Tag Archives: video review

iPhone 14 Frame Rates Explored!

It has been a year since the iPhone 13 showed that Apple was in a refinement path for the iPhone line with improved video across the board and the introduction of ProRes recording in 10 bits for some modes. The Slow motion capabilities had been capped at 1080p frame rates since the iPhones of old. The iPhone 14 has the same max 4k frame rate of 60p as the iPhone 13 but the sensor, image processor, and lenses have all been refined and improved. 

Are high frame rates relegated to stay at 1080p forever on the Apple line? It has been 7 years of releases of capped 1080p at 120fps and 240fps with no other frame sizes getting a better spec. Most phones are also restricted but Sony, Huawei, and others have been delivering 120fps in 4k video modes for a couple of years now. The iPhone 14 seems to continue the trend of refinement without blowout frame rates at higher resolutions.  → Continue Reading Full Post ←

iPhone 12 Pro Slow Motion is best yet for Apple!

iPhone 12 Pro Slow Motion

The iPhone 12 line is a continuation of what Apple has been hinting at since it got serious about video recording on their phones.  However, there is no increment in the maximum frames per second the phone is able to record with the 120p and 240p at 1080p as the maximum the phone is able to record. There is also what could be a feature that is missing that of 120fps 4k considering the phone is already recording 120fps at 4k for HDR video and then delivering it in a 60p wrapper.

With all that said the phone has impressive video and photo specs that will have rivals trying to compete in outlandish features like super zooms or more than 3 cameras to be able to get the spotlight off the iPhone.  There is no question the iPhone 12 is the best camera phone Apple has ever delivered but isn’t this the same result every year when a new device from the company is released? Yes and there lies the problem of yearly upgrades only getting incremental updates and not leapfrog features.

Video Recording iPhone 12 Pro:

  • HDR video recording with Dolby Vision up to 60 fps
  • 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps
  • 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
  • 720p HD video recording at 30 fps
  • Optical image stabilization for video (Wide)
  • 2x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; 4x optical zoom range (iPhone 12 Pro)
  • Digital zoom up to 6x (iPhone 12 Pro)
  • 2.5x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; 5x optical zoom range (iPhone 12 Pro Max)
  • Digital zoom up to 7x (iPhone 12 Pro Max)
  • Audio zoom
  • Brighter True Tone flash
  • QuickTake video
  • Slo‑mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps
  • Time‑lapse video with stabilization
  • Night mode Time-lapse
  • Extended dynamic range for video up to 60 fps
  • Cinematic video stabilization (4K, 1080p, and 720p)
  • Continuous autofocus video
  • Take 8MP still photos while recording 4K video
  • Playback zoom
  • Video formats recorded: HEVC and H.264
  • Stereo recording

Video Recording iPhone 12 (NON PRO):

  • HDR video recording with Dolby Vision up to 30 fps
  • 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps
  • 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
  • 720p HD video recording at 30 fps
  • Optical image stabilization for video (Wide)
  • 2x optical zoom out
  • Digital zoom up to 3x
  • Audio zoom
  • Brighter True Tone flash
  • QuickTake video
  • Slo‑mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps
  • Time‑lapse video with stabilization
  • Night mode Time‑lapse
  • Extended dynamic range for video up to 60 fps
  • Cinematic video stabilization (4K, 1080p, and 720p)
  • Continuous autofocus video
  • Take 8MP still photos while recording 4K video
  • Playback zoom
  • Video formats recorded: HEVC and H.264
  • Stereo recording

IPhone 12 Pro Slow Motion Samples are pending:

We received some so-called slow motion samples from the iPhone 12 but we have determined that they are fake and not from the phone themselves.  The iPhone 12 ships on October 23rd so any samples you might see online could only be from review units and there was no real video quality review that was authenticated. We will have to wait some time for the iPhone 12 video samples to start coming out.  We expect increased dynamic range and better overall noise profile on the iPhone 12 vs the 11, hopefully, we will see a real improvement in the way the phone captures slow motion in 1080p without much in the way of artifacts and aliasing.

Dolby Vision Recording on iPhone 12:

Dolby Vision | Demo | Dolby by Dolby:

In the video above you can see that Dolby Vision is basically a set of technologies that encode video in HDR with high precision color and brightness values that try to mimic reality. The new iPhone 12s record in Dolby Vision which probably use the high frame rate recording (60p for 30p) and 120p for 60p) HDR.

It is of note that slow motion video at 120fps or 240fps in 1080p will not use Dolby Vision as you would need those frame rates doubled to record it. It is a technology best used by 4k recording up to 60fps.

Of course, you will not get Hollywood production quality footage on the phone but it is still going to deliver a better image than your average camera due to the color science behind it.  Also of note is that you will need a TV, monitor or projector that has Dolby Vision compatibility to experience this high dynamic range video footage recording feature.

If you have such a TV we can recommend the clip below to test it:

Perfect Black HDR 8k Dolby Vision by Eugene Belsky: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Google Pixel 4 Slow Motion Specs Unchanged!

Google Pixel 4 Slow Motion

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.

Google Pixel 4 Slow Motion Specs:

  • Rear Camera:
  • 1080p @ 30 FPS, 60 FPS, 120 FPS
  • 720p @ 240 FPS
  • 4K @ 30 FPS
  • Front Camera:
  • 1080p @ 30 FPS

Rear Camera Specs:

  • Camera 1
  • 16 MP
  • 1.0 μm pixel width
  • Autofocus with phase detection
  • Optical + electronic image stabilization
  • Spectral + flicker sensor
  • ƒ/2.4 aperture
  • 52° field of view
  • Camera 2
  • 12.2 MP
  • 1.4 μm pixel width
  • Autofocus with dual pixel phase detection
  • Optical + electronic image stabilization
  • ƒ/1.7 aperture
  • 77° field of view

Front Camera (loses the dual camera of pixel 3):

  • 8 MP
  • 1.22 μm pixel width
  • ƒ/2.0 aperture
  • Fixed focus
  • 90° field of view
  • NIR flood emitter
  • NIR dot projector
  • 2 NIR cameras

Pricing: 

  • Pixel 4 is priced at $799
  •  Pixel 4 XL is priced at $899
  • Available at all US carriers GSM and CDMA for the first time outside of Verizon!

The Pixel 4 & 4 XL have competitive camera modules when you compare other flagship phones.  Google went with a dual-camera design without adding the super wide-angle one common on Samsung Galaxy and iPhones for example.  With computational photography, the Pixel is very capable and probably will become one of the best cameras out there like the Pixel 3 was all of last year by generating the best reviews for still images on a phone.

As a video shooter, the phone should do well but will not beat the best out there and probably the iPhone 11 will have a clear win in the motion department with their emphasis on professional video shooting on the 11 Pro.

Slow Motion ZZZzzz?

By staying at 240fps 720p the Pixel 4 shows they are not interested in improving that spec which seems to be frozen for now 3 generations of Pixel phones. They are all about a rounded phone with impeccable still image quality and not focused on being the best at video capture.  Sony with their Xperia One and others have much better video specs and of course, the slow motion crown falls now on the  Huawei Mate 30 Pro with 1920fps at 720p for a 1/2 second or 960fps 1080p at 1 second. No other phone has yet to match this performance.

Google Pixel 4 event in 10 minutes by The Verge:

Google Pixel 4 camera test by Phandroid: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

GoPro Hero 8 Slow Motion Mirrors Hero 7!

GoPro Hero 8 Slow Motion

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.

GoPro Hero 8 Black Video Specs:

Video Recording Modes: 3840 x 2160p at 24/25/30/50/60 fps (78 Mb/s MP4 via H.264/AVC)
3840 x 2160p at 24/25/30/50/60 fps (78 Mb/s MP4 via H.265/HEVC)
2704 x 1520p at 24/25/30/50/60/100/120 fps (MP4)
1920 x 1440p at 24/25/30/50/60/100/120 fps (MP4)
1920 x 1080p at 24/25/30/50/60/100/120/200/240 fps (MP4)
1280 x 960p at 100/120/200/240 fps (MP4)
1280 x 720p at 50/60/200/240 fps (MP4)

 

Media Mod:

$79.99

  • Built-in directional mic delivers crystal-clear audio and reduces wind and ambient noise
  • 2 cold-shoe mounts to attach your favorite lights, mics or LCD screens
  • 3.5mm mic port lets you add an external mic for enhanced audio
  • HDMI-out port to monitor or play back your footage
  • Unique and compact wraparound design adds portable expandability and ensures mounting remains easy
  • Specially designed for use with Display Mod and Light Mod for HERO8 Black, and compatible with third-party accessories

 

Display Mod:

$79.99

Frame the shot with Display Mod, the flip-up screen that lets you see yourself in action. Compact and perfect for vloggers, it connects to your HERO8 Black via Media Mod.1

  • 2-inch flip-up screen makes vlogging easy
  • Built-in rechargeable battery and micro-HDMI connector
  • Folding design for easy storage and transport
  • Compact and sturdy with a low-profile appearance
  • Connects to HERO8 Black via the required Media Mod1

 

Light Mod:

HERO8 Black

$49.99

Add compact yet powerful LED lighting to your next adventure. With Light Mod, you can illuminate your subject with wide, smooth, even light and capture ultra crisp footage. Light Mod attaches to HERO8 Black via Media Mod (sold separately), or works as a handy standalone light for use with GoPro mounts.

  • 4 levels of brightness—up to 200 lumens—for crisp detail
  • Built tough and waterproof to 33ft (10m)
  • Built-in rechargeable battery with up to 6 hours of runtime1
  • Compact design is perfect as an add-on to your HERO8 Black, or as a standalone light for use with GoPro mounts
  • Connects to HERO8 Black via Media Mod (sold separately)
  • Maximum brightness for up to 30 seconds with Overdrive mode
  • Strobe mode for signaling and visibility
  • Light Specifications:
    Overdrive mode: 200 lumens, 200 lux @1m
    Level 3: 125 lumens, 120 lux @1m
    Level 2: 60 lumens
    Level 1: 20 lumens
    Runtime: 1 hour at Level 3, 2 hours at Level 2, 6 hours at Level 11
    Color temperature without diffuser: 5700K
    CRI: 90

The mods do make it a nicer package and the aim is to get you to really buy all of them if you are a Vlogger or serious video professional. The addition of Hypersmooth 2.0 in all recording modes including all slow motion frame rates makes it the best GoPro for high speed video recording ever released. The limit of 240fps is, of course, a letdown as this camera could be an incredibly good 480fps slow motion camera even in short bursts.

GoPro Hero 8 Slow Motion Quality:

While the Hero 8 Black offers a 2x stronger front lens element to withstand scratches and hits better, the quality of the video should be identical to the Hero 7 Black besides the Hypersmooth improvements. Note that Hypersmooth crops the video image according to motion and estimates on the fly with sensors the amount of real-time correction.  The result is incredibly smooth and really does away with the need for most gimbals in a camera like this.

GoPro HERO8 Black: Cre8ors Hypersmooth 2.0 Madness by Chris Rogers: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Nikon P1000 Crazy Zoom but Subdued Slow Motion!

Nikon P1000

Nikon has either gone crazy or has analyzed a market that is actually alive and well when it comes to all in one prosumer compact cameras. The P900 was a best seller for several years in the segment with an 83x optical zoom formula of 24-2000mm equivalent. Now the new P1000 increases that range by 1000mm to do a previously ludicrous spec of 24 wide-angle to 3,000mm telephoto range or 125x optical zoom.

The sensor is tiny at 1/2.3″ the same as small compact cameras and just slightly larger than the typical phone sensor of 1/3″. This is what makes it possible for the camera to create such a zoom range without the lens being larger than a Napoleonic war artillery cannon.  The video modes are decent with 4k 30p but the high-speed modes are lackluster which is a shame considering this camera could be used effectively for extreme wildlife shots in super slow motion.

Nikon P1000 Main Features:

  • Lens Focal Length 4.3-539mm (angle of view equivalent to that of 24-3,000mm lens in 35mm format) 
  • 125x optical Zoom-NIKKOR ED glass lens.
  • f/2.8-8 Range
  • Image Sensor
  • Effective Pixels (Megapixels) 16.0  million
  • Image Sensor CMOS Sensor Size: 1 2.3  in.
  • Image Size (pixels) 4608 x 3456 (16M)
  • Vari-Angle  TFT-LCD  3.2″ 
  • RAW Stills Mode
  • ISO  100  1600 & ISO 3200, 6400 (available when using P, S, A or M or Movie manual mode)
  • Weight : 49.9  oz. (1,415  g)with battery and memory card

Nikon P1000 Movie Mode:

  • 4K UHD 3,840×2,160/ 30p
    4K UHD 3,840×2,160/ 25p
    Full HD: 1920×1080/ 60p
    Full HD: 1920×1080/ 50p
    Full HD: 1920×1080/ 30p
    Full HD: 1920×1080/ 25p
    HD: 1280×720/ 60p
    HD: 1280×720/ 50p
    HD: 1280×720/ 30p
    HD: 1280×720/ 25p
    HS 640×480/ 4x   120fps
    HS 1920×1080/ 0.5x  Speed Up!
    HS 1280×720/ 2x 60fps
  • Coolpix P1000 Moon Shot at 2,000mm:

There is no denying the power of the zoom range but do not expect image quality to be outstanding even with all of that ED and Super ED Glass trying to fix the chromatic aberration and softness.  There is, of course, the fact that a small sensor in the 1/2.3″ size will mostly use the center of the glass to gather its light so, in theory, it should be able to use the sharpest part of the elements to get the image quality up to a good standard.

The camera will not be stellar in low light and the full moon if you have ever shot it is so bright that you can safely shoot it at 1/200 to avoid overexposure. Good luck shooting bats or other night creatures with any sort of acceptable quality. Appart from the moon or well lit night scenes or flash shots, this camera should be mostly used in the daytime to get acceptable quality.

High frame rates? (YAWN)

HS 640×480/ 4x   120fps
HS 1920×1080/ 0.5x  Speed Up!
HS 1280×720/ 2x 60fps

The P1000 Camera will only shoot 120fps in VGA 640*480 mode and up to 60fps in Full HD. There is no ultra-high-speed mode like in the Sony RX series cameras.  we are disappointed as this was a true competitor option to the Sony RX10 series in a similar form factor. Quality on the tiny sensor will also be lacking so any higher frame rates should be grainy and prone to artifacts.

This is an interesting camera for Nikon that cements their product line for extreme telephoto enthusiasts. However, if the quality is what you seek, you are better off with an RX camera with a 1″ sensor or a Micro 4/3 camera with a 400mm lens which will in EX Teleconverter mode be a good match to this one without having such a small sensor.  a GH4 or GH5 camera would be a better fit with a 400mm lens and a teleconverter, plus it will be less heavy when attached to a 14-140mm lens for example.  Cool camera but could have been so much more in the video department. -HSC 

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Huawei P20 Pro Slow Motion 960fps 720p Mode!

Huawei P20

Huawei’s P20 Pro is a beautiful phone that merges the sleek design of the Samsung Galaxy series with the Apple front screen notch while not compromising in camera design with a 3 sensor + lens combo that may be the best camera solution on a phone yet. In fact, DPreview has an article on the stills camera performance here. They call it “the most innovative mobile device we have seen in quite some time”  which is a tall order considering how good the competition camera’s like in the Pixel 2 XL, Galaxy S9 and the iPhone X have gotten.

What interests us, however, is the slow-motion mode which allows the phone to shoot a 0.25sec burst of 720p video at 960fps which is slightly above the time recorded by the Galaxy S9 and Sony Xperia XZ series of last year but still below the new Xperia XZ2’s 0.4 seconds at 720p this year.  We were not impressed with the quality of either phone when it came to overall resolution and artifacts so we were skeptical about the Huawei P20 Pro since the start.

Huawei P20 Pro Main Specs:

Screen

DISPLAY

Type AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size 6.1 inches, 93.8 cm2 (~81.9% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution 1080 x 2244 pixels, 18.7:9 ratio (~408 ppi density)
Multitouch Yes – With gestures
 Battery 4000 mAh
Operating SYSTEM OS Android 8.1 (Oreo)
Chipset Hisilicon Kirin 970
CPU Octa-core (4×2.4 GHz Cortex-A73 & 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A53)
GPU Mali-G72 MP12
Internal MEMORY Card slot No SD Expandable
Internal 128 GB, 6 GB RAM
CAMERA Specs Primary Triple: 40 MP (f/1.8, 1/1.7″, OIS) + 20 MP (f/1.6) + 8 MP (f/2.4), Leica optics, 3x optical zoom, phase detection and laser autofocus, dual-LED dual-tone flash
Features Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR, panorama mode.
Video 2160p@30fps, 1080p 60fps, 720p@960fps
Secondary 24 MP, autofocus, f/2.0, 1080p

MSRP in the UK:

Asia and Europe release, no planned release for the USA but will work on GSM carriers if imported or bought as an import model.

HUAWEI P20|P20 Pro: Meet the new Huawei P20 Series by Huawei:

HUAWEI P20 Pro: 3X Optical Zoom by Huawei: → Continue Reading Full Post ←