Tag Archives: Gimbal

DJI Ronin 4D Delivers Cinematic Stabilized Slow Motion!

In what could be called a new paradigm or class of camera, DJI the drone maker has launched a couple of cinema full-frame cameras geared to professional productions that merge their Ronin gimbal products with their Drone pro Zenmuse cameras to create a massively appealing system for pros and enthusiasts that want no compromise stabilization with enough image quality to be able to use them in professional productions for TV and film.  The pricing at just over 11.5k for the 8k version and 7.2k for the 6k version is small potatoes for movie and TV studios but might put off some buyers. 

It is of note that a fully working system bundle is assembled at that price which is much better than other options. It includes the Gimbal, camera and body, 1TB SSD M.2 card, battery, touch screen and cabling. In cinema systems like RED and ARRI this is just the brain or camera body with everything else being added on top as ancillary costs. The frame rates on these cameras are limited to 120fps as the highest at 4k and 75fps at 8k.  They might not be huge but the quality and stabilization should make them quite useful.  → Continue Reading Full Post ←

DJI Mavic Air 2 has a 240fps 1080p mode that you won’t use!

DJI Mavic Air 2

DJI has unveiled the Mavic Air 2 consumer drone with incredible specs and a fit and finish that rivals their more expensive lineup. We have been waiting for a successor to the original Mavic Air to see where the platform was taking high frame rates but while we now have a 240fps 1080p mode, it hardly what we would call usable for production.  There is a softness and compression that while they look ok for amateur and some Youtube videos it fails for professionals that need that quality output.

There is a lot to like here like the 48MP sensor with 8k hyperlapse and stills mode with RAW along with a better than most other drones 4k UHD mode at 60fps with 120Mbps codec.  It is really a steal if you were waiting for a drone that can do it all and not break your budget.  You get many high-end features on a minute package that while a little big compared to mini drones, it is really small compared to the full-sized Mavic line.

DJI Mavic Air 2 Main Specs:

Sensor 1/2″ CMOS
Effective Pixels 48 MP
Focal Length 24mm (35mm Equivalent)
Lens Field of View 84°
Aperture f/2.8
Minimum Focusing Distance 3.3′ / 1.0 m
Photo ISO Range 100 to 3200 (Auto)
100 to 6400 (Manual)
Video ISO Range 100 to 6400
Photo Resolution 4:3: 8000 x 6000
Photo Format JPEG, DNG
Video Formats 3840 x 2160p at 24/25/30/48/50/60 fps (MP4/MOV via H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, MPEG-4)
2688 x 1512p at 24/25/30/48/50/60 fps (MP4/MOV via H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, MPEG-4)
1920 x 1080p at 24/25/30/48/50/60/120/240 fps (MP4/MOV via H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, MPEG-

DJI Mavic Air 2 REVIEW & First Look – 4K 60p, 1080p 240fps by cinema5D:

If you look at the excellent video above by Cinema 5D and Nino Leitner, it tells you all you need to know about the features of this new Mavic drone for a first look.  He even goes in and shoots a sample of 1080p at 240fps which in our view is a godsend to see because many manufacturers avoid sharing footage from these high frame rate modes.

We can clearly see the video quality in the 1080p 240fps mode is soft and compression obliterates fine detail like that of the grass and girl’s hair.  There is really no point in getting this drone for its slow motion capabilities in Full HD.

That said, this new drone is probably the most exciting release for portability and 4k 60p users that lends itself well for less jittery pan motion and for slowing down overhead views.  It really is hard to justify a larger more capable drone for most video enthusiasts considering how much of their more expensive counterparts is here.

Shot On Mavic Air 2 (Sample Mavic Air 2 Video) | DJI Store by DJI STORE AUSTRALIA: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Nissan GT-R High Speed Camera Car Reigns Supreme!

Nissan GT-R High Speed Camera Car

The Nissan GT-R continues to be unmatched in the high-end sports car world by offering a performance way above its price range.  For the new NISMO GT-R 2020 they needed to film the car at full performance. After looking for solutions in the market it was immediately apparent that they needed a car with a rig system that could keep up with the new supercar.

As it turns out the only solution would be to build a custom GT-R with expert and Drifting world champion Mauro Calo, with camera rigs normally used in big Hollywood productions as you have seen in the Fast and the Furious series. Nissan decided to paint the car Matte black so it would not reflect on the other car’s paint and or create unwanted flares on camera lenses.  The result is the best performing camera rig car ever made. It is capable of carrying a fully rigged camera system including but not limited to ARRI Alexa,  RED Dragon, Sony Venice, Panasonic Varicam or high-speed solutions like the Vision Research Phantom Flex 4k.

Nissan GT-R High Speed Camera Car Specs:

  • Twin-turbo 3.8 V6
  • All-wheel drive (Ideal for motion camera mounted systems)
  • Matte Black Anti-reflective paint
  • Flight Head Mini Stabilized Gimbal
  • Carbon-fiber mounting system
  • Ability to mount 360º Action camera systems
  • Reversible Mounting for Front or back camera placement
  • Wireless Follow focus system
  • Up to four crew passengers including the driver
  •  Configurable with any modern camera system under 12kg
  • Cost not shared…“one of a kind”

The car uses the Flight Head Mini from Filmotechnic with the following specs:

 3-Axis Gyro-Stabilized
• RF Wireless capability
• Pan Axis travels through 360º
• Roll Axis travels through 270º
• Tilt Axis travels through 200º
• Payload Capacity: 26lbs.(11.8kg)
• Light Weight: 20.9lbs.(9.5kg)
• Temperature Range: -40ºF to 104ºF (-4.5ºC to 40ºC)

The following video shows the system in use, expect to see this rig being used in dozens of high-speed movies, commercials and TV shows. We are excited to see how it will be used with super slow motion footage, imagine a controlled crash scene at full speed at over 1000fps, things just got way more interesting in the mobile rig camera world and a lot more fun too. -HSC

Nissan GT-R: the ultimate high-speed camera car by Nissan:

Learn more at the official Nissan website here!

Nissan Official Press Release below:

→ Continue Reading Full Post ←

OSMO Pocket will do 200fps with a catch!

OSMO Pocket 200fps

It looks like DJI has not set in stone the frame rate spec of the recently released OSMO Pocket which we found to be excellent in handling and gives a beautiful low light stabilized image considering the small sensor size and price. It even beat out the GoPro Hero 7 in dynamic range and noise control but fell short of frame rates being on our good side. Thanks to our reader Frank for the tip!

In a new video by Drone NewsGuy from Youtube, the pro app and latest beta firmware for the OSMO Pocket are tested and you can enable a somewhat hidden setting to get 200fps in real terms out of the small device. The catch is that the setting requires the phone app to be activated every time you want to use it and will remain there until you change settings to something else. We would love for DJI to allow the 200fps setting right out of the box on the interface and not only that, allow for even greater fps in 720p mode and even a small VGA mode for users needing that extra frame rate.

Osmo Pocket 200fps enable video by Drone NewsGuy:

We were not too impressed by the slow-motion quality at 120fps compared to some more recent cameras like the Sony Alpha series which do sharp and flawless 120fps but the little device is not useless either.  You can also see that in 200fps mode the quality will take another hit down to sub 720p quality but scaled up to a 1080p wrapper.  A good feature to have but not the quality you want for broadcast or high-quality vlogging.

Note: that you will need to have the app and the firmware that supports this when it is released to use the feature. It seems some reviewers had early access!

DJI Osmo Pocket Slow Motion 120 FPS Testing (+ 120fps vs 60fps) by DroningON:

Thanks for the visual link of our site by DroningON on the video above, we appreciate it! 

You can see a very good real-world quality assessment on the footage above at 120p 1080p and 60p 4k taken with the OSMO pocket.  You will be able to use it in good light with acceptable results but not really professional capture. You want something like a GH5 or alpha a7 III series to get that 120p and up to 180fps GH5 and 240fps GH5s with better quality on those cameras.

As we mentioned on our earlier OSMO pocket post, we expect the little device to do very well and produce some amazing footage, however, we can’t wait to see a Pro version of this device and the competition it will bring along with it. A new category of ultraportable camera with quality that punches way above its price and diminutive size.  -HSC

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DJI OSMO Pocket Slow Motion will have 120fps!

Early on in the beta testing of the device, the OSMO Pocket by DJI released this week had gimbal stabilized 1080p 120fps included in the specs. However, by launch, the slow motion frame rate disappeared. There were anecdotal discussions that the device overheated in the mode and that is why it was pulled out of the product launch. However, there are no official statements to back this up.

DJI Should release the new firmware update for the OSMO Pocket by December 15th just in time for Christmas delivery of the product. At Just $349 USD, it will probably be a GoPro killer as a stocking stuffer during the holiday season.  Initial samples show the low light video quality besting the GoPro but the slow-motion mode is still less detailed than the Action Camera.  The stabilization is incredible and beats everything in its price range including the Hero 7 Black.

DJI OSMO Pocket Video Camera Specs:

Sensor 1/2.3” CMOS
Effective pixels: 12M
Lens FOV: 80° F2.0
ISO Range Photo: 100-3200
Video: 100-3200
Electronic Shutter Speed 8s-1/8000s
Max Image Size 4000×3000 pixels
Still Photography Modes Single Shot, Panorama, Timelapse, Motionlapse
Video Resolution 4K Ultra HD: 3840 x 2160 24/25/30/48/50/60p
FHD: 1920 x 1080 24/25/30/48/50/60/120p
Video Recording Modes Auto; Slow Motion
Max Video Bitrate 100 Mbps
Supported File Formats FAT32 (≤32 GB), exFAT (≥64 GB)
Photo Formats JPEG/JPEG+DNG
Video Formats MP4/MOV (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264)
Supported SD Cards microSD (Max. Capacity: 256 GB)
Audio Output 48 KHz AAC

DJI OSMO Pocket Slow Motion Mode:

In this amazing video sample by Newsshooter you can clearly see that the camera stabilization is movie-like and extremely good with real gimbal performance in a tiny package.

DJI Osmo Pocket Slow Motion footage by Newsshooter:

Sure the slow motion is pretty much the same as in the drone version of this gimbal and records the footage to a 30p wrapper file format. So you have a pre-slowdown footage capture with compression that seems to be a bit harsh.  The GoPro should give better slow motion performance at 240fps than the OSMO Pocket’s 120fps but it is still better than most phones out there in quality due to the better camera pipeline.

What about low light?

Osmo Pocket vs Hero 7 Black (Low Light Test On Motorcycles) by My First Drone: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

GoPro Hero 7 Black Has Killer Stabilization but Same fps!

GoPro Hero 7 Black

GoPro has released 3 new cameras including the Hero 7 Black which is now the flagship product for the company.  The key feature is HyperSmooth which is a predictive stabilization technology based on scene analysis and sensor telemetry to accurately anticipate motion and correct the image to generate a gimbal-like smooth appearance to the video.  When you see the footage it is clear it is a huge improvement compared to even the Hero 6 Black which had a pretty good stabilizer.

The Stabilization, however, is limited to  4k 30/60p and other resolutions below 120p but anything above 120fps will use the previous stabilization feature which is not predictive and have no stabilization support at all at 1080p 240fps which is the highest slow motion mode.  No 480fps or other higher fps settings are available as the camera uses both the same Hero 6 Black sensor and the same GP1 system chip for this new camera.

GoPro Hero 7 Black Frame Rate support:

4k Recording:

  • Wide FOV: 60,30,24 with HyperSmooth!
  • Super View: 30, 24fps
  • 4:3 4k  30,24

2.7k Recording:

  • Wide FOV: 120, 60, 30, 24 fps
  • SuperView FOV: 60, 30, 24 fps
  • Linear FOV: 60, 30, 24 fps

1440p Recording:

  • Wide FOV: 120, 60, 30, 24 fps
  • Linear FOV: 60, 30, 24 fps

1080p Recording:

  • Wide FOV: 240, 120, 60, 30, 24 fps
  • SuperView FOV: 120, 60, 30, 24 fps
  • Linear FOV: 120, 60, 30, 24 fps

960p Recording:

  • Wide FOV: 240, 120

720p Recording:

  • Wide FOV: 240, 60p

Formats:

  • File Format: MP4 (H.264/AVC), MP4 (H.265/HVEC)
  • 78 Mb/s (4K)

Introducing HERO7 Black – Shaky Video is Dead by GoPro:

There is no question that the Hero 7 Black is the best GoPro ever introduced. The quality and features are top-notch considering it remains an affordable $399.99(Available At Amazon Now) which is in line with other competitors.

The lack of above 240fps frame rates is disheartening as the spec has remained pegged to the camera since the Hero 5 black with only improvements in aliasing reduction and codec bit-rate. The footage does look better in the Hero 7 Black compared to the Hero 6 mostly due to increased bit-rate but not because the imaging system has changed because it remains exactly the same. The changes are mainly in the addition of a 1GB of extra RAM memory to help with Timelapse/Hyperlapse modes and the new HyperSmooth stabilizer. The extra GB helps the camera buffer enough information for real-time stabilization that is in a word unique.

This new stabilizer is so good that it really kills off gimbals for the Hero series like GoPro’s own Karma stabilizer which may still offer an edge but much less so now.  The Stabilization will, of course, reduce image quality with cropping but it does so intelligently by sampling a larger sensor area and then trimming as little as possible to maintain resolution across the board.

As mentioned earlier, the stabilizer will not work in 240fps slow-motion modes but many will point out that at that speed it will be overkill and redundant since stabilization in slow motion happens as a side effect of the high fps capture and regular speed playback.

GoPro Hero 7 Black Review: 16 THINGS TO KNOW by DC Rainmaker: → Continue Reading Full Post ←