Sony HDR-AS15 and AS10 Action Camera

Although I don't have much interest in POV "action cameras" like GoPro (gotta love the shmick name they gave those things), many will be interested to hear that Sony are releasing their own version:

http://nofilmschool....mera-this-fall/

http://www.theverge....ands-on#3501523

Sony will have a splash-proof housing for it and no doubt someone will make an UW case. If they use a decent codec and don't cripple the bit-rate it could be useful for my next Great White Shark trip.

The UW housing has a dome port. I wonder if Sony have made the same mistake Gopro did. Third party port hackers standing by....

In the worst kept secret in the industry, Sony has just officially announced the "Action Cam" HDR-AS15 and HDR-AS10, 2 small form video cameras for the mini-video camera market popularized by GoPro.

The 1/2.3" 11mp CMOS sensor cameras come with Steady Shot image stabilization and records at HQ 16mbps (compared to GoPro HD2's 35 mbps). The camera can do a Slow and Super Slow Motion mode at 60 or 120fps in 720/30p mode. Strangely, it does not shoot 720/60p at all.

The lens has a similar FOV to the GoPro, 170° without Steady Shot and 120° with Steady shot. Other features include Wifi for the AS15 with smart phone control.

The housing goes to 60m but uses a dome port. With a mfd of 30cm, I suspect there'll be a focus issue like the GoPro. The good news is that the battery is removable and can be replaced with a fully charged spare battery.

Looking at the specs, it is obvious Sony aimed the AS series at the weaknesses of GoPro, namely image stabilization, super slow motion and wireless connection without an accessory pack, all at the lower price than GoPro.

There's much to like with the Sonys, but ultimately the image quality will be the main factor. The GoPro HD2 can now shoot 35mbps with Technicolor's Cinestyle profile. The Sonys shoot 16mbps and only 2mp stills. It'll be important to see if the Sony sensor will shoot cleaner despite the smaller pixel pitch. The super slow motion mode alone is worth buy a AS10 as a complement to the GoPro even.

I can't wait to test this camera out when it arrives!

I just watched the video demo's and was underimpressed. http://store.sony.co...Sony_Action_Cam The extra 19mbps makes a big difference.

Too bad because I sort of wanted one.

In the worst kept secret in the industry, Sony has just officially announced the "Action Cam" HDR-AS15 and HDR-AS10, 2 small form video cameras for the mini-video camera market popularized by GoPro.

 

The 1/2.3" 11mp CMOS sensor cameras come with Steady Shot image stabilization and records at HQ 16mbps (compared to GoPro HD2's 35 mbps). The camera can do a Slow and Super Slow Motion mode at 60 or 120fps in 720/30p mode. Strangely, it does not shoot 720/60p at all.

The lens has a similar FOV to the GoPro, 170° without Steady Shot and 120° with Steady shot. Other features include Wifi for the AS15 with smart phone control.

The housing goes to 60m but uses a dome port. With a mfd of 30cm, I suspect there'll be a focus issue like the GoPro. The good news is that the battery is removable and can be replaced with a fully charged spare battery.

 

Looking at the specs, it is obvious Sony aimed the AS series at the weaknesses of GoPro, namely image stabilization, super slow motion and wireless connection without an accessory pack, all at the lower price than GoPro.

 

There's much to like with the Sonys, but ultimately the image quality will be the main factor. The GoPro HD2 can now shoot 35mbps with Technicolor's Cinestyle profile. The Sonys shoot 16mbps and only 2mp stills. It'll be important to see if the Sony sensor will shoot cleaner despite the smaller pixel pitch. The super slow motion mode alone is worth buy a AS10 as a complement to the GoPro even.

 

I can't wait to test this camera out when it arrives!

I thought the GoPro Hero 2 bit rate was more like 15-20 mbps currently, but that it would be upgraded to 35 mbps in an upcoming (but not yet available) firmware upgrade. Looking at the Sony demo, it didn't look great in terms of compression artifacts, but I wouldn't be surprised if a fair amount of that is just web compression. I'll reserve judgement till i see some files straight from the camera. The GoPros are hard to beat for the money, though, and should be even better once we get the firmware upgrade. The range of mounting options offered by GoPro and also third party manufacturers is also pretty impressive. One area which could do with some improvement is low light, where the GoPro's quickly fall apart. I wonder if the Sonys will be any better.

I just watched the video demo's and was underimpressed. http://store.sony.co...Sony_Action_Cam The extra 19mbps makes a big difference.

 

Too bad because I sort of wanted one.

It's a web version, so not indicative of actual performance.

I thought the GoPro Hero 2 bit rate was more like 15-20 mbps currently, but that it would be upgraded to 35 mbps in an upcoming (but not yet available) firmware upgrade.

 

The GoPros are hard to beat for the money, though, and should be even better once we get the firmware upgrade. The range of mounting options offered by GoPro and also third party manufacturers is also pretty impressive. One area which could do with some improvement is low light, where the GoPro's quickly fall apart. I wonder if the Sonys will be any better.

Yes, GoPro Pro Tune isn't available yet. They are having a bit of problem with it. It's still available in beta only.

GoPro 2s are better than the 1s on noise but it's not hard to improve on crap! It's a small sensor camera that costs under $300. Speaking of costs,the Sony AS15 is $269 and that comes with wifi. I think Sony is pricing it under GoPro to break into the market. The accessories should follow if it penetrates the market significantly.

It's a web version, so not indicative of actual performance.

There's a lot more artifacting on any of their demos (at least the 6 I looked at) than the GoPro main page demo.

Companies sometimes makes silly marketing mistakes like that. It even says on the video url that it's low res. And their marketing reel is almost a verbatim copy of the Gopro... but a lot less polished in editing. What I do notice is a slightly more stable image for some of the POV shots. I'd wait and see. I hope it's not that bad because GoPro needs some competition.

I used a Sony MC1 in a seatool housing for a NHK shoot and it was pretty cool for the shallow, freshwater fishy sequences i was shooting... Would gave loved to see it in action in clearer/warmer waters though