The UK News Site the Telegraph has posted an interview with Daniel Gruchy and Gavin Free better known to Youtube viewers as The Slow Mo Guys. They do all sorts of cool slow motion video pieces with Phantom slow motion cameras.
Gavin was involved in the film business and that led him to get a loaner camera from the movie studio production house he worked for in movies like Sherlock Holmes a game of shadows. He got their confidence and took it to his backyard to shoot some footage.
The latest update of the Google Android Camera App on Android Marshmallow OS which is available on Nexus devices like the Google Nexus 5p and 6p has now a dedicated Slow motion mode built in the GUI menus.
The Slow motion mode on these devices used to be buried in the video options menu but now has a more prominent role in the Camera Menu that slides out. While support is limited to Google Nexus devices for now, it seems that Slow motion might be an increasingly important feature for smartphones.
Sony has rocked the slow motion 4k world today with the Sony HDC-4800 Professional Live Event and Sports shooting camera released today at NAB 2016 in Las Vegas. It has a very impressive spec sheet for slow motion enthusiasts. And it is the first true super slow motion camera from sony that shoots above 250fps in 4k resolution. Quite a beast!
If you were thinking about getting excited about this camera’s price, let it be known that Sony has not shared the pricing details but we expect it to be high four figures maybe more.
Resolution is one of the most important aspects of any camera image. In slow motion it could be the difference in showing important details or just obscure an event all-together. In machinery failures during manufacturing; low resolution and high resolution can mean the difference in spotting a crack or bend in the process and that is hugely important.
For film makers and videographers resolution weights a lot when deciding upon a slow motion camera solution. Not to long ago slow motion cameras at or under 1 megapixel 1024*1024 for example was a novelty and a luxury. Nowadays 1280*720px or the lower end of HD resolution is easy to find and widely used. However 1080p and or 4k are the resolutions that seem to cause the most interest.
Aalborg University’s Drone Research Lab based in Denmark has tested a catapult contraption with a Drone rotor and propeller against pig flesh. The results seem to be as you would expect even before you attempt the experiment. A given hypothesis is that a high speed propeller can cause some damage to skin or flesh as any sharp object would.
It is interesting as an experiment but there seems to be a lot of negative press about this from several news and tabloid sources. Drones get a bad rap and continue to be a favorite of regulation advocates for privacy and security. There will be more experiments made with larger and diverse drones as time progresses.
Stiller Studios a motion control specialist based in Sweden has used the robot Bolt Cinebot computer controlled arm created by Mark Roberts Motion Control alongside the Vision Research Phantom Flex 4k camera to create some amazing slow motion footage.
While the equipment is daunting to the common man and probably the rental price is equivalent to the price of a mid size sedan; it should not deter you from taking a look. High speed is especially suited to this kind of robot as the quick and rock solid movements are ideal to control every angle during a slow motion shot that lasts a few hundreds of a second to few secs.