Canon has been quite layed back in the past few years after the splash it did with DSLRs and the 5D Mark II 30p,24p and original 7D offering 720p 60fps in frame rates. This was so las decade and while there have been improvements there has not been an indication of the camera line growing up to develop a true leap in the video mode to EOS users. We have seen a transition to other systems like the Panasonic GH4 Micro 4/3 and Sony NEX series by many video pros looking for better video quality and higher frame rates besides Canon and Nikon bodies.
The video quality while stagnant in Canon and Nikon land has actually increased to 4k in other systems with amazing low light performance like that of the a7s Sony series. Canon seems to have woken up from their slumber with the new Canon 1DX Mk II a Professional answer with a full frame sensor and what looks to be a worthy video mode that is now up to date and competitive with some of the best out there in the under 120fps camp.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
In our last post we looked at the HSC768 high speed camera project that had great performance and ergonomics including a jog wheel design and machined case. We asked the creator of the camera David Kronstein, who runs the Youtube channel Tesla500 from Vancouver Canada, a few questions regarding the future of the project and he kindly responded with some great insight. We may have a third competitor in the HD high speed camera market to go head to head with the edgertronic camera and the yet to be released fps1000 project.
While the camera is still in the lab stages, it shows a usable design with professional looking performance and a pretty lengthy buffer. There is a touch screen interface based on a stripped down Linux OS installation and DDR3 high speed DRAM 16GB worth that can do quite a good set of frames.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
tesla500 is a Youtube and Patreon video channel by Electronics Engineer David Kronstein that has a lot of videos of engineering projects and troubleshooting / fixing stuff. Some videos are based on a homebrew camera project that gained our attention. The camera is a high speed monochrome at the moment with HSC768 name which is based on the data rate of the image sensor, in this case 768Mpix/s, or about 960MB/s . The camera project started in 2014 as a way to get a high speed camera for the lab without paying the hefty premium.
SIGMA has released a compelling video showing their new process for ceramic lens filters being compared to other brands in a metallic ball drop test. The ball weighs 49 grams or 1.7 oz and it is dropped from a height of four feet.
According to SIGMA, their strengthening ceramic process is 10x or 1000% stronger than previous strengthening methods which are included in the video as the competition to compare them.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
DJI Has announced a portable 3-Axis Gimbal camera system called DJI OSMO that rivals the best handheld camera options from the competition with an integrated ZENMUSE X3 camera “Same as the one found in the DJI Inspire 1 drone. You get a ton of standard features like an intelligent panning mode and auto panorama with also a timelapse & intervalometer to boot. You will need to supply a Phone or other portable device with iOS or Android in order to have a live preview screen and set up the camera / adjust settings.
Specs for the DJI OSMO portable stabilized camera:
Video Resolution:
UHD: 4K (4096 x 2160) 24/25p
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) 24/25/30p
2.7K (2704 x 1520) 24/25/30p
FHD: 1920 x 1080 24/25/30/48/50/60/120p*
HD: 1280 x 720 24/25/30/48/50/60p
Sensor:
Sony Exmor R CMOS; 1/2.3”
Effective pixels: 12.40M
(Total pixels: 12.76M)
Still Photography Modes:
Single Shot
Photo Burst Mode: 3/5/7 shots
Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB):
3/5 bracketed frames @ 0.7EV bias
Interval
Timelapse
Auto Panorama
Selfie Panorama
It has been nearly 6 years since the EOS 7D DSLR was introduced in September 2009. That was the last time canon offered a frame rate bump which was 720p at 60fps. It was an ok mode but highly aliased and of low quality. Now Canon has unveiled two new cameras that jump the frame rate to 120fps. The first camera is the all inclusive Canon XC10 which is like a new incarnation of the all in one do it all camera with some pro features that seem to separate it from cameras like the Panasonic FZ1000 MSRP $749.
