DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

 
@diyphotography

Telegram Me

Instagram

Submit A Story

The new FDR-X3000 action cam from Sony has stabilized 4K video and a control watch

Share
Tweet
September 10, 2016 by Udi Tirosh 1 Comment

sony-action-camera-01

Sony was always a weird player in the action cam arena. While everyone was doing GoPro like cameras (aside contour, maybe), they were sticking to their weird camcorder design. But now it seems that their different form factor is also holding some best in market features. Most notably is stabilized 4K recording.

Sony released two new action cameras. They are both white, which is a plus over GoPro already, but its the tech under the hood which is more interesting. Both cameras are very similar and the big difference is 4k on the X3000 and Full HD on the AS300. This tech is coming from Sony’s Handycam and is called (brace yourselves) Balanced Optical SteadyShot image stabilization, or BOSS for short. (really, Sony, REALLY??)

This movie shows the difference between stabilized and unstabilized 4K footage on the X3000

Now, this is pretty big, as I am not aware of any other action camera offering stabilized 4K footage. (the YI 4K offers stabilised footage but only at 2.5k and below). The baby sister AS300 will get the same stabilization only in HD. The special “trick” that BOSS uses is quite different from the ones we know. It is not compensating by moving lens elements, or moving the sensor. BOSS is moving the entire optical block, and reportedly has better shake reducing performance than all other technologies.

sony-action-camera-02

Both cameras utilize “a new ZEISS® Tessar lens with significantly less lens distortion than previous models”. And new sensors and processors: “a new back-illuminated Exmor R® CMOS sensor with large pixels designed for 16:9 aspect ratio video plus a powerful BIONZ X™ processor“. Interestingly, both cameras feature a relatively high bitrate: 100Mbps in 4K and 50Mbps in Full HD. Is it a quality bit rate? we will wait for the first reviews to come in. (We will also report live from photokina too, check our new instagram account where we will share quick updates).

Another feature is a live view watch remote. Unlike the button remote for the gopro, or the app remote for the YI (and gopro), the X3000 and  AS300 can be bought with a watch remote thingy, which kinda remind me of the Casio Databank watch of the 80’s but despite its cumbersome looks, it can be pretty valuable when you need to control the camera at water drenched locations. (or when you are afraid of having butter fingers and dropping your phone from significant heights).

sony-action-camera-03

Both cameras should be available starting late September (post photokina?). The 4K FDR-X3000 will set you back $400 ($550 bundled with the remote watch). The Full HD-resolution HDR-AS300 is a little less at $300 ($450 bundled with the remote watch).

sony-action-camera-04 sony-action-camera-05 sony-action-camera-06 sony-action-camera-07

P.S. so, its 2016 and sony is still making HD action cameras side by side their 4K cameras. I would say that HD is not quite dead yet.

P.P.S if you can’t wait to get your hands on this one, you can buy the Japanese model which is already available for a ew months now, albeit at a higher cost.

Share
Tweet

Related posts:

Sony’s new RX0 action camera shoots 1080p up to 1,000fps and outputs uncompressed 4K video Sony Announces the Full Frame A7S, Highlighting on Low-Light Sensitivity Sony’s new SD card is the world’s fastest with transfer speeds of 300MB/sec This is the first GoPro ever – and it’s a 35mm film camera

Filed Under: Gear Tagged With: action camera, Gear Announcement, gopro, sony, Sony AS300, Sony X3000, Yi 4K

About Udi Tirosh

Udi Tirosh is the Founder and Editor in Chief of DIYPhotography, he is also a photographer, a relentless entrepreneur, a prolific inventor and a dad, not necessarily in that order

« Thinking about closed and open form pictures; or how old art history terms can still be useful
A primer to advanced composition (and critiquing your own work) »
  • Ken Woodard

    That watch looks like what we thought future camera controllable watches would look like in the 80’s.

Popular on DIYP

  • This epic video is what happens when a pro racing drone pilot turns on the camera
  • The Nikon Z6 goes head to head with the Sony A7III with some surprising results
  • Canon EOS RP first impressions leave filmmakers disappointed
  • These are five free and simple mobile apps every landscape photographer should install
  • This guy wants to rescue 100,000 film cameras by the year 2020
  • Photographer receives death threats after images suggesting animal abuse go viral
  • Stop Instagram from ruining your videos with this easy technique
  • Atomos Shinobi goes head to head with SmallHD FOCUS 5″ at $75 less
  • These five clever tricks will help you save thousands on camera gear
  • How much should photographers charge in 2018

Recent Comments


Previous Polls

Dunja Djudjic is a writer and photographer from Novi Sad, Serbia. You can see her work on Flickr, Behance and her Facebook page.

John Aldred is based in Scotland and photographs animals in the studio and people in the wild.

You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.

JP Danko is a commercial photographer based in Toronto, Canada. JP
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.

To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.

JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.

Clinton Lofthouse is a Photographer, Retoucher and Digital Artist based in the United Kingdom, who specialises in creative retouching and composites. Proud 80's baby, reader of graphic novels and movie geek!
Find my work on My website or follow me on Facebook or My page

Recent Posts

  • How to create an epic orbiting 360° timelapse rig using PVC pipe and an egg timer
  • How to shoot those crazy dance floor light streak photos with flash
  • Apple makes a Bokeh commercial, uses “bokeh” as a verb and pronounces it wrong
  • Is 4:2:2 video worth it? Can you even tell the difference over 4:2:0?
  • EyeEm and Animoto affected by major security breach – over 47 million accounts compromised

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2019 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy