marques Brownlee:

We do not venture on speculation much here at HSC but we will keep a close eye on the Hydrogen One and how it develops.  You may also like to see some of the posted image samples from the still camera module on the Houdini prototype phone in this pretty cool thread here: https://h4vuser.net/t/houdini-camera-quality/2027

RED has pushed back the Hydrogen One release date to 2nd of November 2018, with pre-orders beginning October 9th.

The Hydrogen One aluminum version will be available on these carriers: AT&T, Verizon, and Telcel for $1,295.00 USD. The Titanium variant will be out in 2019 and should be $200 USD More. More to come as the release date nears. -HSC

Slow Motion News March 2018!

Slow Motion News March 2018

After several camera announcements where slow motion was a main feature instead of an afterthought, things have been calming down until the next wave which will break closer to NAB 2018 from April 7th to 12th in Las Vegas.  There will probably be quite a few announcements in the professional space which is mainly where things heat up when it comes to higher quality resolution at higher frame rates.

We expect Sony to steal the show with probably the a7s Mark III which by any measure will probably retain the low light king title for the foreseeable future. If the a7 III released recently is any indication then a lower megapixel sensor anywhere between 12-16MP Full Frame with the same technology in a stacked sensor will give us a camera so capable that room for improvement will be mainly on the ergonomics, interface and higher frame rates going forward.

Phone Slow Motion Tutorials Posted Online:

Now that Sony and Samsung have been touting their 960fps slow-motion modes it was only a matter of time until tech & phone sites started exploring the slow-motion modes in more depth. Here are two guides that explore the new features and gives tips on getting the shot:

1) Galaxy S9: Everything you need to know about Super Slo-Mo videos by CNET

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/galaxy-s9-everything-you-need-to-know-about-super-slo-mo-videos/

2) How to shoot better slow motion video at 120fps, 240fps, and 960fps by Android Central:

https://www.androidcentral.com/how-shoot-slow-motion-video

Phantom HD Gold Camera Sold For Parts on eBay for $6,999:

ITEM DESCRIPTION – Link Here

** Please Note: SDI Output is Defective, Will Drop Image Every Several Seconds; Missing 4 out of 6 mounting screws for PL mount; Missing 2 body screws; Unable to Fully Test Camera **

1,052 frames per second in 1920 x 1080

=&0=&

  • Power Supply
  • PL Mount
  • Top Handle
  • Mag Cover
  • Body Cap
  • Ethernet Wire
  • Custom Pelican Case ** Please Note: SDI Output is Defective, Will Drop Image Every Several Seconds;

HSC – Our Take:  This camera was worth 118,000 when launched in 2011. If you are a technical expert that can repair this camera and bring it back to full working condition it may be worth a try. However, for everyone else, this is best to avoid as there is no telling what is wrong with this camera.  

If you could repair it then it is of note that you will not get a warranty of any kind and will be using a camera that could, in theory, be worth much more.  If anyone out there is able to fix it then let us know to feature your progress on getting this camera to work and produce great images.

GH5s vs G9 Video Comparison:

This is an excellent review by Camerahoarders on the video quality and capabilities of both cameras.

HSC- We still believe that the standard GH5 delivers the best slow-motion quality of these three cameras at up to 180fps due to the oversampling capability. The G9 codec is much lower bit rate on slow motion and allows fewer frame rates choices. The GH5s has up to 240fps Full HD but aliasing, moire, and softness negate the frame rate advantage.

More Galaxy S9 Video tests:

SAMSUNG Galaxy S9 Super Slow Motion 960fps! Video test by All mobile:

Samsung Galaxy S9 Super Slow-Motion Camera Test by Miklas Manneke: → Continue Reading Full Post ←