Phone for slow motion recording in 2020

Gear
#1

Hey all! I’m going to replace my phone soon and I thought I’d make slow-motion video recording a priority while I’m at it. (And the Magnet is coming, gotta get ready!)

I’m going with Android. The thing is, the frame rates that are popular right now are so high, that they come with certain issues for CtC usage:

480fps and 960fps modes

  • won’t include audio

  • are limited to around one second length only

  • may be frame interpolated depending on hardware

  • may possibly also have the line-skipping problem that @Troy mentioned in this thread: Ideal fps Speed on Phone.

As far as I understand, 120fps would be the sweetspot for technique filming, since it’s fast enough and it avoids the above issues. But it looks like 120fps isn’t very common in new phones anymore, being widely replaced by 240fps. It’s also hard to find out details like whether the 240fps mode has a uselessly short maximum length or whether it includes audio.

Does anyone follow the phone business and could say what would be a good Android choice here?

Some information I gathered was from here: https://www.smartprix.com/bytes/best-phones-to-capture-slow-motion-videos/

#2

Apple phones let you switch between 120 and 240, they don’t mandate 240. And 240 works but the video quality is worse and it needs more light, compounding the problem. I have nothing against 240 in concept. If sensor tech improves to where 240 can look as good as 120 does now under the same lighting conditions, it would be even better because some players really do move that quickly where the extra frames would be useful.

Of the phones you’re looking at, can you just find a spec sheet that indicates whether there is a 120 or 240 mode that records audio and has a long enough recording limit? You must have a favorite or two in mind. If you do, I’d start there.

#3

I’m looking at OnePlus 8 Pro spec sheets and reviews from GSMArena, but they don’t specify audio or maximum length (well, OnePlus 7T review did mention audio being in all modes). From a consumer perspective, I suppose you’d just have to assume everything’s normal - there is audio, and video max length is how much space you have left. Somehow I’m not too confident about that… But if nothing turns up online, I think I’ll just visit some stores to test the things myself.

#4

I wouldn’t assume that. We’ve seen examples here where the phone records in high frame rate with audio but when the video speed ramps down to slow motion it drops the audio. I don’t know if that’s because the phone recorded it that way, or just what happened when it exported or uploaded to YouTube If so, you can always just bring the clip into your video editor and export it with the sound intact.

Either way I’d just try and confirm what it does, either by contacting the company or finding sample clips that were recorded with the phone.

#5

I was wondering about that too, and when I tried the slowmotion mode on my OnePlus 3T, it did the same. I think it’s just the way that Android stock camera apps or the operating system itself do it.

#6

iPhone users, particularly CTC crew @Troy @tommo @Brendan: How do you get the audio pitch to stay the same? I tried recording with an iPhone recently, using the default app, and the slow motion mode drops the audio pitch when the slowed down part begins.

#7

You can’t control this on the phone but you can in Final Cut. You might be able to in iMovie as well, I haven’t used it.

#8

Yes it works for me!

I have a OnpePlus 5T, what I do is just record at 60FPS (the max it can do, 120 would be better), then import to the computer and use either iMovie or Reaper to stretch the video+audio. Both softwares have the option to maintain pitch when doing so!

1 Like
#9

Did I understand correctly that you take the 120fps footage and manually pitch shift the audio back up to the original pitch? Or does Final Cut have some special functionality for this?

#10

No it’s just a checkbox “maintain original pitch”. FCPX makes slow motion super duper easy. Couldn’t work without it.

#11

Darn, wish I had a Mac now.

@tommo Yes that works. Although for the purpose of just quickly checking something you’re working on, I think 120fps would cause a lot of extra work.

60fps doesn’t do any automatic slow motion drop, but from what I’ve seen, 120fps always does. I haven’t seen any way to record in more than 60fps without it being an automated “slow motion mode”. You’d still have to go and manually compensate for the change in audio pitch.