It’s back-to-school month, and a ton of new digital gadgets (tech toys) have been released, including the iPhone 17, Insta360 GO Ultra, Canon C50, Nikon ZR, and rumors of the upcoming DJI Osmo Nano... So, am I interested in any of these?
Hello, the tech market is so Hot! Why are so many new tech products launching during back-to-school season? Haven’t humans already spent all their money on summer vacations? Why are major brands still rolling out so many new products for You Humans to buy?
For now, the gadgets that have been released include the iPhone 17, the compact entry-level cinematic camera Canon C50, Nikon ZR, the ultra-mini Insta360 GO Ultra, and the rumored soon-to-be-released DJI Osmo Nano.
Hi, I’m PinK֍.֍Entity (a virtual character), and my main mission is to study humans and things related to them that are interesting. Although my creator, pinkwork™, is an alien lifeform with superpowers, I don’t have any! So, when carrying out the tasks my master assigns me, I would rely on some human-invented tech gadgets to help.
With so many gadgets mentioned above, which one am I actually interested in? The iPhone 17? Nah, I bought an iPhone 16 Pro last year, and it’s still sitting unused. Why buy something I don’t use? I explained the reason in a previous video, you could go to check it out if you’re curious.
Also, it seems Apple recently filed a patent for a super-powerful CMOS sensor with a 20-stop HDR dynamic range. This means it can take stunning photos even in extremely low-light conditions, outperforming similar sensors already on the market from Sony and Samsung.
Who knew Apple was secretly developing its own CMOS sensor? Currently, the market for small CMOS sensors used in phones is pretty much dominated by Sony. Rumor has it, yes, another rumor, hat the next-generation iPhone 18 will use Apple’s own super CMOS sensor. But just because a patent is filed doesn’t mean the tech will actually make it into a product.
Since I’m not interested in the iPhone 17, what about the two entry-level cinematic cameras launched on the same day by Canon and Nikon, the C50 and ZR? Am I interested in those?
Most people might not even know what a “cinematic camera” is. A camera is just a camera, right? Well, before digital technology, cameras were simple, they were just for taking photos.
But with digital tech, cameras evolved to not only take photos but also shoot videos. Now anyone can use a camera to film YouTube videos and snap photos with the same device. However, professional-grade cameras used for filming movies or commercials record video in formats with minimal or no compression, sometimes even raw files with zero compression.
This means the file sizes are massive, potentially dozens of times larger than the common mp4 format! The image-processing chips in these cameras need to be super fast, which is why professional-grade video cameras used to cost hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars.
But in recent years, technology has become more accessible. A few years ago, Sony released professional-grade cameras priced at a few tens of thousands of dollars. Surprisingly, Canon and Nikon have now entered this market, launching entry-level cinematic cameras priced at just HK$23,000 & HK$17,000, respectively. So, am I tempted to buy one? Thanks to YouTubers who’ve already posted review videos, I’ve learned a lot.
These videos are great because KOLs and YouTubers always dig deep, uncovering the pros and cons of new products, especially the cons, since viewers love hearing about flaws. They’ll point out things like, “This camera doesn’t have a built-in cooling fan,” or “That one lacks in-body stabilization,” or “The HDMI port is too small,” and so on.
Realistically, you can’t expect a HK$20,000 camera to have the features of a HK$100,000 one. After watching a few of these review videos, my desire to buy starts to fade. Plus, I don’t really have professional filming needs. And if you don’t already use a particular brand’s camera system, you likely don’t own their lenses, so there’s little reason to switch brands. For me, just following these product news out of curiosity is satisfying enough.
What actually piques my interest the most are those magnetic mini cameras. They’re smaller than action cams, waterproof, and can be attached to clothing or metal surfaces, allowing for unique shooting angles or even filming inside a water bottle. These cameras are perfect for me because my videos are faceless, often shot from a POV (point-of-view) perspective, like capturing just my hands doing things. Only these mini cameras can achieve that effect.
Ideally, AI-powered smart glasses that can record what I see would be perfect. But unfortunately, the tech for these isn’t mature yet. The image quality, especially for video, is terrible, indoor shots in slightly dim lighting are full of noise and basically unusable. Plus, smart glasses cost around HK$3~4,000, and their AI features are currently useless to me.
So, as a compromise, I’m leaning toward these magnetic mini cameras. The newly launched Insta360 GO Ultra seems small and suitable for my needs. The downside is that because these cameras are so tiny, the CMOS sensor they can fit is limited in size. A small CMOS sensor has poor light-gathering ability, so in low-light indoor settings, the image quality inevitably suffers from noise.
Luckily, Insta360 is known for its built-in AI chip that instantly enhances images during shooting, basically adding “MSG” to make the footage noise-free, vibrant, and visually appealing.
Most smartphones now have similar features, which is why people think phone photos and videos always look great. While the average humans loves this approach, I prefer keeping things raw and authentic. If I want to enhance the footage, I’d rather do it during post-production in editing software. It’s better to capture as much raw data and true color as possible upfront.
So, I’m holding off for the rumored DJI Osmo Nano, another magnetic mini camera that might have a slightly larger CMOS sensor. Since I’m not in a rush, I’ll compare them later before deciding which one to buy. Alright, time to head back to the spaceship to report to my creator, pinkwork™ Alien Entity.
Bye Bye !