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BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS OF 2021!

 

We have passed another year in slow motion land and while camera releases were more plenty than expected considering the chip shortage and teh COVID disruption, it’s time to take a look back through the year’s camera releases, and see which delivered on the price/performance scale when it comes to slow motion frame rates.  Phones are stagnationg while high end cameras are getting more frame rate options in higher resolution. Our Best Slow Motion Cameras Of 2021 have been selected and ordered by recommendation! → Continue Reading Full Post ←

BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS OF 2020!

BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS OF 2020

As the end of 2020 nears, it’s time to take a look back through the year’s camera releases amid the COVID 19 chaos, and see which delivered on the price/performance bracket with slow motion frame rates as the primary goal.  Phone slow motion took a back seat this year as the interest of the feature in phones was subdued or even eliminated. Our Best Slow Motion Cameras Of 2020 have been selected and ordered by recommendation!

We saw some surprises including a mostly affordable 4k slow motion solution and the adoption of 4k 120fps on many cameras which makes us think 240fps at UHD should be something to think about in the coming years as a regular option once 8k video is commonplace on consumer recording devices and TVs. The increase in resolution should theoretically allow for a lot of 4k frame rates to be offered as 8k delivers 4x the pixel count of 4k for any given frame rate. Keep on reading for our 2020 picks!

BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS of 2020:

Without further ado here are what we believe are the best value slow motion cameras in their respective categories for the year 2020:

Best Slow Motion Phone Category:

3rd Place) Sony Xperia 5 II:

The Sony Xperia 5 II is all about capturing the best video possible on a smartphone and in HDR. The kick here is that the phone is capable of 4k 120fps in full HDR which is pretty much class-leading.

The footage below will give you a taste of what the phone can do. In good light, it will let you capture excellent quality 4k 120p footage with the possibility to grade as it records a gradable flat profile.  In low light, it will be a pretty unremarkable image with grain and artifacts as could be expected from the light requirements when shooting at high speed.

Sony Xperia 5 II: 4K 120fps video footage by CNET Highlights:

Sony Xperia 5 II Slow Motion Specs:

  • 120fps 4k
  • 60fps 1080p

This is one of the first phones to offer 120fps in 4k which will probably become a standard spec in 2021 for flagships. However absent is the slow motion at 1080p which considering the 4k oomph, it should have been capable of 480fps at 1080p or similar. It is a shame that the spec was completely avoided considering HDR in 120fps 4k requires 240fps full pixel readout before merging.  In theory, 240fps non-HDR is possible on this phone but not available for unspecified reasons. Phones are becoming more powerful by the day and this is one that has our attention. The just under $1k price tag is not ideal but some of the best phones are going to cost you.

2nd Place) OnePlus 8T:

One Plus continues to offer compelling slow motion features on their phones with 480fps 1080p and up to 480fps at 720p.  It gives you a quad 48MP camera module which is literally insane considering the phone sells for under $750USD and has 120hz refresh rate. Feature-wise it has probably everything under the sun and then some and will not disappoint in the performance realm.

Fireworks in Slow motion – OnePlus 8T 480fps in dark by sternking: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

CES 2020 New 120fps Cameras from Nikon, Canon and Panasonic!

CES 2020 New 120fps Cameras from Nikon, Canon and Panasonic

CES brought a lot of weird tech like smarter toilets, personal companion robots and the occasional wearable smart tech that you really can’t wash in your home.  As it is always the case at HSC we were looking for slow motion capable cameras and sadly we saw very little at the show. We are now showcasing three manufacturers who had 120fps Full HD cameras announced at the show and no frame rates above that.

These are primarily 4k 30 and 60p cameras that have a 1080p 120fps mode as a feature that no new camera can really ship without. Sony has already standardized this format in the last few years on most Alpha cameras and Panasonic has even gone above at 180fps and 240fps in some cases like the GH5 and S series.  The cameras presented here are mainly either stills full-frame beasts or more standard video camera like.  By 2020 we would have hoped to see better than 120fps 1080p on cameras of this caliber but it seems we will have to keep waiting…

New cameras with impressive features and subdued frame rates for video:

Here we are in 2020 at 120fps, seemingly stuck in the past as far as frame rates go. We would have expected 4k 120fps and 1080p at least at 240fps by this time frame on many cameras but it looks to be a mirage that simply did not materialize.

Canon 1Dx Mark III Video Features:

Video Recording Raw12-Bit
5.5K (5472 x 2886) at 23.976p/24.00p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p [1800 to 2600 Mb/s]
MP4/H.265 4:2:2 10-Bit
DCI 4K (4096 x 2160) at 23.976p/24.00p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p [170 to 1000 Mb/s]
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p [170 to 1000 Mb/s]
Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [18 to 470 Mb/s]
MP4/H.264 4:2:0 8-Bit
DCI 4K (4096 x 2160) at 23.976p/24.00p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p [120 to 940 Mb/s]
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p [120 to 940 Mb/s]
Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [12 to 360 Mb/s]
External Recording Modes 4:2:2 10-Bit
DCI 4K (4096 x 2160) up to 59.94p
Recording Limit Up to 29 Minutes, 59 Seconds
Video Encoding NTSC/PAL
Audio Recording Built-In Microphone (Stereo)
External Microphone Input (Stereo)
Audio File Format AAC, Linear PCM (Stereo)

Canon 1DX Mark II – 120FPS Slow Motion – Paige Lorentzen by samfregonese:

Hey wait that video above is from the Mark II version of the camera and that is right. There is no available footage from 120fps mode on the Mark III that is available outside of Canon testing.  So we included the same 1DX Mark II spec of 120fps 1080p so you can get an idea of how it will perform on the Mark III. Anecdotal comments from testers say that video quality is improved across all modes which means the 120fps quality should also be better along with even tighter Auto Focus.

For $6,499.00 Body only with a  February 13th Ship-Date, the 1Ds Mark III is not a camera to buy for 120fps Full HD shooting, it is a tool for professional sports photographers to go and kill at the Olympics and World Cup at 20fps 21MP stills.   Good to have 4k 60p also which will probably be used more by shooters but don’t expect either mode to be class-leading. This is a beast of a stills camera, probably the best out there for the price and video while very good, is relevant for lower frame rates at higher resolutions.

Nikon D780 Video Features:

Video Mode:

Recording Modes MOV/H.264
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p
Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p
External Recording Modes 10-Bit
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160)
Full HD (1920 x 1080)
Recording Limit Up to 29 Minutes, 59 Seconds
Video Encoding NTSC/PAL
Audio Recording Built-In Microphone (Stereo)
External Microphone Input (Stereo)
Audio File Format AAC, Linear PCM (Stereo)

Video Sample below 120fps Full HD at Time: 5:40

Nikon D780 – Hands-On Review & Comparisons to D750 by digiDirect: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS OF 2019!

As 2019 comes to a close its that time to take a look back through the year’s camera releases and see which delivered the goods at an affordable price in slow motion.  Phone slow motion continues to be a strong category, so strong in fact that we made a Best Slow Motion Phones of 2019 list that you can see here.

Stagnation in many camera segments aside from phones is still ongoing, the semi-professional and pro markets stay at 120fps and 240fps with the occasional 320fps camera that delivers just a tad better quality but at a price.  For professional slow motion, there were announcements but not a shipping product yet, however previously released cameras like the Chronos 1.4c and edgertronic still own the affordable quality market. Read on for our best of 2019 results!

BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS of 2019:

Without further ado here are what we believe are the best value slow motion cameras in their respective categories for the year 2019:

Best Slow Motion Phone Category:

We had 5 finalists for slow motion phone of 2019 and while the Mate 30 Pro below got the top marks, the iPhone 11 and OnePlus 7 series had great showings, go to the dedicated article for the rest of the phone options.

 Huawei Mate 30 Pro:

Coming out of left field from a company that has been in the news as being in trouble with the US government, the Huawei Mate 30 Pro which is not shipping in the US officially but can be found from online import sellers, is the slow motion phone champ of 2019.

Huawei Mate 30 Pro Slow Motion Specs Dissected:

  • 120fps 1080p Continuous
  • 240fps 1080p Continuous
  • 960fps 1080p for 1 full second (960 frames in total)
  • 1920fps 720p for 1/2 second  (960 frames in total)
  • 7680fps 720p interpolated 4x (lasts for 32 seconds on a 30p timeline.)
  • All super slow motion modes at 960p and above last 32 seconds of playback at 30fps regular speed.
  • The entire buffer for the slow motion feature is 2GB and gets filled by data then dumped and encoded on the fly by the Kirin 990 chip.

This is the first phone that truly records 1920fps slow motion in 720p mode for 1/2 a second or 960 frames and then does excellent interpolation to a whopping 7,680fps 720p to create mind-bending images.   It is especially good for people, animals, and hard non-deformable objects. It will of curse fail as any algorithm with fluids, powders, and heavily detailed objects and will create a soft mushy in-between frame in those cases.  If you do not choose interpolation mode then you can get real slow motion for up to 32 seconds of playback on a 30p timeline which is excellent for a phone.

If you decide to buy it, the phone has a few issues to keep in mind. Due to US government restrictions, it will not ship with a  full version of Android with the Google Apps and not have access to the Playstore.  However several workarounds have been worked out in forums to make this phone usable. The other is that it is a Chinese phone which may need you to get help from someone who understands/reads Chinese to make the setup and get to work in English after.    We do not recommend this phone as your main handset as the support of updates will probably be negated in the US but if you are in China, this is a great flagship phone.  If you are outside of China, make sure you can live with the limitations in the software.

960fps,1920fps and 7680fps test – Huawei Mate 30 Pro incredible Slow Motion by Slow Experiment:

As you can see from the sample above and these other samples at HSC, the quality is quite good and the time is usable easily as a sports and experimentation high speed mode.  It will of course not replace a dedicated slow motion camera for quality work but it is still an amazing development to get real 1920fps 720p and 960fps 1080p even with some artifacts in a portable device.

Huawei may be in hot water with the US government for some time but they have consistently delivered amazing hardware that is probably the cutting edge worldwide.  We are excited about the future of phone slow motion and considering the giant leap that happened here, it is not unrealistic to think that really good 1080p 2,000fps or similar could be very close.  At least for a small-time recording but it will really be magical.

Huawei has made an incredible slow motion phone on the Mate 30 Pro and if they read this, send a handset our way to test and offer samples of reference.  As of now, their new handset is the one to beat. -HSC

Mid Range Professional Cameras:

This year the semi-pro camera market had some very good surprises when it comes to cameras that can shoot RAW files at very high quality and also allow for windowed slow motion modes.

Two of our picks are from Blackmagic design which is a known name in the affordable quality camera market. They have been able to deliver RAW and compressed RAW with BRAW format for very little investment compared to many other brands.  The quality delivered by these cameras are really cinema-quality so the trade-offs when stepping down are more to do with changing a camera system for producers rather than giving up the footage grading ability or low light performance.

Third Place: URSA MINI PRO 4.6K G2

The URSA Mini Pro G2 had a firmware update mid-year that allowed for 300fps in a windowed 2k pixel mode that has great quality and can be stabilized for excellent 1080p production quality.  For under $6k for body only the price is not that high for a camera that can really bring your production values up.   It gets a third place because the cost of owning the camera goes up with accessories like media, lenses, batteries, monitoring, and storage for editing. A good kit can easily get in the 15k range. The BRAW format is excellent but not for everyone.  ProRes is also a possibility and probably what many producers will shoot in when need to deliver in a rush.

High Speed Frame Rates on the URSA Mini G2:

Blackmagic RAW 8:1

4.6K Full – Up to 120 fps
UHD Windowed – Up to 150 fps
HD Windowed – Up to 300 fps

With 4k UHD at 150fps it makes for a killer feature rarely available on other cameras and the 300fps in HD or 2k allows for that extra oomph within your creative shoot.

300fps UMP G2 test 190629 by Reel Eagle Studios: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Canon & Sony stagnate at 120fps!

Canon & Sony stagnate at 120fps

The recently announced Canon 90D, Canon EOS M6 II, Sony a6100 and Sony a6600 are cameras that refine everything that is already a current technology but bundle it in a lower price package with great performance. However, it is clear from the spec sheets that high frame rates have stagnated for the past few years in these camera lines with a maximum of 120fps at 1080p.

Sure some of them offer full-time autofocus in slow motion modes and face tracking which in the case of Sony is so good that you may not even match it if you had the best focus puller in the business hired for your shoot. But the frame rate war seems to be left to other camera lines and brands. Panasonic, for example, offers up to 180fps in their new S1H camera which should be in theory the best Panasonic mirrorless camera ever made and it should also allow for outstanding quality in 1080p 180fps.

Sony a6100 MSRP $748.00 Body Only:

Video

Recording Modes XAVC S
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 24.00p/25p/29.97p
Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 24.00p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p [50 Mb/s] /100p/119.88p [60 to 100 Mb/s]
AVCHD
Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/50i/59.94i/59.94p [17 to 28 Mb/s]
External Recording Modes 4:2:2 8-Bit
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 24.00p/25p/29.97p
Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 24.00p/50i/50p/59.94i/59.94p
Recording Limit Up to 29 Minutes, 59 Seconds
Video Encoding NTSC/PAL

Sony a6600 MSRP $1,398.00 Body Only:

Video

Recording Modes XAVC S
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 24.00p/25p/29.97p [60 to 100 Mb/s]
Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 100p/119.88p [60 to 100 Mb/s]
Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 24.00p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p [50 Mb/s]
AVCHD
Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 50i/59.94i [17 to 24 Mb/s]
External Recording Modes 4:2:2 8-Bit
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 24.00p/25p/29.97p
Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 24.00p/50i/50p/59.94i/59.94p
Recording Limit None
Video Encoding NTSC/PAL

Example of Sony’s a6000 series slow motion mode:

Canon 90D MSRP $1,199.00 Body Only:

Video

Recording Modes MP4/H.264
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 25p/29.97p
Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p 
HD (1280 x 720) at 50p/59.94p
External Recording Modes 4:2:2 8-Bit
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) up to 25p/29.97p
Recording Limit Up to 29 Minutes, 59 Seconds
Video Encoding NTSC

Canon 90D Slow Motion Sample from Canon:

Canon EOS M6 Mark II MSRP $849.00 Body Only:

Video

Recording Modes MP4/H.264
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 25p/29.97p
Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p 
HD (1280 x 720) at 50p/59.94p
External Recording Modes 4:2:2 8-Bit
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) up to 25p/29.97p
Recording Limit Up to 29 Minutes, 59 Seconds
Video Encoding NTSC/PAL

Canon EOS M6 Mark II Slow Motion Sample:

As you can tell from the above video specs there is nothing but siumilarity between these cameras. Is as if Sony and Canon got themselves in a room and made a pact to create the most similar cameras possible to not rock the boat and leapfrog one another.

120fps in NTSC and 100fps in PAL at full HD 1080p are the most you can expect from any of these cameras. By price alon the a6100 seems to be the better bargain but Sony lenses are usually more expensive than the similar Canon counterparts. As a system you will be served right by both with a large array of choices and budgets. For frame rates alone however, we cannont recommend any of these cameras for your arsenal. Youa re better off getting a Sony RX series or Panasonic Lumix GH5, G9 or S Full frame to get better speeds at up to 240fps in the case of the GH5s.

Canon Korea has provided some sample footage at 120fps from both the 90D and the M6 Mark II. The quality is very good compared to previous Canon 60fps 720p video in their cameras which is a good sign. However, we can clearly see some moire and compression artifacts though not unacceptable for production. There seems to be a restricted codec compression at work here. The Canon color science did pass through with gorgeous quality right out of the camera which is still better than Sony’s or Panasonic for skin tones and reds in our opinion.

EOS 90D] 4K Movie | 30P | No Crop | City:

Sony has not provided 120p samples but we should expect quality similar to the a6500 shown above. Good and dependable but still also restricted in Codec.  Canon and Sony are really competitive as options with these cameras which oddly enough were released very close to each other.

It is funny how Panasonic with the GH5 from March 2017 is still a better video camera with up to 60p 4k and 180fps 1080p after so many years lead time.

If we could recommend a camera to our readers from the ones in this article it would be easy to do so on the case of the a6100 and EOS 90D and M6 Mark II.  The Sony a6600 does have unlimited recording and S-Log among other video features but hardly worth 2x the price as the a6100 especially since it shares the slow motion 120p component with the only difference being selectability fo frame rates from 1fps to 120fps.

EOS 90D] 4K Movie | 30P | Crop | City: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6k has 120fps!

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6k

The folks at Blackmagic design are at it again when it comes to destroying spec sheets compared to price. The BMPCC 4k was already one of the best-reviewed and popular choice among budget filmmakers that needed excellent quality and dynamic range. At only $1,295 that camera was a smash hit but had only a four thirds (4/3) sensor which was not ideal in size and required speed booster adapters to get the needed depth of field to simulate an S35 image.

Now the BMPCC 6k  ($2,495.00) with EF Canon mount comes in with a  full APS-C sensor with dual ISO characteristics like before but with the added imager size and full electronic lens support for EF glass.  It would have been in our view ideal to use an electronic mount with shorter flange like the Sony Alpha or the new Canon RF mount so you could adapt even more lens combinations but they are catering to a large installed base of glass owners.

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6k Specs:

Recording Modes ProRes 422HQ: 
4096 x 2160 at 23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50/59.94/60 fps (24.25 to 117.88 MB/s)
3840 x 2160 at 23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50/59.94/60 fps (22.4 to 110 Mb/s)
1920 x 1080p at 23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50/59.94/60/120 fps (27.5 MB/s)
ProRes 422: 
4096 x 2160 at 23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50/59.94/60 fps (78.63 MB/s)
3840 x 2160 at 23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50/59.94/60 fps (73.6 MB/s)
1920 x 1080p at 23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50/59.94/60/120 fps (18.4 MB/s)
ProRes 422LT: 
4096 x 2160p at 23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50/59.94/60 fps (54.63 MB/s)
3840 x 2160 at 23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50/59.94/60 fps (51 MB/s)
1920 x 1080p at 23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50/59.94/60/120 fps (12.75 MB/s)
ProRes 422 Proxy: 
4096 x 2160 at 23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50/59.94/60 fps (24.25 MB/s)
3840 x 2160 at 23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50/59.94/60 fps (22.4 MB/s)
1920 x 1080p at 23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50/59.94/60/120 fps (5.6 MB/s)

Image Sensor

Image Sensor Size 23.1 x 12.99 mm (Super35)
Sensor Type CMOS
Sensor Resolution 6144 x 3456
Shutter Type Rolling Shutter
ISO 100 to 25,600 (Expanded)
Advertised Dynamic Range 13 Stops

Dual Native ISO 400 & 3200 ISO to 25,600

Camera

Lens Mount Canon EF
Lens Communication Yes
Built-In ND Filter None
Built-In Microphone Type Stereo
Recording Media 1 x CFast 2.0 Card Slot
1 x SDXC UHS-II Card Slot

External Recording

Video Output 4:2:2 10-Bit via HDMI: 1920 x 1080p at 23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50/59.94/60 fps 
Raw Output USB: 
6144 x 3456 at 23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50 fps 
6144 x 2560 at 23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50/59.94/60 fps 
5744 x 3024 at 23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50/59.94/60 fps 

Interfaces

Video Connectors 1 x HDMI Output
Audio Connectors 1 x Mini XLR Mic/Line Level (+48 V Phantom Power) Input
1 x 1/8″ / 3.5 mm Stereo Mic/Line Level Input
1 x 1/8″ / 3.5 mm Stereo Headphone Output
Other I/O 1 x USB Type-C Video Output
1 x 3.5 mm Timecode Input (Shared with 3.5 mm Mic/Line input)
Wireless Interfaces Bluetooth Control

Display

Display Type LCD
Screen Size 5″
Touchscreen Yes
Screen Resolution 1920 x 1080

What about the 120fps?

As you can see the BMPCC 6k camera is capable of recording up to 120fps in 1080p full HD in all flavors of ProRes codec even HQ which will mean impeccable quality if you intend to use that frame rate.  However, you will note that the 120fps mode is a cropped 2X area of the sensor which will effectively double your focal lengths. This is to maintain 1:1 pixel quality in slow motion without introducing artifacts. You will have to forego the APS-C area for 120p and it effectively becomes a 4/3 sensor sized image in slow motion.

The BMPCC 4k also had a crop but that was on top of the already smaller 4/3 sensor so you are getting a larger image here. We estimate image quality to be better on the 6k camera as the 4k version had some softness to the image. You can see in the video below how the Panasonic GH5 is better at slow motion than the BMPCC 4k at 120fps.

Blackmagic Pocket 4k 120 fps vs Panasonic GH5 120fps – Slowmotion battle by Arber Baqaj:

2.8k at 120fps is also an option using Blackmagic RAW codec:

2.8k 17:9 – 2868 x 1512 is also an option for this camera. ProRes will not do this at 2.8k but the Blackmagic RAW codec unleashes the full power of the camera.  We recommend you use their codec to get better specs with this camera. After all 2.8k even with the slightly wider image, trumps full HD if you need stabilization.

Slow Motion samples of the 6k at 120fps:

Neumann Films has already shot with the camera in all frame rates and we are happy to report that the video quality in the 120fps mode at 2.8k is astonishingly good.  It may be the clearest 120p image 1080p and under 3k for under $3,000 USD you may be able to find.

BMPCC 6K Frame Rate Tests by Neumann Films: → Continue Reading Full Post ←