Tag Archives: bad

iPhone 13 is years behind in Slow Motion!

Apple has finally announced the iPhone 13 which may be one of the most underwhelming refreshes of the handset in many years. While there is a lot of new stuff, nothing added is really groundbreaking in the way previous phones have awed when it comes to features in imaging. It is certainly a clear refinement of nearly every aspect of the hardware and software with better low light gathering and a first for a phone the addition of ProRes recording at 1080p and 4k 30p depending on the phone storage spec.

There are neat features like rack focusing which allows for AI-assisted machine learning depth of field selection based on people’s faces whenever their eyes are visible and or enter or exit the frame.  It is kind of gimmicky as it seems to do away with precise manual control of the feature but this is yet to be explored fully by reviewers. When it comes to Slow Motion capture, we have essentially no change for the 4th year in a row! → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Panasonic Lumix DC-G100 120fps Slowmo Full HD and why to avoid it!

Panasonic Lumix DC-G100 120fps Slowmo

The new trend this year is the selfie mirrorless camera being bundled so that Youtube and other social media Vloggers get a camera that can easily capture what they need with little fuzz. It is no secret that camera sales are in free fall and companies will try to market anything and everything to get some sales. Such is the case with the Panasonic Lumix G100. It has a very nice microphone, a diminutive body, a terrific bright day screen, and a very portable and good enough image from a micro 4/3 sensor.

So why all this negativity? Well for a camera that wants to compete with the smaller 1″ sensor but better overall featured Sony ZV-1 with excellent dual pixel tracking AF; the G100 is limited in a variety of ways. The 5x stabilization will only work in 1080p and be only electronic in 4k.  4k itself only lasts 10 minutes which is very constrained for 2020, maybe for 2016 as a spec but not 4 years later. Dig in for more info!

Panasonic Lumix DC-G100 Main specs:

  • 20.3MP Digital Live MOS Sensor  m4/3
  • 5184 x 3888 maximum resolution
  • UHD 4K30p Video, Pre-Installed V-Log L (10min limit)
  • 5-Axis Hybrid Image Stabilization (1080p Only)
  • OZO Audio with Subject Tracking
  • ISO 200 to 25600 (Extended: 100 to 25600)
  • Video Modes: MP4 4:2:0 8-Bit
  • UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/29.97p (10min)
  • Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 29.97p/59.94p
  • Slow Motion 120fps Full HD Mode-
  • 12 to 32mm Lens kit included
  • MSRP: $747.99 with lens and tripod included

For a camera and lens combo under $750 USD it may seem like a pretty good package but when you dig in the details it becomes apparent that you are getting a subpar kit that could have been so much better.

What about Slow Motion?

The video below by Gordon Laing shows a sample of the slow motion on the camera that is very good and will give you a good indication of the per-pixel quality. It is also a very complete review with AF tests and the audio modes.

Panasonic Lumix G100 review vs ZV1 M50 G90 G95 by Gordon Laing:

The full HD 120fps looks to be on par with other Lumix cameras which is not bad but it is also way below others in their line of cameras like 180fps and 240fps which is not even a choice here.

As a slow motion camera, it is competitive with other 120fps cameras in full HD but not much else. We cannot recommend it over other options like the Sony RX series that can do 240fps in near full HD (See Here) with pretty good results.

Other things:

The stabilization which is essential for blogging is limited in the 5 axis mode to 1080p which is ridiculous, you get electronic image shift stabilization for 4k and a 10-minute recording limit on that mode which is very much a non-starter for vloggers.

Ozo audio in the video above is really the most interesting feature of this camera and something we hope to see in the Lumix line from now on. The omnidirectional microphones allow the camera to estimate the location of the person speaking and link the face detection autofocus algorithm so it stays sharp during recording even when you move out of the frame and back in.

The AF technology used is DFD or Depth from Defocus which is used in the Lumix line of cameras and while excellent for still images it still can’t compete directly with dual pixel AF from other brands that use contrast and Phase detection along with object and animal/people tracking to be very consistent in the video modes. DFD has a hit and miss that is hated by many and a clear let down by today’s AF standards, especially for Vlogging.

Panasonic G100: Hands-on look at a lightweight multimedia powerhouse by imagingresource → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Casio Slow Motion Pioneer Kills Consumer Camera Line!

Casio Slow Motion

 

It seems that the cellphone has once again taken no prisoners when it comes to the portable consumer camera. Casio which was probably the most influential affordable high-speed camera developer 10 year ago with the EX-F1 has now decided to retrench and effectively end their portable consumer camera development due to mounting losses with no clear path to profitability for the division.

The Japanese hi-tech company generated a loss of 500 million Yen (or $4.6 million U$) in the 2017 fiscal year for the division. They will effectively pull out of the market to stop the bleeding.  It is quite sad to see a company that created the EX-F1 and the excellent EX-FH20 eliminate their entire consumer camera division. Could things have been different and could they have avoided the phone camera erosion that has obliterated the sales of most manufacturers? Our only thought would be that they did not innovate fast enough to remain competitive for the consumer to be a real alternative.

Could this have been prevented?

Casio was on a roll in 2008-2010 with the introduction of their new high-speed camera line which was first to record 1080p 60fps and up to 1200fps at reduced resolutions with the EX-F1. It was for a while the only game in town when it came to a truly affordable slow-motion solution for the common videographer.

Casio Exilim EX-F1 High-Speed Camera Review by Biz of Tech:

There were a lot of constraints when it came to real resolution and artifacts but these cameras were a milestone of miniaturized technology and what could come after if they had continued development.

But Casio seems to have lost its way after that initial big push. Many fans of the camera line expected more resolution to supplement the frame rates and maybe make a jump to HD 720p at 480fps which would have cemented the camera line as a true performance speed demon.

High-Speed Video Tests (Casio Exilim Pro EX-F1) by EpicPyrotechnics: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

IPhone SE Retains Same Slo-Mo Specs As 6s!

iphoneSE

Apple today unveiled the iPhone SE;  little kept secret due to huge leaks in the rumor sites. What was not confirmed was the camera specs which as it turns out are exactly the same as the bigger and more expensive iPhone 6s flagship brother.

The camera should yield the exact same performance as the iPhone 6s which means great news when it comes to slow motion aficionados. 120fps at full 1080p and 240fps at 720p made their way in the specs which gives some indication that Apple cut very little from the phone; with the biggest omission being 3D touch. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

IPhone 6s Improved Slowmo Capture with FiLMiC Pro!

FiLMiCProTopApple

So you have an iPhone and want to get the best video possible out of it. Should you stay with Apple’s camera implementation or should you branch out and look for better capture apps? Those that do the best job at compressing your footage and extracting the utmost quality from it.

For years the App to flock to if you own an iPhone is the FiLMiC Pro for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch  by Cinegenix.  It was used in the Zacuto revenge of the Camera shootout in 2012 to capture the segments with the iPhone which rivaled, according to the audience of judges, cameras much stronger in specs and capture quality. It tied with the Canon C300 and beat the Sony FS100. That test was highly subjective with a lot of light to fill in the soft spots of the camera, however that did not detract from the fact that FiLMiC Pro did an amazing job at delivering a more grade-able and professional looking footage than Apple’s stock implementation on the then iPhone 4s. You can see the test here!

The Staff working on FiLMiC Pro have not stood still and have consistently progressed with the app since those days. You can see the latest improvements in Version 5 of the App for iOS devices:

Features include:
-Variable Speed Pull Focus
-Variable Speed Targeted Zoom
-Sync Audio Frame Rate Presets for 24,25, 30, 48, 50 and 60fps.
High Speed Frame Rates of anywhere from 60 to 240 fps (on the more recent hardware)
-Various Resolutions 4K, 3K, 2K (on the newest iPhones) 1080, 720 HD and 540 SD
-Varuous Aspect Ratios at all resolutions and including;
Cinemascope (2.59:1)
Super 35 (2.35:1)
Letterbox (2.20:1)
Super 16 (1.66:1)
17:9 Digitaal Cinema Initiative
-Support for 3rd Party 35mm adapters
-Support for the Moondog Labs Anamorphic Adapter (2.40:1)
Uncompressed or Compressed audio (AIFF, Linear PCM or AAC)
-Audio metering
-Audio Gain Control
-Headphone monitoring
-Stereo recording support

The App has advanced so far that it now is a real professional platform for shooting video with the iPhone. If you need professional footage recording controls you really need FiLMiC Pro in order to get all sorts of customization and features that are dedicated to improve video quality and the experience of capturing it. Several professionals are already using the app to create fantastic results which have been used all over in media and paid shoots. The movie Tangerine presented at the Sundance Film Festival was shot with the help of FiLMiC Pro on the iPhone.

See what is possible to shoot with FiLMiC Pro and an iPhone:

https://vimeo.com/119425681

What about Slow Motion?

The feature we are most interested in is the slow motion capture and to put it mildly it is really an important step forward in video quality capture on the iPhone.

“120fps-240fps Capture Improvements”

For regular video FiLMiC Pro allows for bitrate recording at 4k of up to 150Mbps which is almost 3x what the iPhone 6s normally allows at 51Mbps which has a lot of compression artifacts. The App will do a great job of increasing the data rate and create a better video file.

Filmic Pro version 5.0 Quick overview/review by JC5 Productions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqPPU9QmYZ0

For Slow motion especially in the new iPhone 6s which supports 1080p 120fps and 240fps at 720p the FiLMiC Pro app does a bit of magic behind the scenes to improve these modes.  The Current v5.0.2 release of the App won’t give you all the improvements but the new release which should be available in the coming weeks in the Apple App Store v5.0.3 will allow recording bit-rates for slow motion from 60fps  and above to scale in a variable bit-rate file anywhere from 50Mbit/sec to 100Mbit/sec depending on scene complexity. The Proprietary algorithm will use the maximum bits allowed to be distributed for best quality results.  

With less recent iPhones including the 5s with 720p 240fps you will still get some improvements for 720p 120fps but the most recent hardware like the 6s and 6s Plus will be the best devices to push the limits with these settings.   So if you want to shoot 4k, 1080p or slow motion with your iPhone or iPad you will be best served by owning a copy of FiLMiC pro which at a price of  $9.99 is not cheap by freemium app standards but it is an absolute bargain if you care about recording footage with your phone.    They could easily charge more for the app considering camera manufacturers like Panasonic charge $99 for just the V-Log L Update on the GH4 for example.

Filmic Pro Vs. iPhone 6 Comparison by  : → Continue Reading Full Post ←

How good is the iPhone 6s at Slowmo?

6sPlusLineupSlowMotion2

Now that a couple of weeks have passed it is clear that the camera in the new iPhone 6s is better than the previous model in every single way.  It has 12MP instead of 8MP, it has UHD 4k recording in video and has 120fps 1080p slowmo which is up from 720p.   The dynamic range is on par with the previous model but with the added feature of less noise and artifacts due to new in sensor technology and software processing.  While most users will not notice much in the way of improvements; they are there and especially if you look at the video mode the new iPhone is a fantastic upgrade from the regular 6 model.

The 120fps 1080p mode is very good and the detail is retained as long as there is not a lot of minute detail and extreme numbers of objects/changes in the scene. It is not as good as regular 1080p but it is close as there is not a lot of detail loss especially when using Macro mode.  If you want it to shoot a single water drop it should do great but if you are recording assorted splashes the codec will break apart and macro-blocks will start to invade your scene. It works very well for people and large scene objects and a lot of detail is preserved.  The 240fps mode is also improved in the artifacts and noise which means the processing is improved as you can see much less aliasing and moire.  It is still not true 720p but it is very close.  As of now we think the iPhone 6s has better slow motion quality than the GoPro Hero 4 Black and the Sony Action Cam Sony FDR-X1000V .   It is the best slowmo phone available in quantity as of today.  The New Nexus 6P has 720p 240fps to compete with the iPhone but no realistic samples besides the Hummingbird Video which is still unconfirmed exist.   This will change in the near future when users get their hands on it.

The videos below should give you a clear indication of why the iPhone 6s Slow Motion is improved and the one to beat in the mobile space as-well as show where the codec just can’t keep up. “The YouTube quality does restrict the bitrate but the codec is confirmed to break in the source files also.

iPhone 6s SlowMo Video 1080P 120FPS Cardistry by Jaspas Deck:

iPhone 6s slow motion (1080p 120 fps) by TuRkYQTR: → Continue Reading Full Post ←