Tag Archives: fan

Panasonic Lumix GH6 does 300fps in Full HD!

We have been expecting Panasonic to deliver a GH5 and or GH5s replacement camera for over a year now. The pandemic and component shortages pushed back the release of almost all high tech imaging equipment. The Lumix GH6 is now announced and it does everything right for Micro 4/3 and then some but will that be enough to make the format survive in a world of ever-decreasing Full Frame camera prices getting cheaper?  

The GH6 has a new sensor, new Venus processing engine, new IBIS with up to 7.5 stops which is bordering on ridiculous, and a body that has active cooling. For HSC however, only one set of specs matters and that is frame rates for video. The camera is now on top of the Lumix and almost all of their pro division cameras by shooting up to 300fps 10 bit Full HDish, 240fps Full HD 10bit, and 120fps at 4k 10 bit.  For slow motion enthusiasts, it looks to be a great camera on paper and at just under $2,200 USD it is not going to break the bank.  But after all of this, should you invest in the GH6 as a slow motion tool or save more for an affordable dedicated high speed camera? → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Nubia Red Magic 3 Slow Motion 1920fps and Its Not A Typo!

Nubia Red Magic 3 Slow Motion

The Nubia Red Magic 3 phone is something of a hyper-customized piece of gear for the performance-oriented gamer with crazy high-quality 3D specs and even fan cooling inside the case which is a first for a phone and a testament to the engineering to get it to fit in such a slim case.  The specs that really caught our attention are that the phone does 8k video recording and 480fps 1080p with a beta mode to bring that all the way up to 1920fps.

We had no indication that the 1920fps mode is indeed real for a few days until we found out it is actually an option on the phone and not a typo which many including us thought up as 1920pixels for 1080p not frames. But yes it is frames which makes it confusing but in our estimation also allows for decoding the truth behind this spec and if it is actually all that it claims to be.

Nubia Red Magic 3 Camera Specs: 

Software Settings Exposure compensation
Camera Features Digital Zoom, Auto Flash, Face detection, Touch to focus
Image Resolution 8000 x 6000 Pixels

48 MP, f/1.7, 26mm (wide)

Sensor Exmor-RS CMOS Sensor IMX 586
Autofocus Yes
Shooting Modes Continuous Shooting, High Dynamic Range mode (HDR)
Resolution 16 MP Front Camera
Physical Aperture F2.0
Flash Yes Dual LED Flash

Video Recording:

  • 4320p 8k – 30fps
  • 2160p 4k 30fps & 60fps
  • Slow Motion 480fps Full HD and 1920fps Full HD

Looking at the specs it seems the phone can do no wrong but the first clue in discovering the truth about frame rates comes from the IMX 586 sensor that the phone uses.

Sony IMX 586 Frame Rate Specs:
Frame rate Full 30fps
Movie
4K(4096×2160)
90fps
1080p
240fps
720p
480fps(w/crop)

The 48 Megapixel IMX 586 is a marvel of sensor design by allowing a 4k capture at 90fps but there is a limit as to the power of their stacked design. It can only deliver 480fps 720p video in a severe crop of the sensor area which shows just how misleading the 1920fps spec. You can see the full Sony IMX 586 specs here!

The phone is upconverting the 480fps 720p to 1080p which is also a misleading spec then it is in our estimation doing interpolation or just slowing down the playback by 4x to give exactly 1920ps. 480fps * 4 = 1920fps.  It is not uncommon for Chinese phones to tout crazy specs and that is why you have to take them with a big grain of salt since the beginning.  Reviewers that have the phone from China as an import also have the trouble of having nearly no Google Play store app support so it is a dicey proposition until Google approves it as a supported device.

The video below by Tech/NickBrazer shows the frame rate interface on the Red Magic 3!

Nubia Red Magic 3 Unboxing & Initial Review – The Everything Smartphone by Tech/NickBrazer:

The phone could, in theory, do the 90fps 4k feature of the IMX 586 some justice but the current 60p at that frame size is probably the limit of the frame buffer. However, being able to shoot 8k means that it should easily pump that many frames to a file. There is also the horrible rolling shutter performance when shooting 8k, any slight motion creates a wobble effect that ruins the 8k video feature.  You are much better of recording in 4k and getting usable video.

The Video below claims to be a real sample from the 1920fps feature of the Red Magic 3.  It looks like 480fps slowed down by 4x which would make sense but we are unable to authenticate the veracity of the footage.

Nubia Red Magic Mars 3 1920FPS Super Slow motion and 8k Support by Sparrows News → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Chronos Camera Must Have Accessories!

Chronos Camera Must Have Accessories

So now that many Kickstarter backers have received the Chronos 1.4 including HSC, we have had a few days to test it out and see what kind of accessories the camera needs to be customized for full usability.  There are quite a few hardware cages that may fit it but we rather use the camera as is with some clever low-cost fixes.

The camera is performing well with operation being solid for the 4 days we have taken it through its paces.  Some things do scream out as essentials in order for the camera to be safe from drops and shield it from the sun in order to see the LCD screen properly which is not particularly good in direct sunlight as most LCDs suffer from this.

Chronos 1.4 Must Have Accessories:

Grip / Support:

The Chronos 1.4 is a heavy all-metal camera with a molded hand grip with some thumb cross hatch texture that helps give some grip but not much.  That is why you need to attack some strap anchors with the help of the Right and Top side 1/4″ inch screw holes. These are the same as standard tripod screws.

These screws are cheap at under $2 dollars and you will only need 2 for connecting a strap.  We also include below, a few neoprene camera straps if you do not have one handy.

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Camera LCD Sun Shade & Elements Protection:

One aspect of the Chronos that will become easily apparent after just a few seconds of use while outside on a sunny day will be the fact that the LCD is almost unreadable in heavy sunlight. This is a common problem on many cameras and phone screens which probably; the Chronos is using a Phone LCD 5″ diagonal screen.

While the Lens Skirt above is not ideal, it does help the camera in 3 ways: It protects the camera from immediate water splashes

  • 1) It protects the camera from immediate water splashes!
  • 2) Creates a Sunshade for the LCD screen that is adjustable!
  • 3) Shields the camera from the sun and maintains the temperature cooler.

However, the Lens Skirt is a solution that is not waterproof and the recording button needs you to fight it in order to get your hand in there. That is why we favor going for the LCD 5″ Sun Shade, and The Camera Rain Cover for shielding the Chronos from damage.  Both intakes of the fan and grill holes are in the front of the camera and offer no protection against the elements.

As an extra, we also added an LCD Screen Protector with Anti Glare  for 5″ Screens that should fit the Chronos. See our selections below:

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Extra Batteries and Dedicated Charger:

The Chronos loves to eat EN-EL4a batteries and while recording it can eat up a battery in less than 50 minutes. The camera has no sleep mode so it means the power is continuously being drained. This means either operating it with the included AC adapter and a power source or exchange batteries often while shooting on the go.   The Nikon EN-EL4a original battery that ships with the Chronos is great but it is quite expensive as batteries go at $119 USD.  We Purchased a Newmowa compatible battery and we found that it lasted as much as the original Nikon battery while using it in camera. They may be using the exact same cells.  These batteries are good to use in the Nikon Cameras as many users have positive reviews. We would not go and search for other brands like Wasabi for this specific battery as reviews tend to be bad.  We only recommend the Newmowa as it is the one we have tested with success.

Since the batteries can be charged in the Chronos 1.4 Camera you do not have to buy a dedicated charger especially since the OEM Nikon one is so pricey at $129.   However, the Kastar dual charger below with LCD for just $33.99 at Amazon is a good alternative but see the warning below.

Above the Kastar charger with informational LCD charge display can juice up two batteries at once for a reasonable price.

Warning about Kastar charger: We had the charger give off a spark when connecting the voltage lead in the charger from the main. Spark went away after we connected the lead with the diamond logo ♦ on the cable end down “Looking at the floor” After that no more sparks and the batteries charged fine.  We believe there is a lack of power inversion circuitry when connecting the plug. And since you can connect it in any direction it can cause a short.  Just place the diamond part to the bottom.  Connect the charger and test it first on a power brick to avoid a short on your equipment. Once it is working fine you should mark the correct direction of the cable to the charger for worry free operation.  The main reason other chargers can only connect one way is exactly because of this current inversion problem. Sadly the Kastar charger is not spending extra resources on a simple shaped plug.   Test it, mark it correctly and save $. We have charged both batteries 3 times in 4 days no problem.  

If you are weary just get the official OEM Nikon charger here!

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Final Thoughts:

There you have it! Cameras tend to require accessories from time to time and the Chronos is really a  better camera with them.  We suggest you get a few of them and have some piece of mind when it comes to supporting the camera at least.

One thing you will also need is a tripod and you will need one that supports about 3kg if you want to attach lenses to the camera with adapters. We include some ideas below:

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We will post new ideas and test of accessories for the Chronos if we stumble upon them. Until then feel free to comment below and recommend some accessories of your own. More info on the Chronos Camera here: http://www.krontech.ca/

Thanks for reading -HSC

Chronos 1.4 First Day Test Footage !

Chronos 1.4

Today we received the Chronos 1.4 camera from krontec.ca and we had just about 2 hours of overcast sunlight to give it a test drive. We have big expectations for this affordable slow motion Kickstarter project camera and will be putting it through its paces soon enough.  We are sharing our first-day production camera test footage which you might find interesting.

We were able to adapt our Canon glass with the help of a C-Mount to EOS mount adapter and it really makes a difference in sharpness and glass quality compared to C-Mount lenses. Not to say that the kit lens is bad by any means but it is simply not to the standards of full frame legendary Canon glass.  It is a big plus to be able to adapt almost any lens to the Chronos which opens up a lot of experimentation possibilities.

Lenses we tried today are the following:

  • Canon EF 70-300 4-5.6 IS USM
  • Canon 400mm L 5.6 Prime Lens
  • Canon 100mm Macro USM
  • Computar 12.5-75mm F/1.2  C-Mount Kit – Lens

There are a lot of good things to say about the camera like the tough all metal case, an assortment of IO ports, flawless recording, touch screen operation and lens adaptability among others.  Our favorite feature so far is the ease of operation as recording on the field is simple and effective with in-out points to trim footage.  The Codec in MP4 is hefty and does well with mild color grading.

There are a few quirks that have to be ironed out in software which we will try to help solve, and we are essentially testing the first production units along with other Kickstarter Early Bird backers.  The camera can only improve from here and needless to say, it is quite good as first impressions go. See the footage below of our first day with the camera at 720p 1502fps.

Chronos 1.4 Production Footage Day 1:

You can get more information about the Chronos 1.4c camera at: http://www.krontech.ca/    – HSC

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Chronos 1.4 Footage From Final Camera is Great!

Chronos 1.4 Footage

The Chronos 1.4 has been shipping to early bird backers for the past week and the cameras continue to be produced at a hectic pace. We are sharing footage from the final production camera that user Gyppor received and needless to say it is quite good.  The resolution being 1280*1024 at its highest option or 1280*720p  HD as a more common mode creates a pleasing image with very little aliasing and good noise control.

The Luxima Technology  LUX1310 2/3 sized sensor is delivering very good performance that is closer to a 1″ due to the big pixel sizes at 6.6µm compared to say a Galaxy S8 at 1.2µm, these pixels are gigantic.  Even comparing a 1″ Sensor in the Sony RX100 V camera at 2.4µm bodes well for the Chronos 1.4 with nearly 3 times the size.

While this is due mainly to the resolution aspect; it should be noted that the quality delivered in dynamic range + light gathering should match the best DSLRs out there or exceed them.  The Canon 5D Mark IV, for example, has a full frame 35mm sensor with a pixel pitch of 5.36µm which is smaller than the Chronos still with its 6.6µm .

The Chronos, however, can make exposures at 1μs microsecond or 1/1,000,000 One millionth of a second. DSLRs cannot even get close to matching this at a current best of 1/8000th of a second for mirrored versions and in the case of Sony mirrorless Stacked sensors, 1/32,000 and both use a rolling shutter sensor design. The Chronos is using a scientifically sound global shutter with no rolling shutter artifacts. This is usable in a laboratory setting with measurements that are not made unusable by the readout of rolling shutter. This is one aspect that dedicated cameras still have over commercial cameras that shoot slow motion.

Chronos 1.4 Footage Samples – Production Units:

All the footage below is from Gyppor’s Youtube Channel Subscribe Here for more!

Chronos 1.4 – circular saw 1,500 to 38,000 fps by Gyppor:

Tomato exploding at 6600 fps (Chronos 1.4) by Gyppor:

Wasp Queen Flying @ 4300fps, Chronos 1.4 by Gyppor:

New Update at the Chronos Kickstarter page shows more production images and new Forum for the users of the camera:

Update by David Kronstein:

Expect to start seeing a lot more Chronos footage starting tomorrow, the first 9 cameras shipped off today! They should arrive Friday in North America, and early next week elsewhere in the world. The rest of the Earlybird batch should go out today and Monday. Thanks everyone for your patience!

We also now have a forum for Chronos users to discuss high-speed video, camera operation, ask questions, etc. You can access the forum at forum.krontech.ca.

Here are some pictures from today:

We will have more footage and samples from the Chronos 1.4 when it becomes available. We will also receive our own camera very soon for review and lab work so stay tuned! -HSC

More information about the Chronos 1.4 and ordering directly from the official website: http://www.krontech.ca/

Chronos Production Update 6 Shows Assembly Process!

Chronos Production Update 6

The Chronos 1.4 camera is nearing completion stage and shipping for the earlybird Kickstarter buyer batch with an end of the month of May or beginning of June ship date.  The LCDs are in and the entire cameras are being fully assembled including the addition of emission shield tape which will make it comply with FCC and CE regulations. The cameras are machined aluminum on the body and depending on choice will be black or silver.

We are sharing the latest update which shows the cameras being assembled in stages. Final testing will need to be done in order to pass quality control before shipping, but it seems early parts tests were flawless. This Kickstarter project is ticking off all boxes and making a solid attempt at the market by continuing to sell the camera on their own official site here!

The entire 6th update is shown below and we would like to congratulate David Kronstein and his team for reaching full production. We will have a full review of the production camera as soon as possible.

Full Production update #6 Below:

We’re assembling cameras!

Hey guys,

We’ve been assembling the earlybird batch over the last week! All the LCDs, fans and battery doors are assembled, and we just started final assembly on the first sub-batch at end of day Friday. First shipments should go out Tuesday or Wednesday, after holiday Monday.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter for more build pictures and updates:
https://twitter.com/ChronosCameras

Assembling the LCDs and fans took somewhat longer than expected, and this past Monday was spent making last minute production tools and jigs. We were hoping to ship the first 10 units or so on Friday, but that didn’t happen.

Here are some pictures from the build:

Thank you for your patience with all the delays we’ve had, it’s a huge relief to be so close to shipping.

For the main batch, all the long lead time parts have now been ordered (PCBs, FPGAs, CPUs), things appear on track for the next batch. We’ll keep you posted! ”

More information about the Chronos 1.4 and ordering details here: http://www.krontech.ca/