Slow motion is already a super useful and much-desired tool for filmmakers. It just looks cool. Super slow motion is on a whole other level. Getting those 1,000+ fps cameras is not easy and generally requires a huge investment on time, money, and resources to use. Enter the Chronos 2.1-HD High Speed Camera – a handheld camera able to shoot in Full HD up to 1,000 fps and if you drop the resolution you can hit a mind-boggling 24,046 fps.
Those specs are a game-changer, at least that’s what filmmaker Daniel Schiffer thinks after taking the camera for a spin. It’s definitely exciting if you have been looking for the extreme slow-motion effect.
Key is the ability to record in Full HD resolution. For filmmaking – as opposed to scientific endeavors – you’ll want some base level of sharpness and quality to smoothly edit these shots into a timeline. In Full HD, that is 1,000 fps. The only conventional camera that can do this is the RX100 VII, but that’s not even true Full HD, it’s a lower resolution upsampled. Chronos also boasts a larger Four Thirds sensor size.
For the test, Schiffer shoots a shoe dropping into milk. It’s a dynamic shot that will easily shine in slow motion. The fun test is seeing the difference between 120 fps and 1,000 fps. Sure, 120 fps is definitely slow, but compared side-by-side the 1,000 fps shot the 120 fps just looks so quick. You can see details you would’ve missed otherwise.
Schiffer sees this as a huge win for social media videos. You can have some fun and stretch out some shots to fit the templates you may have for sharing. Grabs some attention.
One thing to keep in mind, and shown in the second test shot, is that you need a lot of light. A lot. Schiffer has three powerful lights on his set for the second shot since maintaining the 180-degree shutter at 1,000 fps puts you at 1/2,000 second.
The interesting thing for reviewing images comes with the rear touchscreen interface. You can check out your clip and then set in and out points for easier editing later. It’s a ton of frames so cutting here helps.
Slow motion is fun and looks good. It adds another tool to your collection, though the Chronos isn’t cheap to your average user. It’s around $5,000, but relative to Phantom this is doable for a working filmmaker. It’s also small, making it something you are more likely to keep in your bag.
[source: Daniel Schiffer]
Order Links:
- Chronos 2.1-HD High Speed Camera (krontech)
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