Category: Cameras

Allwinner V5, real 4K30 action camera and security/smart camera chipset

Posted by – April 19, 2018

Allwinner V5 chip uses the HawkView 5.0 image processing engine, which integrates 2D/3D intelligent noise reduction, frame width dynamic synthesis, sharpening enhancement, specific color enhancement and other image pre-processing technologies, combined with various types of image scene requirements, for each frame of the picture it applies real-time fine detail recovery. This chipset is for the “real” 4K action camera and 4K-enhanced security camera solutions, where smart object tracking can enhance the resolution only of the moving objects to save on bandwidth. Also the Allwinner V5 encodes using H265 to provide for about the same quality at about half the bitrate compared with H264.

$2499 Panasonic GH5s interview (filmed with GH5s) better Low Light, better AF, DCI4K60

Posted by – January 12, 2018

Available to pre-order for $2499 at Amazon.com, Panasonic has improved their Low Light performance and their Autofocus performance (it looks like to me, after shooting this video, for now, compared with my GH5 videos that I am posting in the playlist here) on the GH5s compared with last year’s Panasonic GH5 micro four thirds camera. They removed the amazing Sensor Image Stabilization feature of the GH5 though in this camera, they say as some professional users are asking for it to be removed, and they say also that is because they used a 10.28 Megapixel Multi Aspect Ratio MOS Sensor in this one. WIth DCI 4K60p support which is the format that I film this interview using the GH5s at. In this video featuring Sean Robinson of Panasonic USA, you can see the low light performance, the autofocus performance and you can see how it looks like without the image stabilization system. To me after shooting this video interview with the GH5s in a low light situation, it looks like the GH5s might have better autofocus performance compared with the GH5 (though I am not sure if this AF performance is good enough for my handheld video-blogging yet, what do you think?), as far as I understand, the better AF performance compared with the GH5 is because the Venus Engine 10 processor in the GH5s is able to focus more on performing better doing the autofocusing as it does not need to spend performance managing the sensor stabilization, noise reduction and downsampling of the 18 megapixel footage that comes with the GH5.

Self Balancing Bot and Home Surveillance Kit by Manivannan Sadhasivam, Applications Engineer, Linaro

Posted by – October 3, 2017

Manivannan Sadhasivam is an Applications Engineer at Linaro on the 96Boards team here Demonstrating some of his latest projects created out of 96Boards Consumer Edition such as the Self Balancing Bot capable of balancing itself using the MPU6050 IMU controlled by Dragonboard 410c. You can find that project at github and a Home Surveillance Kit powered by Dragonboard 410c. OpenCV is used to identify the faces, combined with AWS and servo control to create a home surveillance solution. You can find that project at github

Autofocus test on Firmware 2.0 Panasonic GH5

Posted by – September 28, 2017

I am doing my first handheld autofocus test using the Panasonic GH5 and its new Firmware 2.0 update. I’m hoping that the auto-focus may be good enough for my style of handheld, always moving, constantly re-framing, focusing on faces and things people show off. What do you think about this Autofocus performance? This was filmed with Serge Broslavsky at Linaro Connect 2017, see his GH5 setup here. This video was filmed at 4K60p at 150mbit/s H264. Thus far the Panasonic GH5 firmware can’t film 4K60 in HLG HDR mode and they don’t yet offer an H265 option at 4K60 to save on bitrate at same quality for faster YouTube uploading.

Serge Broslavsky’s GH5 setup with Zoom H5, monopod, light, some DIY, some from Aliexpress

Posted by – September 27, 2017

Serge Broslavsky is a software engineer at Linaro, he is filming a documentary about Upstreaming. Here he shows his Panasonic GH5 camera equipment which features the Panasonic 12-35 f/2.8 markII lens, Zoom H5 audio recorder, Zoom SSH-6 MS (stereo shotgun) capsule, Polsen OLM-20 Dual Omnidirectional Lavalier Microphone, DIY female TRS to dual male XLR cable. And from Aliexpress the Innorel H60 video head, Innorel RM80 video monopod with F-01 mini-tripod base for monopod, Long arca swiss style plate with dual flexible flash holders (both removed), QR-50 QR Plate Adapters (arca swiss style), 11″ Magic Arm, 7″ Magic Arm, Yongnuo YN300 video light, BB-6 fake NP-F battery (uses 6xAA), Boya BY-C10 shoe shockmount for audio recorder, Acoustic foam screen for shotgun microphone and more.

Sony PXW-Z90 and Sony HXR-NX80

Posted by – September 24, 2017

Priced at $2799, this is the professional skew of the newest 1″ Exmor RS CMOS Sensor 4K30p HLG HDR camcorder, it can record 120fps in FHD. Has dual SD card slots, optical image stabilization, S-log2, S-log3, and it can record HLG Hybrid Log Gamma which is a new standard for HDR. It has 273-point phase-detect autofocus sensor for fast hybrid auto focus performance. The Sony PXW-Z90 has an 3G-SDI output (supporting 1080 60p/50p) and a HDMI output. It has dual XLR input, and an optional 1080p Mpeg2 4:2:2 codec for broadcasting. There’s also the $2299 Sony HXR-NX80 which has the same features as PXW-Z90 except the SDI output. And the $1899 FDR-AX700 is the same without XLR inputs which I filmed here.

bhphotovideo.com shows cameras at IBC 2017

Posted by – September 24, 2017

http://bhphotovideo.com is a store in New York and it’s a Billion dollar company selling cameras and lots of other types of hardware. Most of their stuff can be exported to worldwide where they pre-calculate import VAT and shipping conveniently. Here’s a tour of some of the cameras which they show at IBC 2017, talking about some of the latest popular cameras such as the Panasonic GH5 that camera fans are looking to buy.

$999 Tilta Gravity G1 gimball

Posted by – September 24, 2017

The Gravity G1 is a handheld gimbal system for: mirrorless DSLRS, DSLRS, Smartphones, and GoPros. It has three user modes and is compatible with the TILTA Assistant App via Bluetooth, for greater calibration of features. Two rosettes on the handle allow for the mounting of various accessories to customize the rig. A DC output allows you to power optional accessories.

Atomos CEO Jeromy Young, and Dan Chung (formerly of Newsshooter) at IBC 2017

Posted by – September 21, 2017

Atomos is an Australian company specializing in camera monitor-recorders, devices that can take the HDMI 4:2:2 output off of cameras such as the Panasonic GH5 or EVA1 and record the output as 10bit ProRes 4:2:2 and some other codecs useful for smooth post production and for recording at the maximum quality. For example with the Panasonic GH5 the $995 Atomos Shogun Inferno can record 4K 10bit 4:2:2 at 60 frames per second as an editing-ready ProRes codec recording. At IBC 2017, Atomos launches the Sumo19M, an $1995 high-brightness production monitor with HDR capabilities, 3D LUTs and controling through touch. Atomos also has their 19” Sumo Monitor-recorder at $2495 with 4K60p HDR to use on the film set or at the studio with 1200nit 10+ stop panel with 4K 12bit Raw or 10bit 422 ProRes/DNxHR recording and HD recording up to 240p or live switching and recording of four 1080p60 channels at the same time. Dan Chung who previously was running newsshooter.com now works at Atomos and is showing off some of these Atomos devices in this video including a rig with the Sony RX0.

€299 Sennheiser Ambeo Smart Headset with binaural ASMR microphones

Posted by – September 21, 2017

Listen to this video using headphones for best effect! The Sennheiser Ambeo Smart Headset allows you to capture your world in 3D video sound as the ear pieces are fitted with microphones that record the 3D sound atmosphere around you into the video when recording on an iOS device. These earphones are thus actually turning into a binaural omnidirectional microphone system. The resulting 3D audio recordings for the “just as being there” video experience can be enjoyed through any pair of stereo headphones and make you feel like you are actually there listening live.

$6990 Teradek H265 Bond Backpack, Portable Live 1080p60 Video Streaming, custom LTE Modems

Posted by – September 20, 2017

Teradek presents their third generation Bond Backpack to livestream video from anywhere. It can combine up to 10 LTE sim card connections (also with 4 extra iPhones providing extra bandwidth over WiFi hotspot and the Teralink app) bond them together to sustain a reliable FHD or 4K live video stream from any country, from anywhere. The Bond system includes Teradek Cube, a H.264 and H.265 encoder that supports bit rates of up to 30Mbps, a boot-to-live time of 20 seconds, it is capable of streaming in 4K with adaptive streaming, closed-captioning, using both HDMI and SDI inputs for the source. The Teradek Bond expansion module connects to the Teradek Cube through a pogo pin connector offering up to 4 additional modem connections via USB or 4-pin connector and a built-in 5 minute Li-Ion offers continuous power during battery swap. Teradek Node is their high performance 3G/4G/LTE modem for better connectivity, more bitrate, better weather resistance, it connects to Bond via USB or 4-pin connector. The Teradek Bond communicates to Teradek Core which is the IP video management ecosystem Sputnik server in the cloud that runs demuxing software to turn the data back into a recognizable format for transcoding the video feed from H265 to AVC, change bitrate, resolution, framerate, and to manage multi-platform delivery of the stream to unlimited destinations at the same time, including YouTube Live, Facebook Live, Twitch Live, Periscope Live, custom RTMP servers, HEVC/AVC decoders, and more.

$9499 Livestream Studio HD550 4K Live Production Switcher, $399 Mevo multi-angle FHD camera streamer

Posted by – September 20, 2017

Livestream.com provides not only a live video streaming platform since 2007, they also provide multi-camera angle live video production hardware that can also live stream to YouTube Live, Facebook and other Live streaming platforms compatible. The Livestream Studio HD550 ($9499 at Amazon.com) is a compact, portable all-in-one PC 4K live production switcher with 5x SDI/HDMI inputs, 1x SDI/HDMI output, built-in bonded transmission, 2x balanced XLR inputs, 3x graphics tracks, with it’s carry bag it makes the Studio HD550 is a portable system to set up to livestream a multi-camera setup at any event. This video also features the Livestream Mevo ($399 at Amazon.com) which provides for automated and manual multi-angle live streaming from a single camera.

$3699 SmallHD 1703 P3X, 900nits 17″ Field Monitor

Posted by – September 20, 2017

SmallHD 1703 P3X ($3699 at Amazon.com) is a bright 900nits 17″ Full HD (133ppi) IPS LCD display monitor with a wide colour gamut with 100% DCI-P3 10 bit reference grade colour accuracy (with a Delta E average of 0.8), 1,400:1 contrast, with 178 degrees vertical and horizontal viewing angle useful for Focus Pullers, Directors, and DITs on set. Users can install own 3D LUT calibration with advanced colour management solutions, it has 2x SDI and HDMI inputs, 2x SDI and HDMI outputs, VESA mountable. This video also features the 5″ 720p SmallHD Focus ($499 at Amazon.com) Sony Bundle that improves Sony A6500/A6300/A7Smark2/etc by increasing battery life and removing battery overheating issues from the current Sony camera.

Sony RX0, 1″ sensor, waterproof, crushproof camera

Posted by – September 20, 2017

Sony releases the ultra-compact RX0 ($698 at Amazon.com) with a 1″ Exmor RS CMOS sensor (3:2 aspect ratio), 15.3MP, BIONZ X image processor, super slow motion movies at high frame rates up to 1000fps, uncompressed high-quality 4K data can be recorded on an external recorder, comes with a wide-angle 24mm ZEISS lens (F4.0 aperture), and a tough, rigid body that is IPX8 waterproof down to 10m/33ft, shockproof when dropped up to 2.0m/6.5ft above ground, and up to 200kg/440lb/2000N crushproof.

Sony Venice 6K Camera CineAlta Full-Frame 35mm

Posted by – September 20, 2017

Sony introduces Venice, their next generation 36x24mm full-frame sensor motion picture camera, advanced colour science exceeding Rec. 2020, records at up to 6048×4032 resolution, and by switching imager modes, it can natively support Super35 24.9×18.7mm, 4096×3024 resolution (equivalent to 4-perforation motion picture film) and Super35 24.9×14.0mm 4096 x 2160 resolution (equivalent to 3-perforation motion picture film). In other words, VENICE’s new full-frame sensor can capture in almost any format, including full 18mm-height Super35 Anamorphic and spherical and full-frame 24mm-height Anamorphic and spherical. Almost any aspect ratio can be conjured up: 1.85:1, 2.39:1, 17:9 and more in full-frame or Super35.

Sony 8K Camera UHC-8300 at IBC 2017

Posted by – September 19, 2017

Sony brings their 1.25″ portable 7kg 8K 120p Camera with a 1.25″ 8K 3CMOS sensor at 7680×4310 with S-Log3 or HLG HDR supporting ITU-R BT.2020 colour space. Pricing is at about $500 thousand for the camera, it outputs the raw 8K at 100Gbit/s which then can get processed by the engine into a 8K60p stream for now, with a 8K120p stream later possible.

Canon XF400, XF405, 4K60 Camcorder with Dual-Pixel AF

Posted by – September 18, 2017

The new $3499 Canon XF405 and $2999 XF400 Camcorder can record UHD 4K at 4K50 in PAL regions and at 4K60 in NTSC regions to a 150mbit/s H264 bitrate, soon to come also in the XF-AVC wrapper. Using a 1″ CMOS sensor with Dual-Pixel CMOS autofocus, two XLR audio inputs, 15x optical zoom, nine-bladed iris, five-axis optical image stabilization, powered by dual DIGIC DV 6 image processors with high sensitivity and low noise, supporting Wide DR Gamma. It has dual SD card slots, and outputs via HDMI 2.0 and 3G-SDI ports (on XF405 only). It features four channels of audio with manual/automatic recording levels from two XLR audio inputs, built-in Wi-Fi to control the camera’s functions via browser and transfer proxy files. Camera control is also available using the included WL-D89 remote. Canon is also releasing the cheaper Canon GX10 ($2499 at Amazon.com) that has the same features but is more compact without the XLR audio inputs and without the Ethernet port.

$1899 Sony FDR-AX700, 4K30 HDR HLG Camcorder with phase-detect AF

Posted by – September 18, 2017

The new Sony Handycam FDR-AX700 brings 1″ stacked Exmor RS CMOS image sensor 4K30/4K25/4K24 camcorder at 100mbit/s and 60mbit/s XAVC S Mp4 H264 codec with instant HDR HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) workflow with a fast Hybrid Autofocus system with 273 phase-detection AF points covering 84% of the shooting aread. Includes 3.5″ 1555k dots LCD touch-screen display, 0.39″ 2359k dots OLED viewfinder. It supports Optical SteadyShot image stabilization with Active mode. Dual SD card slots for backup or relay recording. HXR-NX80 and PXW-Z90 models are similar but they add dual XLR audio input and the PXW-Z90 also adds SDI output.

$7495 Panasonic AU-EVA1

Posted by – September 17, 2017

This new Panasonic AU-EVA1 camera is a compact 1.2kg 5.7K Super 35 Handheld Cinema Camera with EF Lens Mount, 4K60p and 2K240p support, Dual Native ISO 800/2500, 14 Stops of Dynamic Range, 4:2:2 10bit, dual SD Card Recording, up to 400Mbps ALL-I recording, V-Log / V-Gamut, 5.7K Raw Output (with a future firmware update), to be available starting next month.

You can see footage shot with the EVA1 here:

Thule Covert DSLR, Laptop Accent Backpack, Subterra Carry-On and more

Posted by – September 11, 2017

I’ve been using my Thule Covert DSLR Backpack ($199 at Amazon.com) for the past few months as my main video-blogging backpack. Here’s a tour of all the latest Thule Backpacks including the Thule Covert DSLR Backpack, the Thule Accent Backpack, the Thule Travel Backpack and the Thule Subterra Carry-on and Check-in bags that Thule of Sweden currently has on the market. Thule claims to provide a high quality testing and materials guarantee on their bags, something that is not easy to do. Thule claims to provide the best high quality/value bags also compared with brands like Samsonite in the carry-on and check-in luggage market. You can see all the Thule bags at http://thule.com