There are many new phones about to be announced including the most awaited Samsung release of the year, the Galaxy S21 which is due in a day or so. However the Xiaomi Mi 11 which was recently announced has been making a great impression on reviewers with a fluid 120Hz display, above-average camera features, 8k video, and our main interest the slow motion recording modes.
The high speed mode includes a 240fps 1080p mode but most interestingly this extends to 1080p 480fps which might be of comparable quality. The Xiaomi brand has been making cameras and phones for a few years now and while it is usually discounted as a budget brand, the inclusion of pro features like a Snapdragon 888 processor and a whopping 108MP main camera make it stand apart.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
Now that the surprise camera of 2020 has been out for a while, it is time to revisit the 240fps mode included in the video features. At first glance, it delivered 720p quality or less in an upscaled 1080p wrapper. However many Fuji fans asked us to revisit the slow motion quality of this camera as early samples supposedly did not do justice to what this mode was able to deliver.
We have to agree to some extent that the quality of this camera in 240fps Full HD slow motion is better than other even more expensive options but we still feel that Fuji cut corners when it comes to image quality here by dropping lines and having a pretty noisy output unless there is an ample amount of light. We have some samples that will let you see what this camera is capable of and make you decide if it is a good enough option for your camera collection.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
The Chronos 2.1 HD Slow Motion Camera which is the larger sensor and resolution version of the Chronos 1.4c is now being used in a lot of production situations. The material created with it gets better and better and while there is still a small backlog of camera orders due to COVID 19 disrupting part supply channels, most orders are now just a few weeks behind.
We have looked at a dozen videos that we would like to share with our readership showing the Chronos 2.1 HD in full force shooting in exquisite 1080p quality. We are still waiting for a review unit which was delayed for a shortage of components to get to us but needless to say, the camera is gaining a very good reputation as the lowest price vs. quality option in the 1000fps 1080p camera world.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
We consider the Canon C70 as the real successor to the 5D Mark II which started the ILC DSLR revolution. It ticks almost all the boxes for a vast array of users and does so on a somewhat realistic price point. We get a Cinema caliber sensor in S35 format at 4k Cinema and UHD that is capable of producing 16 real stops of dynamic range. The camera actually is using simultaneous dual gain technology to merge the exposure from both settings into an amazingly beautiful progression between light and dark.
The Canon C70 Slow Motion Mode has real 120fps 4k with HDR and full Canon dual pixel AF technology and even can crop to Super 16mm to record 180fps at 1080p and 2k resolution to provide you with that extra oomph which was sorely needed in Canon land. The camera does have some drawbacks but it is so good out of the box that we may have an avalanche of switchers to the format from Sony, Nikon, and Panasonic.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
We got over 20 messages with essentially the same video sample in our inbox this week. They all touted the new interpolation from the DAIN experimental App or (Depth Aware Video Interpolation App) which now analyses footage with a Neural network AI algorithm that crunches motion vectors and even what seemed impossible before “Object Occlusion” to generate higher frame rates from lower fps sources. The technology is pretty fascinating and should be further improved by more training and samples over the coming years.
For stop motion animators, this is a complete game-changer as now you could animate with as little as 8fps and then interpolate to 30fps or 60fps with very little in the way of tearing and artifacting as long as the footage is well lit and objects clearly defined. To make matters more interesting, it also analyses footage with shallow depth of field yielding impressive results.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
It’s here, yes it is finally here you are not seeing things. In what may be the most anticipated camera release in years, Sony has finally unveiled the a7s III video-centric mirrorless camera. It has all the new performance benefits of processing and AF seen on other Sony bodies but now applied to a 12 Megapixel back-illuminated full-frame sensor geared to shoot pristine 4k and be able to shoot stills as a secondary function. The original 5D from Canon shot 12.8 MP in 2005 when it was introduced and it is still being used out there by many professionals as it was and still is a wedding workhorse. However 15 years later which in the camera world seems like a century, we get a brand new Sony camera with 12MP and that is actually a great thing!
The slow motion on this camera has a lot of good but also some hidden secrets that you should know about before plunking your hard-earned cash. We get what may be the best 120fps 4k footage we have seen in any camera under 10k USD at full 4:2:2 10 bit quality which after looking at the samples left us with nothing but praise to see such a well-executed mode with the added benefit of being able to shoot nearly 1hr worth of it before the camera temperature spoils the party. Excellent performance!→ Continue Reading Full Post ←
