So now that the Xperia 1 phone has started shipping to some parts of Asia and Oceania it is time to see what the initial slow motion 960fps samples look like. It seems that the length of the playback video is unchanged at 6.4 seconds for 720p and 3.2 seconds for 1080p. So 96frames are recorded at 1080p 960fps and 192frames at 720p. This is the same restrictive spec for three years in a row by Sony.
You would think by now the phone could have increased the slow motion buffer to something useful like at least half a second instead of 0.2sec for 720p and 0.1sec for 1080p. Think again, it seems we will not get anywhere near usable times in 2019 from the Xperia Line again. Your best bet for recording on Sony will be to get a camera like the excellent RX Series that allow much longer recording times and greater resolution.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
Panasonic not to be outdone by sales rivals is pre-announcing the S1H camera to appease video-centric mirrorless users who want that extra edge. It has a 6k mode which will allow for better stabilization and cropping/punching in on 4k timelines while giving the user bragging rights. It has a 14 stop dynamic range spec which if we look at the sensor it is only on a couple of capture settings the rest is 12 bit.
There is also no mention of higher frame rates besides UHD 4k 60p which we presume will be 180fps 1080p max since this camera shares nearly the same internals as the other Panasonic S1 cameras. We do not expect this camera to have better slow motion video than the regular S1 even with its $4000 price tag. The camera looks to be aimed at the mid-high end of the video market and allow it to record without limits which on the regular S1 is 29min.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
Today the OnePlus 7 Pro was announced after a plethora of leaks over the previous weeks. However, the Slow Motion capabilities were not disclosed in the leaks so we had no rumor to report on that front. Today with the full spec list released we can see that the OnePlus 7 Pro camera has the new Sony IMX 586 mobile sensor which is the same as many other phones recently released included as their main shooter. The 48MP sensor is used to supersample data and allow for better optical crop zoom and noise reduction by averaging neighboring pixels as some of its capabilities.
The problem is that the 48MP sensor is terrible in the rolling shutter department the larger the sensor area is used. We saw that in the Nubia Red Magic 3 and it’s 8k 30p video mode which was unusable at the first sign of movement. That means that 1080 and 720p video modes will have a very severe crop on the sensor and probably much worse low light performance than that found on Last Year’s OnePlus 6 and 6T which allowed for also 720p 480fps for up to 3.75 seconds of recording.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
The Nubia Red Magic 3 phone is something of a hyper-customized piece of gear for the performance-oriented gamer with crazy high-quality 3D specs and even fan cooling inside the case which is a first for a phone and a testament to the engineering to get it to fit in such a slim case. The specs that really caught our attention are that the phone does 8k video recording and 480fps 1080p with a beta mode to bring that all the way up to 1920fps.
We had no indication that the 1920fps mode is indeed real for a few days until we found out it is actually an option on the phone and not a typo which many including us thought up as 1920pixels for 1080p not frames. But yes it is frames which makes it confusing but in our estimation also allows for decoding the truth behind this spec and if it is actually all that it claims to be.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
The OPPO Reno 10x is getting a lot of attention due to the inclusion of a supposed 10x optical telescoping lens which uses a prism and a series of stabilized lens elements to create the first built in telephoto option on a camera phone. In testing, this turns out to be about a real 5x optical lens with very clever processing to generate even higher software magnification. However, you will be sad to know that the 10X version of the phone does not shoot Super Slow Motion.
The Regular OPPO Reno which is cheaper and lacks the 10X camera does shoot up to 1080p 240fps which is not class leading and there are as of this time no samples to speak of. We believe this phone uses slow motion as an after-thought spec and focuses more on the stills and 4k 60p video mode only on the 10x version which are a higher selling point. We still believe the OPPO Reno is a worthy phone for anyone wanting cutting edge optics on a phone but not as a slow motion contender.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
Let us start by saying that we are huge fans of the Lumix line by Panasonic and their cameras in general. The GH5 is still a powerhouse of a camera for serious video work and the 180fps FUll HD slow motion is better than many others before or since at that frame rate while at 120fps is as good as the best Sonys out there. However, the recently announced Lumix G95 drops the ball in several fronts when it comes to really good video performance which has become a trademark for Panasonic.
The G95 has all the looks and character of a great hybrid camera but has a crippled video mode that may put off many buyers looking for the perfect intermediate camera. The 4k, for example, has a 1.25x crop on top of the nearly 2x crop of the micro 4/3 sensor. Making it a little larger than the area of a 1″ sensor. This will sacrifice video quality in the lack of supersampling and low light will suffer from the added megapixels.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
