Description
Product Description
Sony’s smallest splash-proof Action Cam
From the Manufacturer
POV HD Camcorder
Grab every shot with the Action Cam that fits where others can’t. You’ll get super smooth video even on bumpy terrain with SteadyShot image stabilization, and control it all from the wrist-attached Live-View Remote. Want your friends to come along for the ride? Broadcast your video live via Ustream as you’re barrelling down the mountain.
Technology
The new Action Cam Mini: Smaller and lighter
Our Action Cam Mini won’t weigh you down. The slender, splashproof design is about two-thirds the size of our previous Action Cams – so there’s less wind and water pressure when you’re filming.
Relax, it’s splashproof
The HDR-AZ1 easily shrugs off water, thanks to a splashproof design. With an IPX4-class rating, this Action Cam can stand up to showers, spray, and snow as soon as you remove it from the box.
Take full command of your Action Cam
Turn compatible smart phones and tablets in to remote control viewing devices via Wi-Fi with One Touch Near Field Communication (NFC). When using Live View Remote RM-LVR2. Now you can frame your shot, change the shooting modes, turn on GPS, and control up to 5 Action Cams with the use of a single Live View Remote. RM-LVR2 is available via the HDR-AZ1VR Live View Remote Kit only.
SteadyShot beats bumps and blur
Advanced SteadyShot image stabilisation compensates for various kinds of blur, especially the rapid vibrations caused by fast action like motocross or skiing.
Built-In stereo mic for quality sound recording
A built-in stereo microphone allows you to capture all the exciting sounds of your adventure
Broadcast your video live via Ustream as it happens
Share the adventure as it happens via UStream. Now your circle of friends and family can share the excitement in real time by simply logging in to UStream from anywhere.
Additional Features
Ultra wide up to 170° pro quality ZEISS S lens
With an ultra-wide angle professional ZEISS lens, you will increase your perspective (up to 170-degree viewing angle) while you venture out on breathtaking views of dynamic terrain to include ski slopes and mountain trails.
Exmor R CMOS sensor for excellent low light performance
Experience stunning low-light sensitivity with improved image clarity and drastically reduced grain with Sony’s back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor.
Action Cam Movie Creator
Action Cam Movie Creator – a new editing application optimised for Action Cam use – lets you add to the fun of editing and sharing your movies.
1Requires NFC-compatible mobile device. Check device’s user manual for compatibility. Device cases may prevent connection. 2While the “Live-View Remote” (RM-LVR2) is water proofed, the Wi-Fi feature cannot be used when submerged in water. Available distance of the Wi-Fi depends on using environment and situation. 3Waterproof down to 3 meters (15feet) 5RM-LVR2 is available as a bundled purchase with HDR-AZ1 (HDR-AZ1VR). 6As of September 3, 2014
2014 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Sony, Exmor R, SteadyShot and the Sony logo are trademarks of Sony Corporation. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of Wi-Fi Alliance. Carl Zeiss and Vario-Tessar are registered trademarks of Carl Zeiss Inc. All other trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Features and specifications subject to change without notice.
kang –
Great GoPro alternativeGreat little camera!Pros:- Lighter than a GoPro at 63gr with battery vs 88gr – which matters for quadcopters and planes for example- Great form factor, again compared to a GoPro. It seems like the volume is the same but it feels and looks smaller. Its easier to mount on cars, bikes, helmets, rc planes, etc too because of the shape. Also, when mounted on the helmet it does not stick out like a GoPro which is great at high speed and also great for your head if you do fall. (GoPro are really dangerous for that)- Good video quality in all modes, slightly worse than the GoPro 3 Black and 4 Black, but better than GoPros 3, 4 silvers and white. Better than the Mobius too, by far. No problem with the exposure control either, very fast.- Its waterproof. Without the case. That means you can splash it, it can rain on it, it can fall in water, etc. Of course, you can’t dive without a case tho. Still.. this is enough for most use cases!- You have a screw mount without using the case (but also with) unlike the GoPro- XAVC 50mbp support- The digital stabilization system. This thing is great because it saves a lot of editing time. Your videos are ready to show/post as soon as you finished recording. It does work well and that feature is a great advantage over the GoPros.The Meh- Setting up the camera requires a smartphone or a sony watch/accessory. You cannot set it up otherwise. Now, the smartphone UI is very nice and works very well especially if you have NFC (swipe the camera and it auto connects), but still.- The camera case is a little on the heavier side when you need to use it, compared to a GoPro.- Video quality while quite good is not up to par with the GoPro 3 Black and GoPro 4 black (not to mention not being able to record in 4k and the other GoPro features). Not really a deal breaker tho, since the quality is still quite good/better than a GoPro 2.The Bad- Honestly, I can’t really fault it right now. The price could be a little lower, I suppose.
Bryan calhoun –
It’s better than GO PROmore features than GO PRO and just as sharp IF NOT SHARPER video quality than the GO PRO Hero line, this Sony has Stereo sound recording {go pro is mono} this has wifi linking to the wrist viewer device thats a game changer for action cam’s u can now see what your camera see’s in real time as your filming or setting up to film. another plus is the ability to link with your smartphone for the real-time camera/ video as well. ANOTHER GAME CHANGER! in so many ways this camera is superior to the GO PRO line of action cams. INCLUDING PRICE!$$$ these are more value priced for what you get. i can go mountain biking, Scuba diving, or sky diving or go to any type of Mud run or endurance run with full confidence that the camera will capture sharp video and water and mud isn’t going to be an issue or concern. as a U.S Marine and Active outdoors type person, these action cams offer me what I truly need. reliable clear video with stereo sound and a durable waterproof case and sleek design and finally ease of use. it’s simply unbeatable for4 the price I paid for it.
So Many Tools –
Updates are back with android support***SONY finally gave us a new working app with android updates and support…however it does not suport multi camera for the older cans like this one. I still like this cam and its a nice little compact unit with some great features…but the on and off support for updates and the fact that the new az300 cams are light years ahead of this lend me to recommend you in that direction. I now have 2 of the new 300 cams and love them..I still use this one as a site cam ((single position shooting and fixed machine shots)) and will always find it useful but for $100 more move up to the 300 series+++old review+++Sony dropped the ball here loved my camera best of breed when ATV riding and was kicking all them GOPRO butts…then Sony dropped support for Android * and higher…so no Galaxy phones…no Note 8, even my LG 20 dead …not kool…no I have no app support and to think I loved this camera…what do I do now…jerks
wantwhatwhy –
So far I LOVE this cameraSo far I LOVE this camera, great picture and sound. NO external plug for microphone though….Buy one of these go pro “Go Pro Tripod Screw Adapter” for your Sony Action Camera, to get into all the amazing go pro tripod mounts clips holders….hours of shopping opportunities smile.http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I0JH6XC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 $9.99Update: so far I’ve bought many go pro items to work with this camera: tri pod adapter, fast mount plates, pivot arm, suction cup mount for the car…and you can buy A remote controlled drone helicopter for $50 to $300, for your aerial shots smile… a Velcro wrist camera mount…there are even steady cams available for under a hundred…there was a really bad review about the wrist LCD controller, “live view remote” in the reviews on the Last model of this camera… for an extra $100 I’m glad I bought the “live view remote”….works… looks great Nice TOY…. smileNo problem setting up the camera with my Galaxy note 3 as a remote…. The Sony Play Memories software for getting video off of the camera to your computer via USB is OK, not great not bad, free download, you can do limited video editing with Play Memories… I use and do Like Sony Vegas video editing software a lot….AND the Sony Action Camera is beautiful, usually I could care less if hardware looks good…this camera, it’s beautiful…if I find the time will update…. smile cheers
Drew –
1080 is great for me because it meets today’s standards as well …I bought this camera for a multi use camera for vacations and such. Although it does not have any screen, the wifi makes up for it. In fact, I prefer seeing the camera pov through my phone than the actual camera.VIDEO 5/5The quality of the camera is sustainable. Not “4k” or any of that. 1080 is great for me because it meets today’s standards as well as not taking as much space as higher qualities. The case slightly blurs the camera, but no notifiable unless compared. The fish eye is wonderful, as it is very wide.CONSTRUCTION 4/5The camera is durable in and out of the protective case. The only fragile part is of course the lens. This insures the care free factor of an action camera. This thing is not going to break! Well. kind of, my battery live a short life, but easily replaced, and cheap.EASE OF USE 5/5Simply put a micro chip in, download the app, and start recording. I advise to buy extra batteries, as they are very cheap and useful. Especially if your first one breaks. I was able to get it running without any external help. Pretty Easy.Compared to the competition, a go pro, this is a much more solid camera. The pricing is simply better than the go pro.
Valeriy Tolkov –
Great video, usability is not so great.Pros: The camera is really small. It is not clear from photos, but it is tiny. Which is good. Image quality is Ok. Dynamic range could be better, but it matches what other sensors of this size can do. Image stabilization is great, picture not jumping. The camera is extremely wide-angular with noticeable distortion on sides.Cons: I was surprised, that I can’t switch between photo-mode and video-mode using just a camera. I thought there should be a switch or maybe two buttons, one for still-image, one for movie, but no. You need either remote control, either switch mode using your phone or tablet, which takes several minutes. With iPad you need to do the following: turn WiFi on camera, select this WiFi network on your phone (connecting…), then open app (searching for camera…), and only then you can switch photo/video, and after that you need to turn off WiFi on camera to avoid battery drain… and now you can make a photo (where am I and where is my bike?)Second issue is that the waterproof housing has curvy front window, so it can’t be used for under-water photography. I’ve tried to use it to protect from rain, no much luck. All you can see are drops. So, I’m not sure, what scenario this “waterproof” housing is designed for. And also there is no mounts for this housing. The only one Sony currently offers for this camera can be attached to a bare camera only.I thought, I could use it for snorkeling, attaching to the mask on my vacation. No way. Returning.
Matthew –
Tiny camera, but Sony could really do with making the mounts smaller.So far I am loving this little camera. I didn’t want the bulk/weight of the helmet mount, so I made my own (including a rubber ring dampner), for use on my V-Force Grill paintball mask (see attached picture). I don’t know why Sony insist on making such bulky mounts. Especially when they are doing things like putting them on the bottom of skate boards with very little ground clearance *rolleyes*.I got it with the Live view remote and I am very happy so far. I got a link from an aquaintance for an 64GB SDXC card that works and only costs 17.99, and I am happily recording in Pro mode (XAVC ?). I will see how it holds up to a beating from paintballs and first strike rounds very soon, but as a load of the guys already have Sony Action cams running without anything but the hard lens protector (optional accessory), I am expecting good results.
medina4me –
Fish Eye Lens & Grainy – Very dissapointedHello,To start off I don’t like it, I don’t like it and I don’t like it. Why?CONS1. Fish Eye Lens effect and Grainy video (no matter what format or quality you chose)2. No zoom (can’t zoom in or out unless you are running back and forth) not even digital zoomPROS1. Small compact (fits in your pocket)2. Cool features like Live Feed & Multiple Camera modes3. Underwater condom thingy4. Slow Motion5. Great as a helmet or bike camera (even comes with the attachments to allow you to do that).I know you’ll say to me. But how can you not like it and have 2 CONS and 4 PROS? Because the whole point of a HD Camera was to take good videos. When you pay $200+ for a camera that says HD you want it to be High Definition. By High Definition I understand to be High Quality video not that it defines video noise very well.If you are going to buy this be aware that it is primarily to be used in action sequences where the camera will be used on a helmet, a bicycle, while swimming or whatever you like to do. This is a terrible camera to use to shoot home videos of your kids birthday party, your family vacation (unless you do one of those I’m going to climb Mount Everest vacations) or just everyday life.It does have some cool features like taking photos periodically while filming, joining several cameras together, live feed, take pics only and the fact that it is very small.Anyway, hopefully my review provides help to others. I had watched reviews on YouTube and I expected much better quality.
kenneth –
Gran calidad de imagenLa optica de esta cámara es zeiss y su estabilizador de imagen es bien avanzado
Marc Dannau –
Excellent camera, not great battery life with wifi!!!I would have given the HDR-AZ1 4 to 5 stars if the battery life was not so “under average”.Edit note: You need a very good battery charger to fully charge the HDR-az1’s battery. It doesn’t work with the average amazon or iphone battery charger. you need something more powerful (it works via USB with the bigger iPad charger for example).I get about 110′ of 1080/30 video without WIFI which is the lowest acceptable quality,I get 85′ in 1080/60 without WIFI.I get 75 ‘in 1080/60 connected to Live-View Remote (RM-LVR2V) via Wifi (display with cam info, NOT live view)I’ll do some more testing with the wifi settings and am waiting for my SDXC memory card to check the battery duration in high-bitrate XAVC-S-format video (XAVC-S on the HDR-AZ1 doesn’t work with normal SDHC card).Sad that the battery lacks of upgradeability (like battery pack on the Gopro), because the camera and ease of use is absolutely remarkable. I use this camera for paragliding which means I can’t swop between batteries when the first one is empty.