Sony has today unveiled the next crop of direct GoPro line Competitor action cameras. There are two new cameras with improved specs as follows:
FDR-X1000V 4k Action Cam:
- MSRP $499.99
- Pixel Gross : Approx.12.8 MP
- Minimum Illumination : 6 lux (1/30 Shutter Speed)
- Steady Shot Mode:Active : 21.8mm
- Slow Motion XAVC S HD 120p 1920×1080
- Slow Motion XAVC S HD 240p 1280×720
- XAVC S 4K 3840×2160 30p/25p/24p
- Control up to 5 Action Cam via phone or LiveView™
- Remote3Loop recording prevents running out of memory card
- Ultra wide up to 170° pro quality f/2.8 bright ZEISS® lens
- Auto Non Flicker : Yes
HDR-AS200V HD Action Cam:
- MSRP $299.99
- Pixel Gross : Approx.12.8 MP
- Minimum Illumination : 6 lux (1/30 Shutter Speed)
- Steady Shot Mode:Active : 21.8mm
- Slow Motion 1280×720 120p/100p
- Slow Motion 240p 800×480
- XAVC S 4K 3840×2160 30p/25p/24p
- Control up to 5 Action Cam via phone or LiveView™
- Remote3Loop recording prevents running out of memory card
- Ultra wide up to 170° pro quality f/2.8 bright ZEISS® lens
- Auto Non Flicker : Yes
Both cameras seem to share the same sensor and are very close in features like steady-shot and flicker reduction. The real difference is the 4k and ability to record in the format at up to 100 Mbps in 24, 25 and 30fps at UHD 4k. Slow motion wise the pie gets thinner on the AS200V with only 120p at HD 720 and 240p at lower than HD resolution.
Tony Hawk Presents the new Sony 4k Action Cam:
The FDR-X1000V shows its strengths with a nice 28 Mbps full HD 120p mode at 1920*1080 and a not to shabby 240p mode at 1280*720. It remains to be seen at what quality will the camera record and if visual glitches might contradict the value proposition. At this stage we can only recommend that you hold off on buying a GoPro Hero 4 black camera and wait for the image samples to be released. The specs alone are already making the GoPro spec sheet nervous with steady shot and higher bit rate 4k. The slow motion while the same at 1080p it is double the GoPro’s at 240p instead of 120p at 720 HD.
We believe the quality based on the videos shared by Sony are encouraging and that the slow motion samples while still absent at a rate of 28 Mbps would probably mean acceptable to great in quality.
Certainly the GoPro Hero 4 black seems so last year after these Sony Action cams with better features like stabilization for a competitive price have certainly climbed to the top of the drone and action sports enthusiast list.
Steady-shot on and off, huge difference!
Stay tuned to HSC for more CES 2015 Slow motion News!
Wow I love this website, Ive been a slow motion junky since seeing the first Matrix film! Like in my previous posts, I will be filming lots of sports action footage in March onwards and I was very close to buying a couple of GoPro 4 Black for their 120fps at 1080p. I have heard that the quality at 120fps on the GoPro is considerably lower than at 30-60fps on the GoPro 1080p. Very exciting to see that Sony may produce much better quality slow motion for action sports :D. One quick question, do you think that the FS7 is a huge jump better in slow motion quality over the NX1 or not enough to justify the extra spend? I have the budget but I am torn between either of them. Thanks 🙂
Thanks Thomas,
The FS7 is much higher quality than the NX1 for slow motion. It also offers the possibility with an external recorder of saving 240fps RAW 2k resolution. However the FS700 offers the same RAW 240fps to external recorder at a lower price.
The FS7 is 4k internal and more modern than the FS700 but its also more expensive. The NX1 has a pretty low quality codec and a lot of aliasing for slow motion. For 4k the FS7 still wins as the NX1 has a codec that tends to have shadow noise problems. For the price however the NX1 for 4k recording is quite cheap.
The FS7 is a bulky camera, the NX1 is a mirrorless Camera, it all comes down on how you will use it. If you plan on shooting commercials and or documentaries/films then the FS7 is your camera. If you plan on just doing video for yourself and experiment then the NX1 is a much more sensible proposition. Be aware that 4k is now coming out in a lot of cheaper cameras, don’t be surprised if the NX1 or FS7 are unappealing a year from now as better options surface.
Hi Mr/Mrs HiSpeedCams,
Thanks for the great detailed answer I really love this website 🙂
I am slightly scared to make the plunge and make a purchase as you say that technology is moving at such a fast rate! I would hate to buy a FS7 then next year a FS8 comes out at 1000fps 1080p or 400fps 4k! Also XQD cards for FS7 are very expensive! However I plan to do a lot of professional work (currently working on lots of training and marketing for companies so I think the XLR advantage of FS7 will be of benefit over my current DSLR rig with a Zoom H4) also planning to sell stock footage so 180p high quality codec should help for that, as well as 4k 60fps! I also own a lot of Canon Glass so the fact that I can put these on the Sony I think is helpful rather than having to buy Samsung glass.
Thanks for your advise, I just wish I could see which companies are secretly planning to release an amazing camera! To be honest I would love a Red Epic as it does tick a huge amount of boxes, but I Don’t quite have the budget!
Cameras are tools, if you plan on using one for income then it should pay for itself. I have had about 12 good cameras in my life and all of them have been paid for several times over. If it is only a hobby then the camera will be an expenditure without regaining the capital lost. It will only be a personal item. As a working professional you should extract what you can from a camera and then sell it off before it depreciates further. Use it fully and if you get a new one or do not use it as much anymore then recoup what you can so you can place that money for a new one. It is hard to part with gear but in the end they just gather dust in a shelf if you no longer use them. Someone else will use it and generate content with it and you can move on to better gear.
There are Samsung NX mount adapters for canon lenses but they are not electronic, the Sony Metabones electronic adapters work very well.
Be sure to keep informed on the fps1000, if the 4k version works out itself of a prototype it will be 300fps 4k RAW and over 800fps 1080p RAW for under $5k US.