Aalborg University’s Drone Research Lab based in Denmark has tested a catapult contraption with a Drone rotor and propeller against pig flesh. The results seem to be as you would expect even before you attempt the experiment. A given hypothesis is that a high speed propeller can cause some damage to skin or flesh as any sharp object would.
It is interesting as an experiment but there seems to be a lot of negative press about this from several news and tabloid sources. Drones get a bad rap and continue to be a favorite of regulation advocates for privacy and security. There will be more experiments made with larger and diverse drones as time progresses.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
Lytro started in the consumer space a few year’s back by enabling light field camera sensor technology in a portable package. Back then it allowed the user to select the focus point in the image to control depth of filed after the shot had been taken. This is emulated by Panasonic on the GX8 and GH4 with Post Focus but that is a feature that does some tricks with multiple images and lens focus points to select final depth of field.
Lytro does this by capturing all the rays of light entering the sensor at different angles and times to create a light field or three dimensional map of a real subject or scene. The consumer cameras sold in less than stellar numbers due in part to low resolution and while they tried with the Lytro Ilum to bring a more SLR like camera with 40 mega-rays or down-converted to 4 traditional megapixels. It also bombed as the post focus feature was not enough pull to get consumers to adopt the platform; along with claims of low dynamic range and artifacts in bright spots. The Ilum camera is still available for purchase at under $370 USD from the 1299 introductory price; quite a drop!→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
Seems that Samsung has hit a home run with the Galaxy S7 smartphone release. It has broken their order records and they are positioned to report improved earnings of 10.4% in part because of the S7. It seems the decision to re introduce water resistance, a swappable battery and expandable memory has given back some of the identity they lost with the S6 line.
This time we look at the recent footage from owners of the phone to see the slow motion quality improvements made to the phone. While they skipped full HD 1080p 120fps which the iPhone 6s has; they did improve the 720p mode with 240fps. It is time to see what they were able to achieve for high frame rate quality.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
There seems to be a lot of interest as of late regarding the Panasonic GH4 successor. The GH5 as it is rumored to be called has to do a lot of things right in order to please current owners. For many the GH4 was the best Micro 4/3 camera ever produced; with crisp 4k video that seemed to push resolution so high that the Canon DSLRs stuck in 1080p land could only dream of.
The GH4 also introduced 96fps 1080p video which turned out to be better than 720p but hardly 1080p worthy. Furthermore it ignored recording audio in that mode which many cameras with higher frame rates like 120fps could keep the audio no problem.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
Sometimes getting a slow motion camera that performs to the spec you need and at a quality you can’t compromise on; means you have to get a professional piece of gear that is used but fully working. In that market you will still not find extremely cheap cameras but it will surely cost much less than what the hardware cost’s retail if you can live with a few scuffs or missing cables.
We have found a few options that are on the secondary market that fit the bill and these cameras offer exemplary performance and should perform reliably. Note that these are just recommended for you to look at and any decision to buy is your own. We are not responsible for any malfunction or transaction you establish with the sellers. We are only shedding some light on these options. → Continue Reading Full Post ←
Just announced is the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 III or Sony RX10 III for short. It is no direct replacement for last year’s Sony RX10 II which at first glance looks very similar. They are essentially the same camera featuring the same video recording features. The real change comes with the incorporation of a monster zoom lens made by Carl Zeiss with a 24 -600mm FF equivalent compared to the now paltry 24-200mm FF equivalent of the RX10 II.
The lens is impressive for a super zoom camera capable of 25x zoom range. Wide end of 24mm has an aperture of f2.4 with the Tele end closing to f4 which is still pretty respectable for such reach. It has stabilization also which Sony claims 4.5 stops worth of handhold-ability which seems the best case scenario.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
