Today Google unveiled the heavily leaked Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL phones which have the latest and greatest camera module geared up for computational photography enthusiasts. It brings in the dual camera back design of many competitors and also drops the notch in turn for a thicker bezel which looks in our view better. The phone is sporting the latest Snapdragon 855, 6GB of RAM and up to 128GB of fast flash memory.
Sadly the phone is keeping the exact same high frame rate specs of the Pixel 3 of last year. So 240fps is staying at 720p and 120fps at 1080p is the max at that resolution. It is clear Google is not interested in delivering performance in high frame rates like their rivals in the Android space. Even Apple offers a much better 1080p 240fps spec which is offered on the back cameras with little trouble. Even the iPhone 11 bests the Pixel 4 in the Selfie department as it allows up to 120fps 1080p for (Slofies™) which is a prominent feature of the handset.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
Meet the new GoPro Hero 8 Black which is a refinement of last year’s Hero 7 Black. It has better hyper smooth stabilization, it has now stabilized slow motion modes and has a smaller form factor with a clever undercarriage that folds into the mount support system to reduce footprint which is very clever. The real big changes are the Mods which are attachments that let you expand the capabilities of the camera to get a more professional kit if needed. They are relatively inexpensive but do offer a better package than what the competition has to offer.
The Slow Motion modes remain identical to the Hero 7 Black of last year as it still uses the same GP1 processing engine which was released over two years ago with the Hero 6 Black. By now it would have been ideal to see an updated processor and sensor combo to get even higher frame rates like 4k 120p and 1080p 480fps but GoPro has decided to press the last drop of juice from their custom chip investment to keep up with their restructuring goals.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
Huawei has just launched the Mate 30 Pro and Mate 30 Pro 5G Smartphones which sport an impressive camera module with a large sensor array that shoots at 40 Megapixels. We had rumors sent a couple of weeks back but had our reservations due to the less than optimal slow motion in the P20 and other Huawei Smartphones. The phone is now untouched by the competition as it can shoot a half-second at 1920fps 720p or 960fps total which translates to 32 seconds on a 30p timeline.
The headline slow motion feature of 7680fps is not real as it is derived from the 1920fps 720p half-second which the phone then uses AI selection to isolate a 0.12 seconds segment of the capture then finally interpolated by the Kirin 990 Chipset to the full 7680fps. So it does a 4x slow motion on top of it to get the great-looking result.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
The new Sony PXW-FX9 XDCAM 6K Full-Frame Camera is what Sony fans have been waiting ever since the APS-C cameras Super 35 cameras like the FS5 and FS7 made the rounds. It is all that those cameras offered but now on a state of the art Full Frame sensor with Dual ISO capable of 800 and 4000 depending on the needed use. By being extremely sensitive the camera needs ND filtration and it doesn’t disappoint on that feature either by including a ramping – smooth increments ND filter from 1/4 to 1/128 which adjusts on Auto Mode depending on the scene without ruining the shot. An industry first.
On the Slow Motion front, the camera is consistent with Sony pedigree with now offering 120fps Full HD and with a promised firmware update 180fps Full HD and also 16-bit raw 4K/2K footage up to 120 fps to an external recorder. This is close but not quite what the FS5 is capable of in FHD which includes 240fps. The FS7 has in contrast 240fps @ 2K RAW Ext Rec & 180fps 1920*1080 Internal. Much closer to what the FX9 is capable of doing.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
Ok let’s get the bad news out of the way which is that the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro all have essentially the same 120fps and 240fps of the previous iPhones on their main cameras which depending on the phone is two or three. All at 12MP and all capable of 4k UHD at 60fps and all slow motion capable at 120p and 240p at 1080p. So no new frame rates but a consistent capture across all cameras which seems unique compared to the competition.
The real new thing is the availability of 120fps at 1080p in the TrueDepth or Selfie front camera which allows for “Slofies” as Apple calls them. It would have been more impressive to have the full 240fps on the selfie camera too but they will save it for a future model. 120p is good and lets you shoot funny and compelling content. It is probably the best looking selfie camera image we have seen yet so Apple has an easy head start there.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
Sony continues to recycle the same features over their phone lineup with a slightly dumbed down Xperia 1 phone which is their flagship with the same camera arrangement, screen, and main features. The 1080p 960fps mode is still here with a duration of 0.1 seconds and at 720p of 0.2 seconds. The resolution and quality are not real 1080p as we have discussed before and the reduced time makes it nearly unusable.
However, the feature many are calling a bad omen is the disappearance of the 3.5mm headphone jack. The phone is slimmer and smaller than the Xperia 1 but shares the best traits at a lower price. For many, it will not be enough to counter the popularity of other phones that are more full-featured and offer a vast array of video modes.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
