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BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS OF 2021!

 

We have passed another year in slow motion land and while camera releases were more plenty than expected considering the chip shortage and teh COVID disruption, it’s time to take a look back through the year’s camera releases, and see which delivered on the price/performance scale when it comes to slow motion frame rates.  Phones are stagnationg while high end cameras are getting more frame rate options in higher resolution. Our Best Slow Motion Cameras Of 2021 have been selected and ordered by recommendation! → Continue Reading Full Post ←

BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS OF 2020!

BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS OF 2020

As the end of 2020 nears, it’s time to take a look back through the year’s camera releases amid the COVID 19 chaos, and see which delivered on the price/performance bracket with slow motion frame rates as the primary goal.  Phone slow motion took a back seat this year as the interest of the feature in phones was subdued or even eliminated. Our Best Slow Motion Cameras Of 2020 have been selected and ordered by recommendation!

We saw some surprises including a mostly affordable 4k slow motion solution and the adoption of 4k 120fps on many cameras which makes us think 240fps at UHD should be something to think about in the coming years as a regular option once 8k video is commonplace on consumer recording devices and TVs. The increase in resolution should theoretically allow for a lot of 4k frame rates to be offered as 8k delivers 4x the pixel count of 4k for any given frame rate. Keep on reading for our 2020 picks!

BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS of 2020:

Without further ado here are what we believe are the best value slow motion cameras in their respective categories for the year 2020:

Best Slow Motion Phone Category:

3rd Place) Sony Xperia 5 II:

The Sony Xperia 5 II is all about capturing the best video possible on a smartphone and in HDR. The kick here is that the phone is capable of 4k 120fps in full HDR which is pretty much class-leading.

The footage below will give you a taste of what the phone can do. In good light, it will let you capture excellent quality 4k 120p footage with the possibility to grade as it records a gradable flat profile.  In low light, it will be a pretty unremarkable image with grain and artifacts as could be expected from the light requirements when shooting at high speed.

Sony Xperia 5 II: 4K 120fps video footage by CNET Highlights:

Sony Xperia 5 II Slow Motion Specs:

  • 120fps 4k
  • 60fps 1080p

This is one of the first phones to offer 120fps in 4k which will probably become a standard spec in 2021 for flagships. However absent is the slow motion at 1080p which considering the 4k oomph, it should have been capable of 480fps at 1080p or similar. It is a shame that the spec was completely avoided considering HDR in 120fps 4k requires 240fps full pixel readout before merging.  In theory, 240fps non-HDR is possible on this phone but not available for unspecified reasons. Phones are becoming more powerful by the day and this is one that has our attention. The just under $1k price tag is not ideal but some of the best phones are going to cost you.

2nd Place) OnePlus 8T:

One Plus continues to offer compelling slow motion features on their phones with 480fps 1080p and up to 480fps at 720p.  It gives you a quad 48MP camera module which is literally insane considering the phone sells for under $750USD and has 120hz refresh rate. Feature-wise it has probably everything under the sun and then some and will not disappoint in the performance realm.

Fireworks in Slow motion – OnePlus 8T 480fps in dark by sternking: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Slow Motion Phones and the Youtube Fakes!

Slow Motion Phones

Believable slow motion video samples on Youtube for phones and cameras are so confusing nowadays that you simply cannot rely on them unless it comes from a reputable source.  The avalanche of fakes is so big that it makes it next to impossible to find the real ones out there.  It also makes it extremely hard to choose a slow motion capable phone when the supposed videos you are looking at are faked from other devices or even professional slow motion cameras.

There is also the big problem of stealing real quality slow motion footage from other channels and using it in compilations that claim to be from a phone or camera in order to get clicks and views for quick revenue.  The problem goes even deeper when these fakes overtake most other real videos due to the viral nature of their compilations as they usually look much better than anything these cheap devices they claim to represent can do.   We examine a few cases that can educate you on how to spot these fakes!

Slow Motion Phones Sample fakes:

The Xiaomi Mi 10 pro, for example, is a phone that boasts the following specs in frame rates:

960fps 720P/1080P
240fps 720P/1080P
120fps 720P/1080P

Xiaomi is not very forthcoming with the specs of the slow motion as it does not specify duration or method of capture. The samples below show us the problem of fakes head-on:

Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro Slow Motion camera test. by Pro Mind Tech:(FAKE)

Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 960FPS slow motion video sample by myphone.gr: (REAL) → Continue Reading Full Post ←

BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS OF 2019!

As 2019 comes to a close its that time to take a look back through the year’s camera releases and see which delivered the goods at an affordable price in slow motion.  Phone slow motion continues to be a strong category, so strong in fact that we made a Best Slow Motion Phones of 2019 list that you can see here.

Stagnation in many camera segments aside from phones is still ongoing, the semi-professional and pro markets stay at 120fps and 240fps with the occasional 320fps camera that delivers just a tad better quality but at a price.  For professional slow motion, there were announcements but not a shipping product yet, however previously released cameras like the Chronos 1.4c and edgertronic still own the affordable quality market. Read on for our best of 2019 results!

BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS of 2019:

Without further ado here are what we believe are the best value slow motion cameras in their respective categories for the year 2019:

Best Slow Motion Phone Category:

We had 5 finalists for slow motion phone of 2019 and while the Mate 30 Pro below got the top marks, the iPhone 11 and OnePlus 7 series had great showings, go to the dedicated article for the rest of the phone options.

 Huawei Mate 30 Pro:

Coming out of left field from a company that has been in the news as being in trouble with the US government, the Huawei Mate 30 Pro which is not shipping in the US officially but can be found from online import sellers, is the slow motion phone champ of 2019.

Huawei Mate 30 Pro Slow Motion Specs Dissected:

  • 120fps 1080p Continuous
  • 240fps 1080p Continuous
  • 960fps 1080p for 1 full second (960 frames in total)
  • 1920fps 720p for 1/2 second  (960 frames in total)
  • 7680fps 720p interpolated 4x (lasts for 32 seconds on a 30p timeline.)
  • All super slow motion modes at 960p and above last 32 seconds of playback at 30fps regular speed.
  • The entire buffer for the slow motion feature is 2GB and gets filled by data then dumped and encoded on the fly by the Kirin 990 chip.

This is the first phone that truly records 1920fps slow motion in 720p mode for 1/2 a second or 960 frames and then does excellent interpolation to a whopping 7,680fps 720p to create mind-bending images.   It is especially good for people, animals, and hard non-deformable objects. It will of curse fail as any algorithm with fluids, powders, and heavily detailed objects and will create a soft mushy in-between frame in those cases.  If you do not choose interpolation mode then you can get real slow motion for up to 32 seconds of playback on a 30p timeline which is excellent for a phone.

If you decide to buy it, the phone has a few issues to keep in mind. Due to US government restrictions, it will not ship with a  full version of Android with the Google Apps and not have access to the Playstore.  However several workarounds have been worked out in forums to make this phone usable. The other is that it is a Chinese phone which may need you to get help from someone who understands/reads Chinese to make the setup and get to work in English after.    We do not recommend this phone as your main handset as the support of updates will probably be negated in the US but if you are in China, this is a great flagship phone.  If you are outside of China, make sure you can live with the limitations in the software.

960fps,1920fps and 7680fps test – Huawei Mate 30 Pro incredible Slow Motion by Slow Experiment:

As you can see from the sample above and these other samples at HSC, the quality is quite good and the time is usable easily as a sports and experimentation high speed mode.  It will of course not replace a dedicated slow motion camera for quality work but it is still an amazing development to get real 1920fps 720p and 960fps 1080p even with some artifacts in a portable device.

Huawei may be in hot water with the US government for some time but they have consistently delivered amazing hardware that is probably the cutting edge worldwide.  We are excited about the future of phone slow motion and considering the giant leap that happened here, it is not unrealistic to think that really good 1080p 2,000fps or similar could be very close.  At least for a small-time recording but it will really be magical.

Huawei has made an incredible slow motion phone on the Mate 30 Pro and if they read this, send a handset our way to test and offer samples of reference.  As of now, their new handset is the one to beat. -HSC

Mid Range Professional Cameras:

This year the semi-pro camera market had some very good surprises when it comes to cameras that can shoot RAW files at very high quality and also allow for windowed slow motion modes.

Two of our picks are from Blackmagic design which is a known name in the affordable quality camera market. They have been able to deliver RAW and compressed RAW with BRAW format for very little investment compared to many other brands.  The quality delivered by these cameras are really cinema-quality so the trade-offs when stepping down are more to do with changing a camera system for producers rather than giving up the footage grading ability or low light performance.

Third Place: URSA MINI PRO 4.6K G2

The URSA Mini Pro G2 had a firmware update mid-year that allowed for 300fps in a windowed 2k pixel mode that has great quality and can be stabilized for excellent 1080p production quality.  For under $6k for body only the price is not that high for a camera that can really bring your production values up.   It gets a third place because the cost of owning the camera goes up with accessories like media, lenses, batteries, monitoring, and storage for editing. A good kit can easily get in the 15k range. The BRAW format is excellent but not for everyone.  ProRes is also a possibility and probably what many producers will shoot in when need to deliver in a rush.

High Speed Frame Rates on the URSA Mini G2:

Blackmagic RAW 8:1

4.6K Full – Up to 120 fps
UHD Windowed – Up to 150 fps
HD Windowed – Up to 300 fps

With 4k UHD at 150fps it makes for a killer feature rarely available on other cameras and the 300fps in HD or 2k allows for that extra oomph within your creative shoot.

300fps UMP G2 test 190629 by Reel Eagle Studios: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Are Slow Motion Camera Days Numbered?

Slow Motion Camera Days Numbered

Recent advances in computation, simulation, and real-time rendering have become so advanced that some visual effects artists are opting for rendering everything with CGI instead of filming it outright.  In making-off featurettes, we have seen the VFX teams scrap explosions, fluids, car crashes and actor stunts with CGI inserts that offer precise control over lighting, debris, motion, and quality which are all a crap shoot when filming with a real camera.

NVIDIA just released some demos of real-time ray tracing that surpass the best quality renderers of the 1990s with playable frame rates and ambient occlusion that in the right hands could be indistinguishable from many special effects in a film. The new RTX technology in their Volta architecture GPUs can do area shadows, true multi-level depth reflections, refraction and global illumination in real time 30+fps on a personal computer.

Video Examples of Real-Time RTX Raytracing on the latest NVIDIA GPUs:

NVIDIA RTX Real Time Ray Tracing Demo:

NVIDIA RTX and GameWorks Ray-Tracing Technology Demonstration by NVIDIA GeForce:

SEED – Project PICA PICA – Real-time Raytracing by Electronic Arts: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

edgertronic SC2X Unveiled 1910fps at 1080p!

edgertronic SC2X

edgertronic has unleashed what could be the most important affordable slow motion camera release this decade.  The new SC2X aims to finally jump the 1080p barrier of over 1000fps that has been the wall of performance for cameras under $50k USD.  The camera goes overboard with 1910fps at 1920*1088 pixels which offers TV, film, and web video production a new realm of possibilities with native resolution frame rates.

The camera looks and works exactly the same as the previous SC2+ release but with a flange ring in yellow golden color. The camera will work with all existing edgertronic cases, accessories and support systems as it is a direct upgrade for the line and maintains dimensions. The camera continues the use of the Nikon F mount which allows for manual aperture and focus on the supported lenses which are plentiful.

edgertronic SC2X SPECIFICATIONS:

Model SC2X
Color / Monochrome Color
Video memory 16 GB
Exposure 1/30 to 1/800,000 sec
ISO range [1] Color – 1,200 to 19,200
Supported resolutions 1920 x 1088 to 256 x 96
Maximum frame rate 20,132 fps @ 1920 x 96
Maximum resolution 1,910 fps @ 1920 x 1088
1280 x 720 2,940 fps
1280 x 128 15,395 fps
640 x 480 4,290 fps
320 x 240 9,024 fps
IR Filter Always installed
Subsampling No
Enhanced dynamic range No
Overclock No
CMOS sensor active area 19.20 x 10.88 mm

EDGERTRONIC PRODUCT FAMILY FEATURES

  • Global Shutter technology allows crisp exposures without rolling shutter jello effect
  • Stores captured videos in H.264 format on a removable SD card
  • Web-browser based control panel with live preview (Google Chrome only)
  • Video overlay support for frame number, text, and graphic logo
  • Field upgradeable software/firmware
  • I/Os: 10/100 Ethernet, 2 USB ports, external trigger, multi-camera genlock
  • 12 VDC Power, 2.5/5.5mm locking connector 2.5A
  • Type III Hard Anodized Aluminum enclosure
  • Trigger button and 4 status LEDs
  • Accepts Nikon F-mount lenses (manual and D series)
  • Built in fan
  • Standard 1/4-20 tripod mounts on bottom and side
  • Size: 111x108x79 mm exclusive of lens
  • Weight: ~862 gr exclusive of lens

INCLUDED ACCESSORIES

  • Airline Grade Custom Fitted Hard Case
  • Nikon 50mm f1.8D Lens
  • AC Power Adapter
  • 12V Car Adapter
  • Ethernet Cable
  • Wired Remote Trigger and Extension Cable

SC2+ vs SC2X:As you can see the SC2+ and SC2X are similar beasts but the differences are significant when it comes to performance vs resolution.  The SC2+ is intended for maximum frame rate at 720p resolution with 4,456fps at that resolution and options for monochrome or color depending on the end users needs. 

The SC2X is intended for broadcast and film production with ISO maxing at 19,200 vs 25,600 (SC2+) for the color versions and a color only option is locked on the SC2X.  Makes sense that monochrome is discarded due to the predominant use of color for video production.

Pricing wise both cameras are also different, with the SC2X coming in at $15,990.00 and the SC2+ $12,990.00. A $3,000 USD difference. Both cameras are still kings of price performance when it comes to dependable quality at excellent resolution with large APS-C sensors. 

Another change is that the SC2X will come bundled with an IR filter option with no option to remove it.  IR is more commonly used with black and white imagery so it makes sense that the color only option is ditching that filter-less option.

What the SC2X Release Means:

When we started this website in 2014 the edgertronic SC1 with 701fps at 720p was the best affordable slow motion camera when it came to price/performance. The edgertronic SC2+ last year obliterated the performance curve at 720p by offering 4,456fps at that resolution.

The SC2+ is an incredible camera that performs in any environment with solid and dependable results. Read our review of the SC2+ here!

With the launch of the SC2X edgertronic camera, Sanstreak corporation has broken the barrier of full HD slow motion performance that stood for over a decade above the $100k USD price range.  This is not only significant but a milestone in the democratization of slow motion digital video. With full 1080p resolution at 1910fps it is safe to assume that the era of higher resolution high speed that will not break the bank is here.  We can’t wait to see the edgertronic SC2X video samples and marvel at what kind of temporal magic it can reveal.

We congratulate Mike Matter and the edgertronic team for stepping up to the plate and creating what was once a dream to many; a tangible reality that will provide the means to artists and scientists to observe the world in temporal details that were once the realm of hyper expensive gear.  We will update information and footage on the edgertronic SC2X when available. -HSC

Ordering & More Information:

You can order an edgertronic SC2X and or SC2+ camera directly at the edgertronic site here: www.edgertronic.com 

edgertronic Software Version 2.2.2 – Released!

Edgertronic also released version 2.2.2 firmware today which adds important new features that bring the camera line forward in usability and dependability. The camera has added since April “Review before saving” which is in our view a must have feature for any high-speed camera. Well done software team!

Software Version 2.2.2 – Please update your edgertronic
We’ve just released Software Version 2.2.2 which adds several new features since 2.1.7:

  • Support for SC1, SC2, SC2+ and SC2X edgertronic cameras.
  • Added Review before Saving interactive control of saved video start and end points.
  • Fixed a defect where it displayed ISO values were lower than the actual photometric ISO.
  • Added Video Overlay with frame numbers, settings, notes, logos and/or other user selectable fields on each video frame in the movie file.
  • Significantly improved Live Preview latency and frame rate.
  • Added user selectable file compression.
  • After updating to version 2.2.0, or later, future updates will save the camera settings.
  • Support for user supplied configuration files including encoding pipelinesuser added URLs and camera code, and various network configuration files for network configuration, NTP, DNS, FTP, and multicast network trigger.
  • Added saving and reloading favorite camera settings.
  • Improved web U.I. response time when changing camera settings.
  • Reduced time from post trigger buffer full until the next multishot can be triggered to <100ms.
  • Improved SC2 and SC2+ image quality.
  • Improved loading user supplied configuration files.
  • Pipelines file can disable preview while saving to improve file save performance.
  • Fixed a problem with SC2/SC2+ operation at very cold temperatures.
  • Fixed defect moving status boxes in review mode.
  • Improved overlay notes UI/UX.
  • Fixed web UI defect if the cookie was in an unexpected format.
  • Added keyboard control of Review Before Saving sliders.

To update your camera, go to: http://wiki.edgertronic.com/index.php/Software_releases and follow the instructions carefully. As always, our software updates are FREE!