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BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS OF 2021!

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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 ←

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BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS OF 2020!

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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 ←

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BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS OF 2019!

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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 ←

Announcements, Camera News, Hi Speed Phone Video, Media Showcase, Previews, Slowmo Samples

Sony Xperia 5 is a Cheaper Xperia 1!

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Sony Xperia 5

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.

Sony Xperia 5 Camera Specs:

CAMERA Specs Triple 12 MP, f/1.6, 26mm (wide), 1/2.6″, 1.4µm, predictive Dual Pixel PDAF, 5-axis OIS
12 MP, f/2.4, 52mm (telephoto), 1/3.4″, 1.0µm, predictive PDAF, 2x optical zoom, 5-axis OIS
12 MP, f/2.4, 16mm (ultrawide), 1/3.4″, 1.0µm
Features LED flash, panorama, HDR, eye tracking
Video 2160p@24/30fps HDR, 1080p@60fps, 1080p@30fps (5-axis gyro-EIS), 1080p@960fps

Sony Xperia 5 Hands-on Review | What’s Changed vs Xperia 1? by Tech Spurt:

The Xperia 5 also has the cinema pro app which made the Xperia 1 so coveted for video shooters. The AF with Eye AF also is here so this phone is probably a better deal than the Xperia 1 considering it has almost identical specs in just a smaller screen size.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPEPNYrycvM

So after looking at what the Xperia 5 is capable off we have no problem recommending it as the best Sony phone ever based on its price. However, we cannot recommend it as a slow motion solution due to the lower than expected quality and recording time of the 960fps mode.

Xperia 1 960fps Slowmotion test by kao winson:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPltj327UrY

The sample above is from the Xperia 1 which shows the 6.4 seconds slow motion mode at 720p 960fps. Quality is ok but you can clearly see the jagged edges of lost line information.

In contrast, the sample below by McLarty Films shows the Xperia 1 at 1080p 960fps which equates to 3.2 seconds playback per clip. There is more resolution but also suffers from loss of resolution. Clarity is better but you cannot claim this is a professional-looking image and or worthy of using it for serious production work. It is a fun feature that could be bettered by a larger buffer and better resolution only if, Sony decides to give us that real performance upgrade.

Sony Xperia 1 – Slow Motion Camera Test – Taiwan Surfing by McLarty Films: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Announcements, Articles, Camera Deals, education, Featured

BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS OF 2018!

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BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS 2018

As 2018 comes to a close it is time to look back through the year’s camera releases and see which delivered quality at an affordable price in slow motion.  Phone slow motion options above 480fps were a big surprise this year and the frame rate quality improved in other cameras up to 240fps.

There has been a stagnation in the mid to professional camera range at the 240fps with no big improvements afterward. The best quality and value once again came from the Chronos 1.4c from Krontech and the edgertronic cameras which offer professional quality results at a very reasonable price. Read on for our best of 2018 results!

BEST SLOW MOTION CAMERAS of 2018:

Without further ado here are what we believe are the best value slow motion cameras in their respective categories for the year 2018:

Best Slow Motion Phones:OnePlus 6, 6T, Samsung Galaxy S9 and Note 9, Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ3 series!

The best slow motion phones of 2018 are in our view the OnePlus 6 & OnePlus 6T which offer the same Slow Motion quality and features at 480fps 720p with a recording time of 3.75 seconds which translate to a full minute of playback at a 30p frame rate timeline. This is unmatched by any phone and while the quality is still not ideal, it is, however, the undisputed king of usable slow motion.

Other phones in the running like the Galaxy S9 and Note 9 offer 960fps recording for up to 0.2 and  0.4 seconds which is a very short time frame to catch the action. Sure they offer twice the frame rate as the OnePlus 6 at 720p HD as well but the time restriction just gets it to second place. The Samsung phones do have better 240fps continuous recording which is something to take into consideration.

The Xperia Sony Phones XZ2 and XZ3 are 960fps phones that record at 1080p resolution which is a first for any phone. Problem is they record at just a very tiny sliver of time. The 0.1-second recording is so small a window that the phones are just next to useless for serious slow motion use.  Furthermore,  the phones at 720p only double that time recording to 0.2 seconds which is 6.4 seconds of slow motion at 30p playback.

OnePlus 6 vs Samsung Galaxy S9+ super slow-mo by Fun4sure:

The big surprise in the phone space was the iPhone is no longer a class-leading slow motion phone, same goes for the Google pixel which capped performance at up to 240fps only.  Both of the big tech companies nearly forgot about slow motion this year while our phone leaders OnePlus, Sony and Samsung used it as one of the top features to tout the feature set.

As a Side Note, OnePlus just released a new variant of the OnePlus 6T called the 6T McLaren Edition which also offers the exact same camera performance in the regular 6 and 6T. The big change comes in faster charging and a 10GB RAM memory configuration which will probably be unnoticeable compared to an 8GB 6T in real use. The extra price tag is mostly for the look and feel so we recommend the 6T and regular 6 OnePlus variants as better options for value. All of these phones have the exact same slow motion specs.

Winner: OnePlus 6T and OnePlus 6!

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Mid Range Professional Cameras: Panasonic GH5s, Sony a7 III, and Sony PXW-Z90V!

3rd Place: We were excited by the announcement of the Panasonic GH5s earlier in the year as the rumors showed 240fps 1080p continuous recording.  Sure the spec was included in the camera but the results were an aliased and moire prone image that made it unusable for professional use at 240fps. The camera does offer excellent 1080p at 120fps and slightly reduced resolution at up to 190fps.  The 240fps mode is usable but you will not want to shoot anything for a client with it as the quality drop is severe.  The Panasonic GH5 of 2017 is actually a higher quality 180fps image than the GH5s which seems to be based on the sensor itself being able to out resolve and scale the image down with more detail retention. We still think that unless low light is your prime focus, the Panasonic GH5 is still the better choice for frame rates in the Panasonic portable Mid-Range Professional cameras.

Panasonic Lumix GH5S + DJI Ronin-S | 240fps Slow-Motion Footage by Tom’s Tech Time:
 → Continue Reading Full Post ←

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iPad Pro Refresh Matches iPhone Slowmo Specs!

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iPad Pro

The newly released iPad Pro 2017 refresh in both 10.5 and 12.9 inches share a new camera module that really is a direct transfer from the iPhone 7.  It makes sense for Apple to offer their best camera yet in the best iPad they have ever built when it comes to performance.  However, you will not get anything in the camera department that makes the iPad Pro a leap forward in frame rates or other imaging specs.

The dual camera setup of the iPhone 7 Plus is not included in the iPad Pro so that is one aspect where the iPhone is still ahead.  The new tablets are for all intents and purposes a refinement with speed and software productivity capabilities as the two main goals for the line. They want to be a laptop replacement and they are aiming at the crowd who is fed up with the weight and bulk of traditional laptops.

Main Camera:
  • 12-megapixel camera
  • ƒ/1.8 aperture
  • Digital zoom up to 5x
  • Optical image stabilization
  • Six‑element lens
  • Quad-LED True Tone flash (Finally)
  • Panorama (up to 63 megapixels)
  • Sapphire crystal lens cover
  • Backside illumination sensor
  • Hybrid IR filter
  • Autofocus with Focus Pixels
  • Tap to focus with Focus Pixels
  • Live Photos with stabilization
  • Wide color capture for photos and Live Photos
  • Improved local tone mapping
  • Body and face detection
  • Exposure control
  • Noise reduction
  • Auto HDR for photos
  • Auto image stabilization
  • Burst mode
  • Timer mode
  • Photo geotagging
Video Recording Specs:
  • 4K video recording at 30 fps
  • 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
  • 720p HD video recording at 30 fps
  • Optical image stabilization for video
  • Optical zoom at 2x
  • Quad-LED True Tone flash
  • Slo‑mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps and 720p at 240 fps!
  • Time‑lapse video with stabilization
  • Cinematic video stabilization (1080p and 720p)
  • Continuous autofocus video
  • Body and face detection
  • Noise reduction
  • Take 8-megapixel still photos while recording 4K video
  • Playback zoom
  • Video geotagging

The new iPad Pro 10.5 and 12.9 || Apple WWDC 2017 Keynote by Apple /Panagiotis K. Tsioufis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDPrxYyLAEk

FaceTime HD Camera:

  • 7-megapixel photos
  • 1080p HD video recording
  • Retina Flash
  • ƒ/2.2 aperture
  • Wide color capture for photos and Live Photos
  • Auto HDR
  • Backside illumination sensor
  • Body and face detection
  • Auto image stabilization
  • Burst mode
  • Exposure control
  • Timer mode

The Microsoft Surface tablets are class segment leaders when it comes to taking work on the road and the new iPad Pro refresh aims to steal that thunder from those sales. We are still not convinced it will make sense for the majority of content producers like video, image editing, and audio producers to dump their laptops in exchange for an iPad Pro.  The

The Surface, for example, allows for full applications like the Adobe creative suite to be installed and used with a mouse and keyboard. The iPad Pro is not going to be able to run your favorite desktop applications. However, the trend of having your mobile device be it a phone or tablet be your primary computing platform will make it possible to transfer your workload to a portable device that can dock to a larger display at work or home to continue working.

The PC and Mac installed base continues to dwindle, it will still be possible to buy such devices in the future but you will have more portable options in tablet / phone form to contend for your productivity needs.

Slow Motion on iPad Pro:

So what has been gained from the 2016 iPad Pro when it comes to slow motion? in a word… nothing!

The 2016 iPad Pro had 240fps 720p and 120fps at 1080p the exact same specs.  The camera is however improved in the lens and sensor module which will yield better compression, better low light and dynamic range along with a slightly brighter f1.8 vs f2.2 lens aperture which is always good to have for higher shutter speeds.

If you already own an iPad Pro and you are thinking of upgrading for the camera module, then it makes sense if you need slightly improved image quality but not for gaining frame rates. You will end up with overall better compression and artifact handling but no new frame rates.  It would have been ideal to have a 240fps 1080p spec thrown in as a differentiator.   You do get a flash module which was absent in the original iPad pro which made no sense. This is a step in the right direction!

Mobile slow motion macro video with iPhone / iPad 2016 by Makro Dünyası:

You may say the 2017 refresh while important in speed, display and memory makes little difference and shows Apple to be playing it safe with the design and specs of the tablet.  Many people love the iPad Pro first gen and will probably also absorb a 2017 iPad Pro refresh if in need for a new tablet or exchanging it for the last model. We see no need to upgrade but it should factor in as a consideration if buying a new device.  Apple has always done well with the slow motion specs even while pegging the performance to 240fps 720p at the maximum.

Apple has always done a good job with the slow motion specs even while pegging the performance to 240fps 720p at the maximum.   It is kind of a good enough spec and they will probably refrain from updating until forced to do it.  The Sony Xperia phone with 720p at 960fps may do just that and force Apple to adopt the Sony Stacked sensor design for offering competitive video features. We can only sit and wait for that to happen.  If you are going for slow motion alone the Sony Xperia XZ and XZ Premium make more sense even with the time and resolution limitations.

SLOW MOTION WITH IPAD PRO by iPad Pro 9.7 Videos:

We will have new samples from the slow motion capabilities of the iPad Pro 2017 when they are shipping and available. The videos above do show teh 2016 model’s capabilities which will be sligtly improved upon on the 2017 model when it comes to compression and artifacts. -HSC

 Pricing and Availability:

The iPad Pro 2017 will be available by the end of June 2017 in a first come first serve pre-order basis.

  • 10.5″ 2017 Model From: $649 USD
  • 12.9″ 2017 Model From: $799 USD

One thing about Apple announcing new device replacements is that the older models go on sale quickly. If you are content with a 2016 iPad Pro this is the time to get one.  From $419 at Amazon.com for example!

More information and full specs about the new iPad Pro at Apple: https://www.apple.com/ipad/

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