The just released Xperia XZ3 had a lot of rumors surrounding the slow-motion capability which was to be a cut above previous releases but as first-hand reviewers have shown, the camera module is carried over from the XZ2 and what the phone really changes are the first ever Sony OLED display in HDR, larger battery and a larger screen as main feature changes.
The Slow Motion component is unchanged from the XZ2 at 960fps in Full HD 1080p and 720p with just 6.4 seconds worth of playback at 30fps and 3.2 seconds at 1080p 30fps timeline. The hone only records for 0.1 seconds at 960fps in 1080p and 0.2 sec for 720p. Hardly a usable slow motion format for the people looking to capture long slow motion in the several second time-range.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
Sony has released an altered version of the RX100 V camera for the Australian market which keeps all of the good features of the RX100 V camera but also changes it’s internals and software to allow for increased buffer space for images and video in HFR mode and allows the AF module to include the Fast Hybrid AF system with 315 focal-plane phase-detection points to match that of the RX100 VI which was announced just last month.
The memory increase itself allows for 24fps continuous shooting with a buffer up to 148 JPEG frames. That also allows improved High Frame Rate recording times, and fast continuous AF with stills and while recording UHD 4K video. Recording of 7 seconds of recording in Shoot Time Priority at the 240 fps setting which matches the one in the regular RX100 V and RX100 VI in America.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
Panasonic announced two new cameras this week the ZS200 America / TZ200 Europe which offers the worlds longest wide to super zoom range in a 1″ sensor form factor with a 24-360mm equivalent F3.3-6.4 lens and the larger sensor 4/3ds 20MP “Same as GH5″ Lumix GX9 which tops out at 60fps 1080p which we will not cover any further. We have a cut off of 120fps for slow-motion cameras. The ZS200, however, looks to be Panasonic’s answer to the excellent and full-featured RX series of cameras like the RX10 IV and RX100 V.
The main selling point of this camera is the appeal of carrying a 15X zoom in your pocket along with a 1″ sensor which beats most superzoom cameras that use tiny 1/1.8″ or 1/2.5” sensors. Panasonic is able to do this by extending the lens to almost 3 times the camera’s width footprint including lens ring which looks kind of ridiculous but is effective at contracting enough to fit on a large pocket. The image below shows only 3/4ths of the extension.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
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 ←
The HTC U11+ is a refined version of the U11 which was one of the better spec android phones of 2017. The new iteration boosts speed and a screen that goes from 5.5 inches to 6 inches. Space was accommodated for a larger screen without making the phone itself much bigger which is a feat of design and engineering.
For many, the big disappointment will be that it seems HTC is not making a US version of the U11 Plus and leaving it only for Asia and Europe at this time. The US market is very competitive and HTC has had a hard time penetrating the sales ranks of the Samsung, Apple and Google phones. If you indeed are able to get an HTC U11 Plus the Slow motion component has a 120fps full HD 1080p spec that should be competitive.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
No matter how hard Sony and other mirror-less systems try to kill the Mirrored SLR camera, it seems Nikon and Canon refuse to go down for the count. The latest Nikon D850 is a camera that is better in every respect to it’s predecessor but now treads in the rarified air of hyper resolution sensors that do up to 9fps at full 45.7 Megapixels with the added battery grip.
Of note for us is the inclusion of a full HD 1080p 120fps mode which matches that on the Canon 1DX Mark II and the excellent quality Sony a9 mirror-less cameras. There are no real samples of the D850 in slow motion aside from compressed preview videos that seem to show some aliasing in the mode. As to a crop we will have to wait and see but in 4k mode the camera is able to extract the image from the full sensor with no field of view crop which is the holy grail for large resolution sensors.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
