Sony FDRX3000/W Underwater Camcorder 4K, White

I only have the GoPro Hero3+ as a comparison so nothing GoPro with image stabilization. The image stabilization on this camera (BOSS) is very impressive. I've never been a huge fan of the super wide angle GoPro look of videos, I assume most camera makers way around not having image stabilization is to go with that really wide fisheye look to cover up the person holding the cameras shakiness. With this Sony that isn't an issue, and underwater videos shot from this thing look incredible, not that the GoPro is bad it's just that this Sony has way less of the stretchy wide angle so the videos just look better IMO.The underwater housing is somewhat tough to open and close, might be a good thing though. You'll need extra batteries especially shooting in the highest resolutions.Shooting in 1080p at 120fps makes some Amazing videos, drops of water slowed down during playback are just un-real. The only issue with those files are trying to network stream them back on my TV through an Apple TV or an Amazon Fire TV, they stutter, stutter.....crash. These are 2 year old TVs, not 4K though. You would think they could handle 1080p files? They don't even playback any better via USB plugged directly into the TV. I assume post processing the files would result in a playable file, they look amazing straight off the camera on a iMac with 5k display. Quicktime recognizes them as 120 fps files and gives you the cool slow motion playback option, no Sony software required.If you do already own a lot of GoPro accessories I would go ahead and order the part so you can use your mounts on the Sony. There's not a lot of accessories for this camera but, it has the standard threaded camera mount on it so, it's a non issue. The waterproof housing and the camera itself have the threaded mount option.The connection to your mobile device works nicely with the PlayMemories app, very easy to understand and really makes shooting a time-lapse a breeze. Actually, any camera settings you want to make are probably more easily done with the app rather than that tiny screen on the camera itself. For my old eyes that screen is a chore. I find that I prefer the way this camera fits in my pocket better than my GoPro, it's not a size issue just the layout of the cameras. I don't have the big weird hood lens cover on my Sony, probably should but I'm waiting for a better option.In summary I have to say that this is a better camera than my Hero 3+ but, I can't say for certain if it's better than the Hero 5 not having used it. What I can say for sure is that if I had never bought a GoPro and I just grabbed this Sony I wouldn't feel like I missed out on anything. Maybe a few tweaks here or there but this camera doesn't lack anything at all. It already creates better files than my devices can even playback.I've never been much of a Sony fan so, I bought this camera fully expecting I would likely return it and get the Hero 5. The fact that GoPro keeps changing things just enough to make us have to replace our accessories has made me look at other options, for the time being I'm not looking back.I'll keep the Sony!

This camera is a bit larger than other cameras in Sony action camera product line but it compensates it with superb image quality. It has a new button layout which is better than the previous one in my opinion. Micro USB and Mic inputs are located at the back of the body, so it's accessible while using camera mount. Battery is located at the side. It has waterproof housing which gives very good shock and water protection, but it adds some size to the camera and muffles the sound.Image quality of this camera is very good and it has many different video modes. The overall color gamma is a bit colder compared to GoPro cameras, but in my opinion it looks better that way. You can adjust the color temperature using menu and preset color modes such as vivid colors which adds some saturation and contrast or the flat mode which gives quite dull colors. It can shoot 4K up to 30fps and 1080p up to 120fps which is very good, there is also option to shoot 720p with 240fps, but image quality in my opinion is not very good in that mode due to huge noise.For shooting XAVC S video format in 4K this camera requires micro SDXC card with UHS 3 quality standard. I've heard that a lot of people have trouble with memory cards which are not made by Sony, but I bought SanDisk Xtreme Pro 64GB memory card which works just fine. I've heard that some PNY memory cards work as well but there are problems with Samsung and some other memory cards.Microphone of this camera is very good, it captures voice from 2 meters distance without any trouble. It has wind noise reduction, but in my case it did not make such huge difference.Image stabilization of this camera is remarkable, it really smooths out most of the shaking and therefore gives much more clear image. you can choose if you want to use only software image stabilization like the previous models had or the optical stabilization.This camera has also GPS support. At first the GPS showed me that it had no signal but eventually it begun to work, I think it took quite a lot of time (30 min) to adjust because I used this camera in Estonia but bought it from the US, so it had to adjust it's receiver before recieving signal again from other satellites. Because this camera has no GLONASS support the location data is not very accurate in northern Europe. GPS records location data with quite big latency (up to 5sec), which makes it difficult to record smaller speed and direction changes.There is also a very small down side of this camera which is the screen has no back light, therefore in low light conditions you have to use smart phone or the remote to change settings. Also the battery does not last very long, I managed to shoot 1h 5min in a row using 1080p 60fps XAVC S format before battery was empty. So I recommend to buy spare battery as well. Also there was no mounts or any kind of fixing gear included which was a bit of disappointment for 400$ camera.Overall this camera has very good build quality and it shoots very clear hi-res image. Optical image stabilization of this camera makes it better than most of it's competitors like GoPro hero 5 black. It is also very easy to connect to smartphone using NFC and bluetooth.

Great little action camPros:+I like the design as it's easier to hold or use than the gopro form factor+ buttons are easy to use and menu system is easy once you get used to it+ I like the included waterproof case+ pretty good video and photo quality+ downloadable software is nice to help edit or do time lapses with+ 4k is decent but I normally shoot 1080p for size and space+ since i have other sony cameras, sync'ing to phone is nice for second screenCons:- using the waterproof case means you can't hear anything- battery life is average, keep some spares- not as much aftermarket accessories but can adapt to gopro system