Sony enters the action camera market
Uber’s brand Sony has announced the launch of its first real action camera, and it looks like it’s going to hold no punches in its mission to challenge GoPro and Drift for market dominance.
Despite the plethora of buzz surrounding the launch of this camera, Sony isn’t the first major electronics brand to enter the action sports arena. JVC recently released the ADIXXION, a feature-rich action camera that is proving popular within action sports communities.
With JVC receiving the positive reception it has, it was only a matter of time before another major retailer stepped up to claim their share of the pie. So what does the Sony Action Cam have to offer?
The Action Cam, as its name suggests, has been designed with action sports in mind. It’s small, tough, and suitable for any type of extreme sport, from cycling to paragliding and everything in between.
It features five video modes, including the industry’s first 4x slow mode in HD 720p (120 fps) for super slow motion capability. It also records Full 1080p HD (30 fps), 2x slow mode in HD 720p (60 fps), standard HD 720p (30 fps), and SD VGA 480p (30 fps).
When developing this camera, the ability to draw inspiration and technology from its extensive portfolio of existing high-end cameras was certainly a great asset to Sony, as the following features suggest.
The camera features a 16-megapixel back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor for improved sensitivity in low-light conditions, and like Sony’s DSLR cameras, the Action Cam features a 170-degree Carl Zeiss Tessar glass lens, which it seems poised to deliver some of the sharpest video ever seen. of an action camera.
The Action Cam features Sony’s SteadyShot image stabilization technology to help deal with the inevitable shakes of action sports, and an innovative feature called ‘3-Way Shake Cancelling’. The latter adds electronic roll stability, which in theory allows for greater mobility, meaning you can mount the camera pretty much anywhere without affecting video quality.
In keeping with many modern action cameras, the Sony Action Cam will come in two models, one with and one without WiFi capability. Users of the standard model without WiFi will have to make do with operating the device via the built-in LCD, while the WiFi version will allow users to operate the camera and align shots via their smartphone.
GoPro, Drift and others, stay tuned, because the Sony Action Cam is bringing some serious competition to the action camera market.