Tag Archives: nikon vs sony

Announcements, Articles, Development, Hardware Development, Science

Nikon Stacked CMOS Sensor Will do 1000fps in 4k!

February 28, 2021 admin Leave a comment

Nikon Japan has been busy creating the next generation of 1″ stacked sensors. The latest is a 17.84 Megapixel stacked design with hyper-fast memory interconnect that shoots up to 1000fps at 4k resolution which is no slouch. The sensor is still in development but it will be a possibility to see it in a camera that could compete head to head with the Sony RX series which now dominate prosumer P&S sales. It was announced at ISSCC (International Solid-State Circuits Conference) held in San Francisco, February 15, 2021.

The sensor works by shooting in buckets of 16 x 16 pixels as one block, and then subsequently 264 x 264 pixel blocks (4224 x 4224 pixels) are conformed to form the final image at nearly 18MP. It is unclear at this time if 4k video will be a windowed resolution or a supersampled then reduced final image from the full sensor. The market for this sensor goes beyond consumer cameras as it is aimed at other applications like self-driving cars and production lines. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Announcements, Camera News, Media Showcase, Previews

Nikon Z7 and Z6 Mirrorless Have 120fps Slow Motion!

August 23, 2018 admin 6 Comments

The slumbering Nikon has awakened to the mirrorless present and future and has shown their cards in a very strong but not class-leading mirrorless product line. The Nikon Z7 & Z6 are nearly identical bodies with changes in the sensor and AF. The more expensive and higher resolution Z7 screams pixels with a 45.7MP Full Frame sensor ISO 64–25600 range which should be a direct replacement for D850 users. The other Z6 is a better low light camera geared more at wedding shooters and videographers at 24.5MP which should produce outstanding low light ISO 50–204800 with ISO expansion.

There is a lot to like in these cameras like a real 5 axis (5 Stop) IBIS stabilizer on the full frame sensor which also works on adapted lenses and works with Nikkor VR lenses from DSLR cameras to increase the 3 stops to a real 5 stops hybrid stabilization feature. The video modes offer 4k at 24, 25 and 30p which is so 2014 as is the 120fps full HD 1080p slow motion mode. AF also changes between models at 493 points on the Z7 and 273 on the Z6.

Nikon Z7 Mirrorless Main Specs:

45.7MP FX-Format BSI CMOS Sensor
EXPEED 6 Image Processing Engine
UHD 4K30 Video; N-Log & 10-Bit HDMI Out
120fps Full HD Slow Motion
493-Point Phase-Detect AF System
Built-In 5-Axis Vibration Reduction
0.80x 3.6m-Dot EVF with NIKKOR Optics
3.2″ 2.1m-Dot Tilting Touchscreen LCD
9 fps Continuous Shooting; ISO 64-25600
Top-Panel Dot-Matrix OLED; XQD Card Slot
8K Time-Lapse Mode; Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
MSRP $3,396 Body Only (Pre Order Here)

Nikon Z6 Mirrorless Main Specs:

24.5MP FX-Format BSI CMOS Sensor
EXPEED 6 Image Processing Engine
UHD 4K30 Video; N-Log & 10-Bit HDMI Out
120fps Full HD Slow Motion
273-Point Phase-Detect AF System
Built-In 5-Axis Vibration Reduction
0.80x 3.6m-Dot EVF with NIKKOR Optics
3.2″ 2.1m-Dot Tilting Touchscreen LCD
12 fps Shooting; ISO 100-51200
Top-Panel Dot-Matrix OLED; XQD Card Slot
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
MSRP $1,996 Body Only (Pre Order Here)

Nikon Z Series: Z 7 in N-Log by Nikon USA:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMXNWl5U30Q

As you can see the Nikon Z series is all about taking the wind out of the sales of Sony Alpha Mirrorless cameras and to a lesser extent from Olympus and Panasonic. The cameras do have an Achilles heel when it comes to storage as the trend now is dual card slots on professional cameras. Since these only have a single slot, many professionals will not be able to use them in the field which may be a protectionist move to still keep DSLRs alive a little longer. This is a completely wrong move in our opinion as it cements Sony’s leadership in reliability.

Others point out to the lack of Eye AF which is a Sony feature that uses your eye to track subjects you are looking at in the frame. This is a minor omission but one that Sony users have become accustomed to using for dependable subject AF tracking in the viewfinder. Battery wise it should be a good set of cameras as the 300 shot spec when tested yields much more in normal use which is standard for mirrorless cameras.

Nikon Z Slow Motion Features?

Right off the bat, there is no 4k UHD 60fps or 48fps or 50fps which have been used successfully in current high-end video mirrorless cameras for over two years now. This is a big omission as the Z6 should be able to do this with the lower MP count.

Testing the Nikon D850 Slow motion by majed sultan: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

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

Nikon D850 Joins the 120fps 1080p club!

August 25, 2017 admin Leave a comment

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.

Nikon D850 Movie Modes:

4K UHD 3,840×2,160 / 30 fps
4K UHD 3,840×2,160 / 25 fps
4K UHD 3,840×2,160 / 24 fps
Full HD 1,920×1,080 / 60 fps
Full HD 1,920×1,080 / 50 fps
Full HD 1,920×1,080 / 30 fps
Full HD 1,920×1,080 / 25 fps
Full HD 1,920×1,080 / 24 fps
HD 1,280×720 / 60 fps
HD 1,280×720 / 50 fps
Slow-motion: Full HD 1,920×1,080 30p (x4) 120fps
Slow-motion: Full HD 1,920×1,080 25p (x4) 120fps
Slow-motion: Full HD 1,920×1,080 24p (x5) 120fps
Actual frame rates for 60p, 50p, 30p, 25p, and 24p are 59.94, 50, 29.97, 25, and 23.976 fps respectively
Quality selection available at all sizes except 3,840 x 2,160 (when quality is fixed at high) and 1,920 x 1,080 slow-motion (when quality is fixed at normal)

Other Main Specs:

Effective Pixels 45.7 million (Megapixels)
Sensor Size 35.9 mm x 23.9 mm FX Full Frame
ISO Sensitivity ISO 64 – 25,600 → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Featured, Media Showcase, Slowmo Samples

Sony a9 Slow Motion Samples!

June 23, 2017 admin Leave a comment

Now that the Sony a9 has been shipping for a few weeks it is time to re-visit and look at the slow motion 1080p quality that the camera touted at release. It is clear that the camera is intended for the midrange crowd with it’s hard to swallow price tag but that does not mean you can’t think of it as a good video camera alternative.

It is also now more inclined to be used by video professionals because Sony has stated the a9 will have an S-Log update in the near future that will allow it to shoot on a flat video profile for LUT grading. Autofocus is the best yet on this camera and on the samples below you can see it in action; barely missing a beat on hard scenes.

One thing to point out is that dynamic range seems to be capped when shooting video on this camera for now which means the S-Log update will fill the gap in highlight and or shadow detail retention when it comes to video. It should also apply to the slow motion mode. We invite you to see the samples of 120fps 1080p footage we have gathered below. I think you will agree the Sony a9 has some serious image quality prowess!

Sony a9 Slow Motion Samples:

Sony a9 Slow Motion Test – 1080P 120fps Brandon Meek:

Sony A9 Slow Motion S&Q 100 fps by Alin Popescu:

Sony A9 Slow Motion 120FPS Video Sample by TheDigitalDigest:

Gin slow shot on Sony A9 byAydin Productions:

Sony A9 120 FPS Video Footage + Auto Focus Test by Kevin McClelland:

【Sony A9】1080P 120fps Test C by mobile01:

【Sony A9】1080P 120fps Test B by mobile01:

【Sony A9】1080P 120fps Test A by mobile01:

Sony Alpha A7s – 120fps Slow Motion Test by Brolf:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axl_rywRxrs

【Sony A9】1080P 120fps Test D by mobile01:

Sony A9 + SEL70200GM + SEL20TC 1080P 120fps by mobile01:

【Sony A9】1080P 120fps Black Swan by mobile01:

There you have it! As if it is no surprise the camera delivers outstanding image quality in photo and video mode along with superb 120fps 1080p detail, dynamic range and also audio recording in both 100p and 120p. We wish it had also 240fps as an option considering how good the quality is but we will have to wait. It is by far the best DSLR or Mirrorless camera when it comes to 120fps quality slow motion. Add to that glowing recommendation the fact that the Sony a9 continuously autofocus in this mode as well and it becomes a dream to use. We sincerely hope to see this level of performance on Sony’s future products in the mirrorless space. We can all dream of a slow motion AF capable Sony a7s III with 240fps right? -HSC

amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0";
amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true";
amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "hispeedcams-20";
amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual";
amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart";
amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon";
amzn_assoc_region = "US";
amzn_assoc_title = "Sony a9 Deals at Amazon.com";
amzn_assoc_linkid = "d4119e764900911b41988b8df4b52787";
amzn_assoc_asins = "B06ZY7GNKN,B071DJXPTN,B072B5GVVK,B071WMH8Z8";

Media Showcase, Slowmo Samples

Sony a99 II Slow Motion Samples!

February 1, 2017 admin Leave a comment

The Sony a99 II with SLT “fixed translucent mirror design” has been awaited by the A Mount users who only have this camera to upgrade. It is by no means a slouch with it’s impressive specs like 42MP BSI Sensor and 12fps full AF picture shooting. It also has 4k video recording at 24, 25 and 30p and a 120fps slow motion mode that works at 1080p full HD.

The slow motion quality has been mostly an obscure feature since no samples have been available until recently. The original a99 had 60fps full HD on a 24MP sensor but the a99 II Doubles every spec and performance is not affected. It is really a monster of a camera for still shooters that can go head to head with the Nikon D5 and or Canon 1DX Mark II without skipping a beat.

The Slow motion on the a99 II interface above lets you choose between 100fps PAL or 120fps NTSC along with lower frame rates for fast shutter motion like 15fps for the fast cuts of fight scenes for example.

One negative is the absence of continuous AF in full manual video mode which is a correctable omission with firmware. As pointed out by Kai W on the review video at the end of this post.

Sony a99 II Slow Motion Samples:

a99 ii slow motion test 120fps 1080p by Vash PH:

A99 Mark 2 S&Q Video Mode – Time lapse & Slow Motion by Ticknor Photography:

a99II slow motion by Васил Николов:

Kingfisher hunting by Marko König– a99 II @ 100p and FS700 at 400p:

Sony Posted a hybrid video demo a few months back about the a6500 and a99 II slow and quick motion features which are identical on both cameras:

Slow-Mo Quality?

It is clear from these samples that the a99 II is a pretty good 100p/120p 1080 slow motion shooter with plenty of detail and no real image degradation in this mode, looks like true 1080p with no real aliasing or moire problems. If you need clean 120fps on an interchangeable lens camera the a99 II has you covered. It should be as good as the a6500 with the added benefit of a Full Frame 35mm sensor.

Sony a6500 New Slow Motion Samples!

December 14, 2016 admin Leave a comment

We have now a fairly good amount of slow motion samples for the Sony a6500 compact APS-C Camera to share with you. It is clear that the quality this camera can provide is above the norm but we still do see some aliasing in diagonal fine lines which is to be expected by a sensor that is skipping some of the lines to achieve 1080p 120fps.

While the 4k UHD in this camera is derived from an oversampling of 6k; the 1080p 120fps is being extracted from a 24.2MP sensor using a 13MP effective crop factor 1.9x; is throwing away some line information to get there. Also the camera caps frame rate output over HDMI at 60fps so there is no way to record super slow motion to an external recorder at 120fps.

All in all the 120fps slow motion with XAVC-S codec is some of the best in a camera of this size and cost at Full HD 1080p. Below are new samples that should be able to show you how good the camera is when fast frame rates are considered.

Sony a6500 New Slow Motion Samples:

Sony A6500 review: slow motion compilation at 1080 / 120p by Gordon Laing:

α6500 – 5x Slow Motion in Full HD ”Tezutsu (Large hand-held Cylindrical) Fireworks” by Sony Electronics Asia Pacific:

Sony a6500 slow motion test by – optical shot background:

Sony a6500 slow motion test2 by – optical shot background:

a6500 slow motion waves video by Owen Clarke:

SONY α6500 – slowmotion at hakata by KHDesignJP:

FUKUOKA NIGHT [A6500 120p] 〜 SONY α6500 Movie by DY Duke Films:

Sony a6500 touch autofocus skate park test – graded with Filmconvert by Newsshooter:

We can’t help but be impressed by the Sony a6500 quality in video mode. The 120fps 1080p Full HD mode is very detailed and performs admirably in low light. We encourage you to visit the video producers using the above links and subscribe to their channels. At 100Mbits/sec the codec does very well in archiving this format. We currently rank the a6500 in #16 of our Camera Guide; right below the a6300 which offers similar performance but $400 USD or more cheaper.

We hope Sony continues to have innovation in this segment and lifts the spec all the way up to 240fps full HD by this time next year in a camera of this caliber. After all 240fps is already a reality in the Sony RX Series cameras which are in the price range but use a different sensor+ memory package. -HSC

amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0";
amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true";
amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "hispeedcams-20";
amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual";
amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart";
amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon";
amzn_assoc_region = "US";
amzn_assoc_title = "Sony A6500 Deals";
amzn_assoc_linkid = "978f41339fff1d0be0763bb39feb97d6";
amzn_assoc_asins = "B01M586Y9R,B01M74YO0G,B007GK50X4,B01BLP1QDM";

Hi Speed Cameras