Description
Product Description
Step it up with the Action Cam that brings pro-quality features along for the ride. Keep things smooth with Advanced Steady Shot and enjoy the convenience of built-in Wi-Fi with remote viewing and control from your Live View Remote. All in a housing-free, splash-proof body that packs XAVC S HD recording and high frame rates in 120/240p. It”s ready for the big time, are you?
From the Manufacturer
Step it up with the Action Cam that packs pro-quality features like Advanced Steady Shot, built-in Wi-Fi, and XAVC S HD recording and 120/240p frame rates into a splash-proof body. With a built-in tripod mount, GPS tagging and included LiveView Remote (LVR) it’s ready for the big waves, the big air and the big jumps. The real question is, are you?
Technology
Stay Sharp with SteadyShot
Conquer jagged mountain peaks, rocketing descents or swerving slaloms in perfect clarity thanks to SteadyShot image stabilization with Active Mode that delivers stunningly smooth video even while in motion. In addition, innovative 3-way shake canceling adds electronic roll stability for even smoother video capture.
Weather Warrior
Keep focused on the footage and not the conditions thanks to a splash-proof body that takes the worry out of weather, even when your Action Cam is outside its included housing. Need to take a breather or set up a static shot? Simply attach a tripod via the universal tripod screw mount and keep capturing all the action in sublime stability.
Make Every Shot Count
Turn your compatible smartphone or tablet into a mobile, remote viewfinder and make adjustments to camera settings on the fly, even when your road takes you off the beaten path. With Wi-Fi and Near Field Communication (NFC), you can frame your shot perfectly before you step off into your next adventure and instantly share it with your friends to up the ante on the next trick or trail. And now you can now control up to 5 Action Cams (HDR-AS100V) at the same time using the included LiveView Remote1.
Shoot Like a Pro
Capture quick action with smooth image motion pro-quality XAVC S recording with 50Mbps high bit rate data transfer. HDR-AS100V also supports 24p high-speed 120 fps and 240 fps shooting with sound, as well as MP4 HD video for when you just have to share your latest trick and turn across the Internet.
Track Your Trail
Use the built-in GPS with the free PlayMemories Home software to track your speed and performance. Location, trail and speed information add more layers to your ability to analyze your performance that can be captured and displayed on your video.
Serious Stereo Sound
Can you imagine skydiving without hearing the rush of air past your ears, or catching the perfect wave without the crash of the surf? Now you don’t have to. Record the splashes, the shouts, and the swooshes in glorious stereo with Action Cam so you can relive your experiences in the detail they deserve.
Additional Features
Exmor R CMOS sensor for superb low light shooting
Experience stunning low-light sensitivity with improved image clarity and drastically reduced grain with Sony’s back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor.
Ultra wide 170° pro quality Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens
With an ultra-wide angle Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, you will increase your perspective (170-degree viewing angle) while you venture out on breathtaking views of dynamic terrain to include ski slopes and mountain trails.
Capture high quality 13.5MP still images in photo mode
Put your HDR-AS100V in still image mode and capture amazing high quality 13.5MP still images with a single press of the button.
Memory Stick Micro and Micro SD/SDHC compatible
Expandable memory with Memory Stick Micro and Micro SD/SDHC card slot.
HDMI output for easy file transfer
With HDMI output, you’ll be able to share your Sony HDR-AS100V video with friends and family on your HDTV (HDMI cable required/not included).
Recommended Accessories
Universal Head Mount
BLT-UMHI
Handlebar Mount
VCT-HM1
Suction Cup Mount
PF-VCT-SC1
Wrist Mount
AKA-WM1
Kayak/Surf Board Mount
AKA-SM1
Multipod
VCT-AMP1
Ball Head Mount
ADP-BH1
Chest Mount
AKA-CMH1
Dog Harness
AKA-DM1
LCD Unit
AKA-LUI
Live-View Remote
M-LVR1
Snow
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Bike
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Pet
√  √
Auto
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Dive/Snorkel
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Kayak/Surf
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Spectator/Playback
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1. Requires NFC-compatible mobile device. Check device’s user manual for compatibility. Device cases may prevent connection. Live View Remote is an optional purchase.
2. Live-View Remote (RM-LV1) included with bundle package.
3. Supplied housing Waterproof down to 3meters (15feet).
2014 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Sony, SteadyShot, Exmor R and the Sony logo are trademarks of Sony Corporation. Carl Zeiss is a registered trademark of Carl Zeiss, Inc. All other trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Features and specifications subject to change without notice.
Important information
Legal Disclaimer
Buyer takes full responsibility after purchase.
Benn And Gear –
This is the action cam you want.Firstly, I’m a heavy user of action cams. I’ve used them for everything from B-roll footage, timelapses, drones/quadcopters, helmet cams, weather balloons, high speed recording of MMA and plenty other things. I’m saddened that it took until 2014 for me to be wholly satisfied with a product all around (I’ve eagerly waited on my pre-order for over a month!).I’m going to get straight to the main course. The quality of the video alone is an embarrassment to Go Pro (the innovator of this product and the “industry standard”). The sharpness of the lens and fluid motion of the CCD, even with the stabilizer turned off, isn’t even in the same category as the competition’s. It handles color beautifully, and allows you to record 1080p at 60fps so even the quickest turns and motions are captured accurately and not lost in frame sync.On paper, there are a few competitors. The Go Pro Hero 3+ Black Edition offers just about the same specs, but lacks a live view remote. But the quality difference gets lost in the fine print. Sony’s image sensor is far superior, its stabilizer is subtle and effective, and most importantly, there seems to have been a fine display of quality control and testing, whereas Go Pro absolutely craps themselves in that regard. The Hero 3+ is off focus, the Hero 3 is fragile and buggy, the Hero 2 skips frames and cannot focus underwater, etc, etc. That being said, I’m sure you can understand why I was so excited to try the Sony AS100VR out.You’re probably thinking: “But wait, doesn’t the Hero 3+ support 4K video?”Technically it almost does. What Go Pro considers to be 4k is actually about a thousand pixels short of the WHXGA standard. Practically it does not even come close. It can only shoot (almost) 4K at 12fps, which is about half of the suitable minimum for video. Remember claymation? That was mostly 15fps. You’re also shooting “4k video” out of a lens that isn’t designed for that resolution, or even properly focused.Not that it should even matter right now. Most of us can’t even keep a 720p video stream from Netflix or Youtube without buffering. 4k as a standard is a decade away.Light!The AS100V handles dynamic range very intelligently in both bright and dark settings, and adjusts the exposure faster than most other cameras. This means that if you’re wearing it on a bike and ride out of a tunnel, it won’t take 3 seconds to adjust to the drastic light change.I was a little worried that the AS100V would fall short on low-light performance, as almost all action cameras do. But, anxiety averted. Recording under streetlights looks sharp and clean. I would put it far beyond the Hero 3 or 3+, and just slightly above the Hero 2 (which was my previous pick for low-lightperformance). Sony takes the gold with quite a bit less noise. I would assume that the the Sony had a larger aperture lens while the Hero 2 had to compensate with ISO, but they’re both f/2.4, so I have no explanation other than an improved CCD.Finally, the game changer: You can opt to record in XAVC format if you buy a high speed memory card. If you plan on using this for anything other than your own enjoyment, this is huge. Before this camera, XAVC was only used in high-end professional camcorders. The compression is much crisper, and there’s an upgrade in color depth from your standard 8-bit, to 12-bit. It’s a proprietary format, but it is supported by all current Adobe products as well as Vegas and other mainstream video editing applications.Other goodies worth mentioning:-240 FPS/480p and 120FPS/720p for super slow motion fun.- The option to shoot at 170 degrees or crop to a less wide 120 degrees.-Tripod screw on both camera and waterproof case. The waterproof case has a standard 1/4 screw hole, and the camera has a 1/8. However it comes with a 1/8 to 1/4 base should you choose to use the camera on a tripod without the waterproof case.- Both the camera and the wrist display charge via standard micro-usb. (Android phone charger)- On-board GPS that doesn’t require specific software or a website to use (although you have the option). It saves the data in a .log file, so you can load it into virtually anything.- Easy smartphone integration/preview/sharing.At the time of writing, this is easily the best in class for action cams, and probably the best video capture quality you will find behind the DSL price-range.The only thing I can’t comment on is it’s longevity. But if it breaks easily or stops working, I’ll certainly change those 5 stars and complain to the world by updating this review.
Christopher Lee –
Impressed Paintball Player HereI can’t compare this to the GoPro as I have never owned one. I had used several other action cams for first person view paintball footage. My very first was the Gen1 Contour which I still own to this day. I then bought the Drift Innovation Stealth which I used more often and then upgraded to the Ghost when that was released which was my go to camera then.Why did I decide to replace my Ghost with this new AS100? First, the Ghost wasn’t as durable as I thought it was. The body began to split open and that’s when I found out that the screws that hold it together do not go into a metal post but plastic…which cracked possibly from weathering in the sun? Just my assumption as I’ve never knocked the camera into anything or dropped it. Was disappointed with the build quality. My teammate owned the earlier version of the Sony Action Cam, AS30? and he couldn’t stop raving about it. He showed me the raw footage and I was very impressed with the clarity of the 1080p @ 60fps. The mic also impressed me as it picked up almost everything in the background.Took the plunge and here I am now after two outings on the paintball field with this new camera. Currently I am using it with the skeleton case on the side of my mask(VForce Grill) and it’s holding strongly. Once again the clarity of the 1080p resolution and sound from the mic was amazing! I also have the image stability on and it’s pretty impressive when I review footage of when I’m running through the woods….almost like I’m gliding. I have take one direct shot to the lens and splatter from other shots off trees onto the camera. The lens seems to be just fine with no scratches and the camera cleaned up just fine with a micro fiber cloth that I carry. The camera still works with no issues either.So what are the little minor issues that I may have with this camera. I do miss the rotatable lens that the other cameras I owned offer. At least the AS100 does have a option in the menu to flip the image if you need to mount the camera upside down. Unlike my Drift Innovation cameras it doesn’t have onscreen video preview…just monochrome lcd txt but I did get this with the remote view so issue solved there. I guess the only thing I truly have a issue with is how hard it is to slide the camera into the mount on my mask. The tabs on the yellow adapter are very hard to depress so I have to remove my mask to put it on and to remove it. I can’t simply just reach up and remove the camera from my mask.So the pros are better image quality than the Drift Innovation Ghost and Contour cameras. Lighter and more compact. The microphone is amazing and in stereo. Great low light video quality! As of now, it can survive the hit from a paintball while mounted in the skeleton mount. Very secure once it’s mounted correctly. Image Stabilization works very well.Cons, lens is not rotatable and does not have 1080p@30fps option. Not easy to mount and remove from a helmet or paintball mask one handed without having to remove the helmet off your head. Can not mount on my helmet, mask with the waterproof case or at least I haven’t found the accessory that allows me to do that like the skeleton case.Here’s a link to my most recent footage with the AS100 http://youtu.be/5BfolRhaf98
Armi –
Overall a solid product with a few issuesI’ve been shooting with the AS100 for about 3 weeks now. I also have a GoPro Hero3 Silver, and since comparison between Sony and GoPro is inevitable I will weigh in on that. Sony clearly has better video than GoPro (I realize my GoPro is not the newest, but based on the reviews and videos I’ve seen the Sony simply is better). I love the fact that I can shoot 1280×720 at 120 fps, as one of my primary uses for an action cam is taping little league baseball and youth golf for swing analysis. All of the videos I’ve shot with the Sony have been superior to GoPro.I think GoPro does have the edge on a few features, though. Obviously the GoPro’s compatibility with all the mounting accessories is a big plus. I wish Sony would simply adopt the GoPro mounting system, but knowing Sony they never will. The GoPro has better buttons, especially inasmuch as I never had a problem with accidentally turning my GoPro on and draining the batter; I’ve done this 4-5 times with the Sony. I finally had to buy a small case for the Sony (rather than just keeping it in a soft bag).GoPro feels more solid and durable. I feel like if I were to drop the Sony it would shatter. I find it beyond irritating that Sony didn’t think to include a lens cap with this camera. I rarely use the plastic case (which interferes with the video shot), so having a lens cap is a fairly big issue for me. For now I am using my GoPro len’s cap on the Sony (very tight fit).Sony’s battery life is pretty short. You will need to buy some additional batteries if you are planning on shooting for more than 45 minutes or so. If you are using WiFi and GPS you’ll run the battery down very quickly.I purchased the unit that includes the wrist LCD deal. I wouldn’t recommend purchasing this as an add-on, the iPhone Sony app works just fine for shooting video. It has terrible reviews on the App store but it works well enough IMO. The wrist LCD deal is kind of cool, but it really just amounts to something else you have to keep track of and charge. Much easier to just use your phone.Be aware that the Sony has to be powered off to charge by USB. This is a pretty substantial ding IMO. If you want a camera that you can leave plugged in and shoot all day I don’t think the Sony is for you (I read the owner’s manual thoroughly and it clearly states “charging is not possible when the camera is turned on” on page 14). Another reason why getting additional batteries is critical.At the end of the day, though, the proof is in what you use. Since I picked up the Sony I haven’t used my GoPro except for DJI Phantom shots (and that is purely an issue of not being able to mount the Sony on the Phantom yet). GPS works great, it acquires a signal quickly and I’ve had no problems picking up the coordinates in meta-data (makes me wonder why my Nikon D5300 can’t pick up a signal in less than 5 minutes). The user interface is good, like GoPro it takes a while to memorize the menu options so you can zip around quickly. I like that they added a WiFi shortcut.Lastly, I tried to use the XAVC feature, but my class 10 card apparently isn’t fast enough. I’m frankly not sure what kind of card would work with it, since mine is allegedly has the fastest data transfer speeds out there.
Long Time Customer –
Say Goodbye to GoPro!UPDATE: The quality of video on this camera is absolutely top notch however the microphone is extremely sensitive. With the protective housing on, your final videos will have a “scraping sound” thats very loud and impossible to get rid of. Any time your fingers or hand are moved in any way while holding the camera, that will be picked up on audio and is like nails on a chalkboard and almost completely ruins the audio if not the moment you were recording if theres dialogue. That is my only con. I’m afraid to scratch the lens so I always use the protective housing and I’v done research on the lens cover accessory having effects on the video quality so I found that a small handheld monopod is the best solution to this problem that way you’re not touching the housing in anyway as you hold the camera.The HDR-AS100V/W is an impressive camera with fantastic Progressive frame rates and endless mounting possibilities! I purchased a PNY 64gb micro SDXC 90mb/s card and have had zero issues! I was weary of not having a viewfinder but the wide angle makes it easy to point and shoot. I was surprised at how useful and straight forward the little menus on the navigation LCD were.Footage goes far above my expectations and I’m very excited to have a camera I feel is more than competent and I can’t wait to see my video files on Blu-ray!I’ve done a few tests, so far, low light or darkness recording doesn’t pickup any red and white confetti you see in most cameras, virtually no noise in these tests. Ample light footage and outdoor footage looks fantastic, there’s an occasional jitter when the camera endures shock or quick movement, but the footage still comes out very crispy. I wish I would have bought the lens protector cover because as soon as I opened the camera I smudged the lens. I’ve been using the water resistant housing to protect the lens. 6 minutes of video in Pro 60p mode is about 2.5GB.Open the box, plug the camera into your computer to find the user manual and links to either Windiws or Mac software. Put your SDXC in a sub reader, pop it in, on my Mac I opened Disk Utility and clicked the erase tab, chose my memory card and formatted to exFat. Turn the camera on go to settings and turn Pro mode on, next go to VMode and choose 60p, 30p or 24p and you have about 2 1/2 hours of recording. Pop in your Micro SDXC and you’re ready to go! When you’re done, plug the camera back into your computer, open the Sony PlayMemories and import the files to your computer.I turned off GPS to save battery and wifi can be turned off too. The wifi feature with my iPhone and the PlayMemories Mobile app takes a whopping ten seconds to connect and you use your phone as the lcd screen remote, I’m so glad I didnt buy the Sony remote because the wifi feature works perfectly with the iPhone app.The only thing not included is video editing software, so go download Magix Movie Edit Pro or use iMovie to edit footage.Remember you cannot take advantage of Progressive framerates unless you’re using SDXC. The camera records at 50mb/s so aim for 90mb/s when choosing a compatible micro SD. The PNY micro SDXC 90mb/s was $30. I also purchased a universal head mount and a suction cup mount, the camera is compatible with most universal mounting hardware
T. K –
Go-WHAT?I have had the AS100 for a few months now and wanted to use it a few times before I reviewed it. It has proven to be a very good POV/Action camera so far.The camera’s splash-proof ability is pretty great, especially in times when mounted on the skeleton case and used in certain conditions (such as when its raining, or when biking or hiking). This also helped it not experience the ‘fogging’ issue that was quite a problem with the other models (based on the reviews that I read).One of the biggest improvement (while very minute) is the mounting ability of this camera. Now that it has a built-in mount (albeit not a universal tripod mount hole), an adapter with an anti-rotation pinhole can be attached to this mount, from which any tripods can then be mounded. This makes this POV Camera from good to absolutely great.Some of the other features that makes this camera awesome include: – Built-in image stabilization, which makes the recorded video simply amazing, and shake-proof, which makes viewing the video quite pleasant.- Wi-Fi preview using the free downloadable Android App allows you to have a real-time preview which is a definite must. It helps you set up your camera’s POV, and adjust settings that you may not be able to adjust quite well on the camera itself. Furthermore, it will also make it easier for you to toggle between the different recording modes a lot more efficiently than trying to do so on the camera itself. The best part for me has been to be able to connect the phone to the camera by using NFC, always. I just bring my Nexus 5 close to the camera (when its on) and it will bring up the app, connect to the camera, and bam!, ready for real time preview.- The quality of the video blows the GoPro Hero 3+ out of the water. Add stereo sound recording to that and you be like, Go-What? Seriously, It handles quite well through the color gamut, and allows you to record at 1080p at 60fps. Add Sony’s image sensor, image stabilization, and splashproof ability (without the need of an extra case) and it blows the “industry leader” out of the water. The AS100 also has the ability to handle a wider dynamic range, and quite intelligently so, giving it the ability to adjust to changing light situations quite easily and quickly.- Slow mo and super-slow mo: 120FPS(720p) and 240FPS(480p)- Swapable Batteries – because battery life is a crapshoot.The biggest CON in my opinion is the battery life. This becomes a double-whammy simple because when the camera is connected through the Wi-Fi to the phone, the Wi-Fi is always draining the camera while its streaming to the phone (recording or not); furthermore, the phone is now continuously streaming from the camera, and therefore is draining itself dry as well. Good thing the batteries can be swapped easily, and 3rd party batteries and chargers are cheaper than $15 (w/prime shipping).
R. L. Young Jr. –
Fuss-FreeThe high rating reflects the fact that it met my needs, not for the overall bells and whistles possibilities because you can ignore those and it will work just fine. It’s light weight, compact, easily accessed, even with the included water proof case. Color rendering is pretty close if “vivid” is selected. Sharpness and resolution are what I expect at HD. Light/dark high contrast situations are handle quite well. (Be sure to download the PDF manual. The sheet in the box is worthless and inaccurate). Battery life has met expectations, but I always have a spare if it’s below 10 degrees or carry the one battery next to my body until needed. I don’t charge the battery by usb (yawn). Far better to use an in-wall charger. The mini card is a Sandisk 32 simply because I have been able to trust the brand for years. Forget the junky Sony software. Do you really need yet another program on the hard drive? It opens just fine with win7 installed programs. A good consumer grade editing program will serve you far better than the Sony junk. The on board image stabilization is a great help. The GPS is a failure, don’t bother. Overall I’m very happy with this video camera because it allows me to operate it as a very simple, no fuss device…it has, but I don’t need, wifi and infrared sensors. It has been my experience that adding another interface just adds another potential problem in the field.There is no autofocus to go wrong. Depth of field is where I need it…better than GoPro. It actually has a standard 1/4-20 threaded tripod socket. No super-special adapters and super-special accessories and needed to make it run or mount it. Seriously, the camera is shaped in such away that you could (in a pinch) duct-tape it to a helmet and start shooting. I’ve done it.Aiming is remarkably simple in either the 170° FOV or the 120°. Unlike GoPro, the long axis of the cam parallels the line of view, therefore, its narrowest profile faces the direction of travel. To aim without a through-the-lens LCD, just sight along the side using an imaginary line (or draw one with a magic marker) that starts at the mid-point of the lens and stays equidistant from the top of the body, all the way to the back. Then, sight down the line…works just fine. The narrow profile also presents less wind resistance and accumulates less snow spray (actually, none in my case). My preference is the 120° field of view option to lower the wrap-around effect. Sound is muffled with the waterproof case in place, that can be a good thing for wind noise. Like any good piece of equipment, learn it and tune it to your needs. If you can’t, you have the wrong device. Also, this is not a do-everything. It’s designed to perform just one task and do it well…closeup action video.
MAK –
Steady Shot feature works well; over-exposes outdoor scenes; external mic jack is in poor locationI bought this to use for in-car video recording during performance driving events. I tried some other conventional point-and-shoot cameras to record some videos, and they did pretty well except for suffering from vibration issues. So I hoped the Steady Shot feature on this camera would solve that problem. It did that very nicely, so I was happy about that.However, it also over-exposed the view through the windshield and side windows, which made objects outside look out of focus and washed out. The partial view of the dashboard in the bottom half of the image was very sharp and clear, but the camera couldn’t deal with the difference in brightness between the portion of the view of the inside of my car and the view outside. That made the video quality look very poor, and nothing like other 1080p videos I have seen or taken with other cameras. I tried carefully aiming the center of the field of view directly through the windshield, hoping that would cause the camera’s auto-exposure metering to adjust the exposure more appropriately for the bright outdoor conditions, but that didn’t really help. I tried adjusting every other setting available on this camera (it has pretty limited options), and none of them helped.Refer to the image that I uploaded to the Customer Images section for just one example of this issue.I also took video and still photos with the camera of outdoor scenes from outside of my car to see how it performed without the wide dynamic range of lighting from inside the car, and it still over-exposed all of those shots, although not quite as badly as the ones taken from inside my car. The nearby objects (within < 10 feet) look pretty nice, but the farther objects look slightly blurry because of the over-exposure and the resulting poor contrast. I took side by side photos with this camera and another, and it's a night-and-day difference.So, for my intended use, I really wish this camera had a feature to manually adjust exposure compensation. I have since discovered that the latest GoPro, Drift, and Contour cameras do have this feature (possibly others do as well), so I just returned this Sony camera and ordered the Drift camera instead.I also just found an online video review of an earlier version of this Sony camera compared to a GoPro, and the reviewer notes the same thing that I discovered. The camera seems to do impressively well in lower light conditions, but seems to suffer from some over-exposure in sunny outdoor scenes.Hopefully Sony will add a manual exposure-compensation feature, since otherwise the camera seems pretty nice, except for one more issue:For those thinking about using an external microphone, I still can't believe where Sony decided to place the mic jack. You have to hack your own solution to mount the camera if you want to use an external microphone with it, since the jack comes out of the bottom. None of their supplied mounts can be used with an external microphone attached. I planned to use an external mic to allow me to place the mic in a location to avoid wind noise. Without one, the wind noise on the built-in microphones was very loud for my intended use.
SB –
Superb Action CameraMy wife and I are using this to record our motorcycle adventures. I have it attached to my helmet with a mic ran inside my helmet. We use a Sena bluetooth setup (also highly recommended) to talk to each other (We ride our own bikes). I have it setup so our conversation is recorded (so you can hear both of us). The camera is amazing, the video quality is top notch, I watched and read review after review on action cameras, The Go Pro Hero 3 Black etc.. The Go Pro is an excellent camera but from my research I think the Sony just barely beats it most aspects.The sound quality is superb (even without a mic), the daytime quality is excellent and even night time is exceptional, it really picks up as much light as possible in the dark night. Its small and lightweight as well, I really love that the Sony is splashproof, meaning I can be stuck in the rain with it not in the water proof case and I will have little to worry about (and this touches on my only gripe with the camera).You cannot have the waterproof case on it if you want to plug in a microphone (but it does do an amazing job at picking up sound even with the case on), as its under a door on the bottom of the camera. I don’t really care to use the water proof case anyway as I won’t be swimming with it, but I don’t want water to get in and being splashproof is great, except you have to have the bottom door open to have the mic plugged in, so really water could get in I’d imagine. I knew all this though before purchasing the camera, so it was no surprise.Battery life ranges but with wifi and gps on I get about 2 hours recording in 1080p 30fps. I ordered a few extra batteries that I keep with me.I give the camera 4.5 stars as is, if they come up with a better way to deal with plugging in a microphone then it would easily get a 5 from me.Excellent action camera and would highly recommend it.
Waikiki –
An excellent alternative to GoPro’s, but the underwater case is faulty, you must buy Sony’s replacement!This is an excellent alternative to GoPro’s, which I think are overpriced. The video quality, at the highest settings, is superb. Battery life is good as well. The remote wristband got such awful world-wide reviews, I passed on it. You don’t need it. Like GoPro, these cameras shoot at a very wide angle. Just point them in the right direction, and hit record, you’ll be fine. You can crop-in a bit when editing since the 1080p resolution is so high. I had the best results buying the Sony 64gb min SD card, but when the camera formatted it, the camera wouldn’t recognize it! (??). When I inserted the card in my Mac, formatted it to FAT, the camera recognized it. Go figure. There is little help from Sony on this matter either online our in the documentation. Online, Sony has is a list of SD cards the camera will recognize, but this camera is sensitive to formatting too!My only beef, is the USELESS underwater case that ships with the camera. Sony is backtracking on the claim that it is an underwater case now, as anybody who has tried it quickly realizes. The curved lens cover causes the camera to misfocus underwater. My camera came with the declaration you can take it to 3M depth, which is fine for snorkeling — why I bought it! The case works OK above the surface, like in pouring rain. So, Sony, did anybody think of testing it underwater first? Just sayin’ ….. If you want to shoot underwater, Sony makes you BUY the $30 MPKAS3 case. And you must go on a scavenger hunt to realize this and buy one. Amazon sells it, thankfully. Typically Sony, customer service is non-existent, and has been for 40+ yrs. GoPro replaced their faulty case for free. Not Sony….. Grrrrrrrrr
Hawk911 –
Keeps getting betterI bought this during a black friday price discount and glad I did. Already owning many of the incredibly useful first generation Action Cam AS15, I wanted to step things up a bit with the AS100V. I have a lot of experience using the AS15 for everything from vehicle shots, dance recitals, weddings, receptions and pole cam shotsI haven’t used the AS100V a lot yet, so I’ll just mention a few things that might be helpful.The 50 Mb XAVC S codec does work in Premiere CS6 and Vegas Pro 12. I was unable to confirm this until I bought it and tested myself.The 50 Mb setting requires certain SDXC cards. I bought a SanDisk Extreme Plus 64GB SDXC and it works fine.The image quality seems close to the AS15 (as long as you are using the AS15 in the 1080/60P highest setting and 170 field of view). I expect the 50Mb footage from the AS100V will have more lattitude to push in post if needed though I haven’t tested this. I expect to be using the AS100V in the normal h.264 setting most of the time to save space.I generally do not prefer the NEUTRAL color setting of the AS100V. It seems too pale but could be useful for some situations. Of course, you can use the more color rich VIVID setting instead.I like the ability to mount the AS100V directly to a 1/4-20 tripod type mount without having to use a case. Thats a big plus.I like the ability to power the camera via a USB battery device.I like the ability to connect the AS100V to an external monitor via the multi cable output port (requires purchase of cable). This allows sending a video OUT signal via a composite cable instead of having to use an HDMI cable which I have found is limiting in range from this camera.I like the white color. This will help on those 100+ degree days when the black cameras got so hot.The old attachments, batteries and cases still work with the AS100V which is great.I’ll update this review as I use this camera more but I can already recommend it if you are looking for a good 1080P action camera.