Tag Archives: opinion

Slow Motion Phones and the Youtube Fakes!

Slow Motion Phones

Believable slow motion video samples on Youtube for phones and cameras are so confusing nowadays that you simply cannot rely on them unless it comes from a reputable source.  The avalanche of fakes is so big that it makes it next to impossible to find the real ones out there.  It also makes it extremely hard to choose a slow motion capable phone when the supposed videos you are looking at are faked from other devices or even professional slow motion cameras.

There is also the big problem of stealing real quality slow motion footage from other channels and using it in compilations that claim to be from a phone or camera in order to get clicks and views for quick revenue.  The problem goes even deeper when these fakes overtake most other real videos due to the viral nature of their compilations as they usually look much better than anything these cheap devices they claim to represent can do.   We examine a few cases that can educate you on how to spot these fakes! → Continue Reading Full Post ←

GoPro Being Acquired by Xiaomi?

GoPro Being Acquired by Xiaomi

Last week the site The Information posted a piece stating the possibility of GoPro being bought out by Chinese electronics company Xiaomi which are the makers of the main competitor to GoPro in the same form factor with the Yi camera line.   We liked the Yi 4k+ last year as it delivered pretty acceptable quality in 4k 60p in a GoPro like the body+enclosure design. We were not thrilled by the bit rates or the slow-motion quality but it was in the running for the best alternative action camera with a lower price.

If the rumors are true Xiaomi will be consolidating the Action camera market and improving the Yi camera line overnight by rebranding it to GoPro as the name might be just as valuable as the technology being acquired.  Most of the current Yi camera products share the components with pre Hero 6 Black cameras like the Hero 5 Black as they were based on the Ambarella chips that GoPro used for a decade. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Nikon D850 Joins the 120fps 1080p club!

Nikon D850 Slow Motion

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 ←

Is Slow Motion In Movies a Passing Fad?

Slow Motion In Movies

In a new column written by Dann Gire of the Daily Herald, Slow Motion is questioned as a passing moment in film history where it is overused and loses power and effect over time.  We agree that some movies rely so heavily in slow motion effects that it becomes a primary role in the movie.  Movies such as Sherlock Holmes and 300 1&2 take it above the regular mundane level and truly makes art out of the technique.

We feel that with the democratization of slow motion devices in consumer pockets with phones and now professional high-speed cameras are dropping in value while improving performance. We expect the slow motion trend of screen time will not diminish but increase for years to come as gear is now flooding the market with high frame rates. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Nikon DL is Killed Off, Now What?

Nikon DL is Killed Off

The Nikon DL was really the only strong contender in the pro-sumer compact camera line from Nikon to offer fast frame rates if it had shipped.  The only other remotely considerable high speed option by the company is the Nikon 1 series in their V and J options which haven’t been updated in a while.

The cancellation of the Nikon DL series was due mainly to technical issues with the image processor which made the company miss the June 2016 target ship date & second, a  restructuring effort after the company reported a net loss of ¥831 Million Yen or 7.3 Million US Dollars .  This is no small predicament as the company had reported in the same time frame last year a net profit of  ¥18.71 billion Yen or $165 Million USD.   → Continue Reading Full Post ←

GoPro Hero 6 What will it Take?

GoPro Hero 6

It is no secret that GoPro had a pretty bad 2016 in terms of sales performance and the Karma Gate battery off incident. The company is loosing money but still shows signs of life. In the 4th quarter of 2016 GoPro was profitable on a non-GAAP basis with income of $42 million.  With the stock closing price today of $8.90, a far cry from the nearly $90 it was worth in October 2014, there needs to be a change of epic proportions if the company is expected to remain viable.

There are threats from new technologies like AR, VR and Snapchat Glasses among others that threaten to impede the company going forward. How can a camera company evolve overnight to survive in such a market.  We believe the answer is by innovating it’s way out of the whirlpool that it finds itself in. → Continue Reading Full Post ←