New Sony Action Cams For 2016

Sony’s push in the highly competitive Action Cam market continues with the same strategy which consists in focusing on improving the cameras’ industrial design, controls, and image quality over its previous models, like the FDR-X1000V from 2015.

To that end, the new Sony Action Cams will feature a higher resolution LCD, which will make the user-interface (UI) more legible. They will also switch to an icon-based graphical interface. To be fair, the UIs of Action Cams (in general) have much to be desired, and any improvement will make a big difference in their day to day use.

Regarding image quality, the thing that caught my attention was the improved Sony image stabilization (IS) system called Steady Shot. Steady Shot is an electronic stabilization based on image processing rather than compensating for the optics’ motion. It tends to work better for low-amplitude motion induced by walking or running with the camera. The optical stabilization is more suited to compensate the hand’s minute shaking when trying to hold the camera steady.

The imaging system is backed by an 11.1 Megapixel Backside Illuminated (BSI) Sony EXMOR CMOS sensor. It can record with a bitrate of 50Mbps and can process videos at 100/120 FPS in specific resolutions.

It’s also possible to switch to/from Wide and Narrow view angles, along with selecting a different Zoom mode (3x electronic zoom max.).

There are also new accessories like the AKA-CAP1 Cap Clip that offers a simple clip mechanism, compact design and a degree of freedom in the vertical axis.

Hubert Nguyen
Categories: Photo-Video
Tags: Action Cams, CES, CES 2016, Sony