There has been some news on the slow motion front that we would like to share. While nothing is a new product announcement for budget conscious consumers; there is good technology being released that shoots high frame rates very often. We are expecting some new cameras before the end of this year that should push the technology envelope further while still being widely available.
Some slow motion camera projects are maturing like the Chronos 1.4 and the fps1000HD which seem unstoppable now. While both of these cameras are 720p resolution; sensor technology has advanced leaps ahead of what was available just 3 years ago when it comes to fairly priced CMOS Global Shutter designs. We expect the first 1080p camera that shoots very high frame rates to be announced in the next two years as technology has finally caught up with budgets.
fps1000HD News:
In the fps1000HD front, there has been an ongoing shipping of cameras to Kickstarter backers. Most people are getting their cameras with just a few still to receive them. These messages by Graham Rowan the creator of the project describe the current status of hardware and software for the product;
“I’m sorry for the delay on the last few shipments. I had a lot of failures under test and it has taken some time to determine why. This was due to a substitute part not working to spec. I had to return boards to the factory to have these replaced. I am getting them back this week and will turn them around as soon as possible.”
“In the meantime the USB3 application on the pc is complete and I will be sending this to all backers. You can now save images at 30 fps in several formats: DNG, PNG and JPG. I will be adding an option to save as video as well.”
“I have sent the latest software with USB3 controller to all of you who have cameras. New shipments will automatically include this.
I have used wetransfer where my emails were bounced back due to the attachment. “ Graham Rowan
More information about the fps1000HD Camera at: theslowmotioncameracompany.com
5 Trillion fps Scientific Camera:
Popular Mechanics among other publications are reporting on a new scientific camera project that shoots at 5 Trillion frames/ second. The camera is capable of showing the motion of light photons across extremely small distances from several angles. It uses a technology called: FRAME—Frequency Recognition Algorithm for Multiple Exposures.
“the camera capture multiple images in a single frame’s worth of data. A laser is used to illuminate the target more than a trillion times per second, and all of that information is layered on a single photograph. Each laser pulse is encoded, and a computer later separates the single photograph into multiple frames for the equivalent of five trillion frames per second.” Popular Mechanics.
Follow the article link here for more information: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a26343/new-camera-5-trillion-frames-per-second/
Chronos 1.4 High Speed Camera Project News:
After passing FCC and CE Electromagnetic certification the camera is ready for assembly with a slight delay of LCD components that should be supplied as we speak. Cameras should start being fully assembled, tested and shipped to the Project early backers by the end of May or the beginning of June. Other backers from the 2nd batch should factor in a delay of several weeks due to the LCD part supply problem due to a manufacturing defect of the screens which has been fixed.
More information about the Chronos 1.4c Camera at the official site: http://www.krontech.ca/
Sony Camera development rumors:
There are rumors of the Sony line of Full frame cameras being fitted with 8k video capabilities in the near future. A menu in the new a9 sports camera shows an 8k option that is not supposed to be there in shipping units but is on pre-production ones. 8k video would herald the way for at least 120fps 4k which will really be something amazing to see in a camera. Not to mention the performance being able to spit out extreme 1080p frame rates. Probably on stacked sensor technology!
It may be a supersampling mode for video downscaling 8k pixels on a future camera with 33Megapixels or 8k video picture mode like 6k/4k Photo on the GH5 and other Lumix cameras. No firm information either way.
You can read more about it at: http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/curious-error-a9-unveils-8k-recording-menu-option/
That is all for now, we will bring you more slow motion news periodically as they surface. -HSC
Thanks for the update. I am looking forward to Sony’s new RX100. This might be my next highframe camera when the specs are promising.
I have also a question, do you consider writing a topic on various software on the market that can be used to intrapolate footage?
I am currently using Powerdirector 12 for my clips and frame interpolation results in new images that are basically two overlayed original frames. My Panasonic V750 does a better job as the created frame is really an intermediate version of two original frames but slightly blurry. Of course it is not as good as Twixtor I assume.
The reason I am asking is that with excellent 120 fps footage and proper software in order to create 240 or may be even 480 fps probably better end results can be achieved than a camera that delivers 480 fps straight away but with mediocre image quality.
Hi Klaus, the new RX100 camera should be a good one. The RX10, however, is due for a refresh so we expect that one to surface as well. As far as interpolation software the Adobe built in Time Remapping algorithm in After Effects & or Premiere Pro does a good job but the king is still Twixtor. See this video of 120fps on the RED Epic slowed down to over 4000fps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCVCymSL-rc It works good on people with backgrounds that are plain but we are not fans of interpolation as it has no scientific value. Slow motion is about studying things that escape our vision; anything that happens at super slow speeds is not part of the interpolation process. Anything with changing busy backgrounds is also generating artifacts. It can be used to enhance all slow motion up to a point but there is no substitute for the real thing. Slowing does 1000fps to 2000fps with interpolation is much more forgiving than 120fps to 1000fps. More information equals better results. We will take the topic into consideration for a future post. Good day!