Sony 4K Action Camera $349 @ JB Hi-Fi

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• 

  haydent on 15/04/2016 - 18:10

  +1

  I can vouch for the camera at this price. Be warned it is fish eye only though and for 4K you must use 64gb or over and U3 sdxc

  • 

    sam buster on 15/04/2016 - 19:44

    Fisheye only?

    Sheesh - Sony have the chance to take over this action cam market, but every cam I look at from them seems to fall short on one aspect or another.
    The last one I almost bought couldn't focus underwater. This one only views fisheye.

    Out of curiousity, is 4K detail worthwhile if it's barrel distorted?

    Thanks for tipping us off.

    • 

      picogary on 15/04/2016 - 20:32

      +1

      This one won't focus underwater either! You need to get a flat lens accessory; it's an alternate door for the underwater housing. Completely ridiculous that the underwater housing doesn't come with the capacity to focus underwater. The one you want is this dive door. (assuming you are happy to spend).

      The need to buy a $60+ accessory to enable underwater focus is what turned me off the current high-end offerings from Sony.

      There is some good news though!
      Sony have rectified this issue in the recently released HDR-AS50 but it is in the 'budget' range, not the high-end white splashproof (without the underwater housing) model. Maybe there will be a subsequent refresh in the near future for the x1000v, AZ1 etc.

      As for the barrel distortion… If you do a bit of searching, you'll find reviews of the software solutions that can help address the lens distortion. It's all a bit fiddly though - just consider that you will face the same issues with all 'action' cameras. They're designed to capture a really wide field of view, after all.
      I can't remember the source but when I was researching these cameras I came across a great review that had some before and after samples, of high resolution photos that had been corrected. They came out really well.

    • 

      krisspy on 15/04/2016 - 22:47

      +2

      Basically turning on steady shot crops the FOV to 120 degrees, eliminating most of the distortion (but introduces jello and warp stabilisation effects). But on 4k you cant turn steady shot on, so you're stuck with 170deg FOV with the insane distortion. People have been requesting FOV adjustments for video ever since the as100v years ago on the official forums, sony just likes dicking around and ignoring their customers.

      I've only got the as200 but the lense distortion should be prety similar. It's hardly noticeable or distracting when it's just selfies (snowboarding for example) but when it's landscape or alot of panning/tilting… oh boy.

      Basically the issues that plagued previous models still persist in this "flagship" model.
      - stock waterproof case doesnt focus underwater
      - no FOV adjustment for video, rely on steadyshot instead to crop the image
      - timelapses use crappy 1080p video resolution instead of actually stitching photos at higher resolutions

      I honestly dont know wtf sony is doing. Their forums is full of people crying to fix these and they're all being ignored. My xiaomi yi has had more support and firmware updates compared to this. I can even take raw photos with it ffs

    • 

      grunge on 16/04/2016 - 09:04

      Most action cameras are fisheye. Not sure what software it uses, but possibly you can correct it iwth software?
      I know GoPro does that, that's a fisheye cam.

• 

  6828 on 15/04/2016 - 20:21

  Shoot with steady shot and it will be 120 degrees instead of 170.

  • 

    CVonC on 15/04/2016 - 20:29

    ^ this ^

    but the whole point of these action cams is for the wide angle view anyway

  • 

    krisspy on 15/04/2016 - 22:33

    +1

    you cant steady shot on 4k

    • 

      CVonC on 15/04/2016 - 22:44

      yes that's the limitation unfortunately.