Tag Archives: china

Availability, Camera News, Firmware/Software, Media Showcase, Previews, Slowmo Samples

Z Cam E2 Starts Shipping To Customers!

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The Z Cam E2 has finally started shipping and is now available for direct order at their site. The camera caught our attention for its low price of just $1999 and the high frame rate features of 240fps 1080p and 120fps 4k.  It seems to be using the same 4/3 sensor as the great Panasonic GH5s but with extended features.

The camera company ZCam has also released some samples in a variety of scenarios so you can see what the camera is capable of. At first inspection, it is clear this camera is a clear step up from the Z Cam E1 which had some image quality issues. The E2 seems to go out of the box ready to produce class-leading imagery and offer some very nice high frame rate action. There are also some rumored comments that suggest the team is testing 300fps at 720p as an added bonus for future software. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Camera News, Hi Speed Phone Video, Media Showcase, Previews

HTC U12+ Joins the Slow Motion Wave!

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HTC U12+ Slow Motion

The new HTC U12+ bucks the trend in the latest flagship phones that offer extreme high frame rates like 480fps and 960fps for short time frames. Instead, the phone touts 240fps at 1080p and 4k 60p as the main frame rate specs.  This is competitive with the iPhone X & Samsung Galaxy S9 series where 4k at 60p is now the default offering for the UHD format on the high end and 240p at full HD on the SlowMo feature front.

This U12+ phone has dual cameras in the front and back which allow it to do interesting bokeh out of focus effects on all types of shots including video mode which may be a first. As to the quality of the effect in video, it will have to be scrutinized to see where it lands and if its good enough to use as a narrative video capture device. The phone has all the top specs of today and the camera has gathered a 103 score on the DXOMark test which is the 2nd best camera on a phone ever after the excellent Huawei P20 Pro at 109. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Announcements, Camera News, Hardware Development, Media Showcase, Previews

Z Cam E2 Best Value 4k Slow Motion Cam?

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Z Cam E2

Z Cam the relatively new Camera company from Shenzhen, China has announced the Z Cam E2 at NAB 2018 MSRP $1,999.00 USD. It is not a direct replacement for their ambitious but half-baked Z E1 m4/3 camera which costs $399.   The new camera is a beast specs wise with up to 120fps 4k  and full HD 1080p at 240fps.  The codecs will be H.264 and H.265 at 10 bit but no RAW support so far which might be acceptable if the codec is clean enough and their promised Log Flat curve preserves the estimated 13.5 stops of dynamic range.

The camera is still being developed for a June 2018 estimated ship date. It lacks a back screen and relies on a Wifi or Gigabit Ethernet link to their dedicated control application. They intend to support iOS devices and or a PC client. No mention of Android support or Mac which should be included in order to maintain the widest compatibility.  We feel lacking Android control is a big deal and should be promised in a future update. It is also unclear if the camera will be possible to use by using a touch screen field monitor which probably will not be the case. Using an iPhone or an iPad as the control interface is probably the best use case. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Announcements, Camera News, Drones, Hardware Development, Media Showcase, Slowmo Samples

DJI Mavic Air Ultra Portable 4k Drone!

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DJI Mavic Air

The new Mavic Air may actually be the drone you have been waiting for.  It has most of the technologies that have evolved on pricier drones like the Inspire series and Phantom high-end consumer offerings like obstacle avoidance, awareness sensors, and now at this tiny size, a 4k 30p 3-axis gimbal stabilized camera.  The 4k recording ups the ante at 100mbps compared to the Mavic Pro’s 60mbps which was a big issue for motion artifacts and clearly separated the quality lines on phantom and Mavic series.

The new drone also has the ability to shoot 120fps Full HD 1080p video in what looks like improved quality “but still a little noisy” which is also a plus.  The sensor is the same as on the Mavic Pro with a 1/2.3″ size at 12MP with HDR still shooting mode and an 85°-degree FOV. The main feature of course is the size which is slightly bigger than last year’s spark but with finally 4k image quality. Portability is probably the most important drone feature today. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Hi Speed Phone Video, Media Showcase, Reviews, Slowmo Samples

OnePlus 3T Slow Motion Samples!

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OnePlus 3T Slow Motion

The OnePlus 3T is a phone that is really a near clone of the OnePlus 3 but with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 / Quad-core Kyro CPU vs the Snapdragon 820 on the previous one. The main improvement is that the 821 chip is able to run at full speed without overheating the phone and force a throttle down.   Another improvement is a 3400mAh battery instead of 3000mAh on its older brother.

For slow motion however the camera should be the near the performance as camera improvements are “Intelligent Pixel Technology” which reduces noise in low light, New Saphire coated lens with slightly enhanced electronic image stabilization. The front selfie camera however offers 16MP on the 3T vs the 8MP of the  OnePlus 3 which should yield much more detail for these types of captures. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Accessories, Development, Featured

Vimble S Phone Gimbal on Kickstarter Funded!

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Vimble S Animation

There is nothing more annoying than capturing slow motion footage or any video on your cellphone and later discover that it is full of rolling shutter wobble and artifacts that simply cannot be used without inducing motion sickness.  The new Kickstarter project called Vimble S aims to offer a very low cost alternative and compatibility with a variety of phones for 3 axis full stabilization with a smart handheld gimbal.

The Vimble S campaign was aiming for about 50k USD to fund it’s manufacturing operations and initial expansion. Much to the surprise of everyone it was funded in less than two days and now aims for a 100k USD funding ceiling and maybe more. It supports several smartphones including the iPhone 7 and Galaxy S7 with their own custom iOS and Android App! → Continue Reading Full Post ←