Sony Action Cam — Does anyone have one? Would you buy one?
Hey guys,
Just wondering if anyone owns a Sony Action Cam and what your thoughts are on it?
If not, is it something you would consider purchasing if/when you’re in the market for a POV camera?
The reason I am asking, it is likely Boardworld will be selling GoPro when our new site drops, and we are also looking at Sony Action Cam as a second brand. I personally have not used one, but they seem to be getting a lot of attention and good reviews, with guys like Tony Hawk using Action Cam as his preferred camera. Boardworld will be looking to have a strong and diverse product range as we launch the new store, and I want our customers to have a choice between the best products on the market.
Just looking for your honest thoughts.
Thanks in advance. 
^ Had a mate @ whistler use the action cam when I was visiting in 2013, and it seems find and a good alternative to the GP.
Took some screenshots and I’ve used a few of the shots as my wallpaper. =)
I was looking at getting a sony as an alternative, but I managed to get a 3+ black for cheep… so yeah…
Hope that helps!
Well if tony hawk has one…
Doesn’t Northern? His stuff looks pretty good!
I have the HDR AS30v, which is the slighly older model now (still capable of 1080p 60fps). and am very happy with it, It’s easy to use has great battery life, the mobile phone app works well with not much lag on the viewfinder.
I also like the fact that it has a standard tripod screw for mounting so you can easily figure something out to hold it steady, which reminds me that the image stabilisation is pretty decent too.
The camera performs well overall and is slightly cheaper than the equivalent gopro (which most likely uses the same image sensor because gopro buys its sensors from Sony). I don’t really see any deal-breaker downsides of the sony.
Mike (NBG) does have one so maybe hit him up to post.
I have used it before and it’s by far the simplest camera to use. It literally has a big red button on the back that turns it on, starts recording and then click it again to save and turn off.
Overall, from what I have seen it’s definitely my favourite and will be the next action cam I buy. But then again, I’ve bought a few newer Sony devices and they have all been above expectations.
Thats a good point TJ.
I have a lot of sony stuff too!
The camera performs well overall and is slightly cheaper than the equivalent gopro (which most likely uses the same image sensor because gopro buys its sensors from Sony). I don’t really see any deal-breaker downsides of the sony.
Really? I heard from a very reliable source in the sport camera business that GP has a tech sharing lock out on the company that makes the sensors so that they can’t sell the tech to anyone else.
I might have miss understood some part of what this source was saying though and maybe it’s another essential part of the camera.
Really? I heard from a very reliable source in the sport camera business that GP has a tech sharing lock out on the company that makes the sensors so that they can’t sell the tech to anyone else.
I might have miss understood some part of what this source was saying though and maybe it’s another essential part of the camera.
I’m not too sure about it eaither really… I can easily find the specs for the GoPro hero 3, it used the Sony IMX117 exmor sensor, hero 3 teardown and I have seen many reputable people/websites that believe it would be another sony sensor in the new GoPro because they are world leaders in sensor technology. It could be that Sony sells a certain sensor only to GoPro and uses slightly different versions themselves/ to sell to other companies.
that said the image processing chips are likely completely different and that plays a big role in what the cameras can do. either way both Sony action cams and GoPro’s are good cameras.
Guess what… I think Sony is better than GoPro.
Guess what… I think Sony is better than GoPro.
Yeah but that’s not news to anyone…
Thanks for all the responses. I really appreciate it.
I just got myself a Hitcase PRO+, which I will be testing very soon! It basically turns your iPhone into a shockproof, waterproof camera with a 170° fisheye lens. I use my iPhone a lot when I’m snowboarding, so I’m super stoked to test this.
I’m going to start a new thread about it.
Yes I have three of them and obviously like them. I have two of the first ones and a HDR30 for the missus. I like them for both surfing and snowboarding but would like another later model one with the buttons on the side so you can change settings on the fly without pulling the cam out of the case.
Never fogged up in the snow but it can happen surfing, you just need to be careful especially in aircon in the tropics when you put the cam in the housing. The new underwater housing shoots awesome underwater images, the normal housing not so much underwater but good on top. Almost all of the stuff on my vimeo channel was shot with Sony Action cams exclusively including the TR vid from the USA in March this year.
Good to know. Thanks, NBG.
I purchased the new Sony FDR-3000 4K ActionCam late last year to capture some footage from my trip to Canada/NYC.
Got it for a decent price at the time…$1 more than the most recent GoPro Hero 5:
I am really impressed with how well it captures in terms of frame rate and stability. The main selling point for me was that Sony incorporated their trademark B.O.S.S (Balanced Optical Steady-Shot) technology in to this thing.
Battery life isn’t too bad, as it lasted me a couple of days of shooting (not-continuously). I’d mainly use it for 2-5 minutes at a time capturing various things spread out across the day. The battery itself is said to provide 60 minutes continuous shooting at 4K res but I dropped it down to shoot in 1080p MP4 format which is fine for me. Again, seemed to last me quite a while taking it out every so often to shoot for a few minutes which I’m happy with.
Only thing that I think the GoPro has over the Sony is the accessories…The mounts for GoPro are really good and there’s a lot of variety. I do think Sony will catch up as it still early days for their ActionCam so I’ll be keeping an eye on it!
Cheers!
Hey guys, sorry for bringing up an old thread but I just thought id let you fellow shredders know, I can get you a 30 to 40% discount on action cams and accessories if your after one of these cams.
Not a rep for the brand or anything just a perk that I don’t really take advantage of enough.
PM me if your interested? 