SJ7 V1.19 Firmware - Adds 4k Rotation - Report Thread

[RBEmerson]

I haven't looked recently, so it may have happened, but maybe an SJCam "Beta and Test Area - use at your risk - no warranty support" section would be wise? And maybe looking into "How is it that someone outside of the company has unreleased software" is in order? Things will always either leak or be passed out as a "review copy". But if someone installs 1.18T1 from a public site and something happens to their camera, count on hearing "this camera is a piece of trash. I put in the new firmware and now the camera won't even turn on" or something like it. Just a couple of thoughts... [/smile]

 

[TonyCams]

forwarded to our team. thx!

 

[RBEmerson]

You're welcome!

 

[Nathyn Masters]

I've downloaded the test firmware? I gotta ask, 2160p/24p @ 4:3? I'm super curious now. Is 4:3 a popular resolution? I know it was standard on older TVs. I'm hoping a 4K/24p/16:9 resolution will come with this final update. For what it's worth the 24p itself looks good and the rotation is nice.

-Nate

 

[RBEmerson]

(Just being picky - 4:3, 16:9, etc. are aspect ratios, 4K, 2K, 1080, etc. can be called resolutions, but, strictly speaking, resolution tied to pixels per square inch, millimeter, or what ever distance makes sense. The more pixels per square area, the higher the resolution. Just being picky... [/smile])

4:3 goes back to Thomas Edison's choice movie frames. From there it became self-perpetuating. Lenses, cameras, projectors were all designed around 4:3. Development built on what was in use and... there you are with film cameras still shooting 4:3. Obviously 16:9 and other changes have come in, but 16:9, for example, is an aspect ratio that won over other options. Hope this helps.

 

[Nathyn Masters]

(Just being picky - 4:3, 16:9, etc. are aspect ratios, 4K, 2K, 1080, etc. can be called resolutions, but, strictly speaking, resolution tied to pixels per square inch, millimeter, or what ever distance makes sense. The more pixels per square area, the higher the resolution. Just being picky... [/smile])

4:3 goes back to Thomas Edison's choice movie frames. From there it became self-perpetuating. Lenses, cameras, projectors were all designed around 4:3. Development built on what was in use and... there you are with film cameras still shooting 4:3. Obviously 16:9 and other changes have come in, but 16:9, for example, is an aspect ratio that won over other options. Hope this helps.

I understand what 4:3 is, my point was, is there a big outcry for the 4:3 aspect ratio at 4K? It seems like the only thing this camera won't do is 4K/24p @ 16:9 which I have to assume is coming. It's like they're teasing us filmmakers. In my neck of the woods 16:9 and 24p are a big thing. Most of the new TVs are 16:9 and have been for some time. I have to assume if they're doing the 4:3 aspect ratio for every resolution, a lot of people want it. Not that it's bad... just unexpected.

-Nate

 

[RBEmerson]

Fair enough - sometimes being picky gets me in trouble.

Anyway, I wonder if 4:3 is simply easier to manage in a camera in this price range. 4K at 16:9 amounts to 8+ megapixels per image. That's a lot of data to deal with even at 30 fps.

 

[jokiin]

I understand what 4:3 is, my point was, is there a big outcry for the 4:3 aspect ratio at 4K?

possibly not a lot but perhaps a case of being able to offer this resolution so doing it because they can

there are people that choose to shoot in the largest frame possible and just selectively crop what they want for use in a lower res output file, maybe it appeals to those types

 

[Nathyn Masters]

possibly not a lot but perhaps a case of being able to offer this resolution so doing it because they can

there are people that choose to shoot in the largest frame possible and just selectively crop what they want for use in a lower res output file, maybe it appeals to those types

You could crop from 4K at 4:3. Didn't think about that.

-Nate

 

[Nathyn Masters]

Fair enough - sometimes being picky gets me in trouble.

Anyway, I wonder if 4:3 is simply easier to manage in a camera in this price range. 4K at 16:9 amounts to 8+ megapixels per image. That's a lot of data to deal with even at 30 fps.

Aside from the cropping possibilities it would make the 4K generally unusable. Like those cameras that did 4K at 15fps and no one used it (no one I know). They just wanted to put 4K on the box. Also I would think doing 4K at 24p instead of 30p would also serve the same purpose of not having to deal with so much data. It's six 4K frames the camera doesn't have to push out.

-Nate

 

[jokiin]

Also I would think doing 4K at 24p instead of 30p would also serve the same purpose of not having to deal with so much data. It's six 4K frames the camera doesn't have to push out.

-Nate

I would think the majority are limited by whatever is in the SDK, things like this are generally pending the chipset manufacturer making the function available as an option to begin with, if none have it I'd be leaning toward that being the case

 

[Nathyn Masters]

I would think the majority are limited by whatever is in the SDK, things like this are generally pending the chipset manufacturer making the function available as an option to begin with, if none have it I'd be leaning toward that being the case

But if the camera does 4K 30p and 25p superview I would assume 24p 16:9 would be no problem, especially with it being so common.

-Nate

 

[jokiin]

But if the camera does 4K 30p and 25p superview I would assume 24p 16:9 would be no problem, especially with it being so common.

-Nate

it may be technically possible yet still not available as an option, as I said if none have it then likely it hasn't been made available as yet, quite possibly because it has never been requested

we request changes all the time in our chipset SDK's which to me make perfect sense but they're often the first time the manufacturer has heard about it, don't ask, don't get

 

[Nathyn Masters]

it may be technically possible yet still not available as an option, as I said if none have it then likely it hasn't been made available as yet, quite possibly because it has never been requested

we request changes all the time in our chipset SDK's which to me make perfect sense but they're often the first time the manufacturer has heard about it, don't ask, don't get

Ah, I see what you mean. That actually does explain a lot.

-Nate

 

[kamkar]

we request changes all the time in our chipset SDK's

You need to stop listening to my ramblings

That 4:3 thing arnt that also down to some sensors still having that aspect ratio ?
Just nobody use that for other things but photos these days.

 

[RBEmerson]

The idea of shooting in 4K to crop down to lower resolution is... why not use 4:3 and HD or whatever to begin with? IMNSHO good photography, moving or still, begins with the photographer, not the camera. Using the camera or editing suite to fix poor photography only continues the error. [/head shake]

 

[kamkar]

I was shooting from the hip yesterday in the rain forest, dident get to test many parts of the camera, but it do feel like the new EIS are better than the old one.

Took a long time before the cameras heated up as they cooled down good on my walk there, so going from 5 degrees to +30 degrees with 100% humidity did fog up the lens for a while.
Next time i better store the cameras really close to my skin so they dont drop so low in temperature on the walk from where i part to the greenhouse.

 

[Deleted member 24437]

I like the last fw 4:3 offering -lots of sky!

 

[RBEmerson]

Unfortunately I can't embed a sample video pointing out the saturation and EIS issues. Additionally, Smugmug trashed the video with a hideous amount of compression even though the video was uploaded at 4K. Grrrr...
Click on
https://richardemerson.smugmug.com/General/n-DMz9Qq/New-folder/i-5rDj43G/A

The grass, trees, and road signs are all too green, yellow or orange, and too yellow. There are a set of bumps around 00:25 or 00:26 where the bike and scenery bounces even though the bumps weren't that bad.
By comparison, jump to 11:05 foor how V1.15 handled bumping a lot more than in my Smugmug sample. And colors in this video are closer to correct.

 

[TonyCams]

Shazam was an 80's band, right?