Sneak Peek at Sony POV

[Don Litten]

The headband I have does not allow it to be aimed up or down Lynn.

If I keep it, I'm going to buy another case, mount threaded inserts on both sides so it can be mounted on a headband or helmet with up/down adjustment, and camo it. Then I'm going to drill vent holes with removable plugs.

[Mark Rosenzweig]

The Sony Action Cam, mounted by suction cup on the outside of a turbocharged sports car. Stabilization was turned on in 108030p mode. The Sony Action Cam was inside the waterproof case, closed front. Fall day, with some fall colors.

Then the same journey using a good-quality HD camcorder, mounted (loosely) inside the same car, using optical stabilization, active mode and 108060p.

The quality of the videos is not that different. The dynamic range and autoexposure of the camcorder is somewhat better. The sound of the Action Cam is surprisingly good, picking up the rumbling sound of the engine much more than wind noise, though a little rattling in the case is heard. The stabilization (a very bumpy road), did well too.

The Action Cam video is a lot sharper than some of the Youtube examples people have linked here. I edited the clip combining the Action Cam 1080p clip with the camcorder 108060p clip in Sony Vegas Pro, rendering to a 108030p MP4 file, uploaded straight to Youtube.

Sony AS15 Action Cam vs Regular High-Quality Camcorder: Road Test Video - YouTube

Please select 1080p.

[Don Litten]

It's still easy to spot the Sony Footage Mark.

The sky is over saturated and there are magenta flares.

[Mark Rosenzweig]

If we are going to critique (as is wanted), let's get it correct:

The sky in this video is not "oversaturated" it is *overexposed* - the clouds are white blobs and the sky is too bright blue. This is the limited dynamic range compared to the camcorder.

This is not to say that the Action Cam does not produce somewhat oversaturated skies. These, however, look good when properly exposed, as here:

Sony HDR AS15 Action Cam Time Lapse: Clouds - YouTube

Also, when the sun is in the frame, you get flare; this is true for any camera. The extreme wide angle of the Action Cam, unprotected by any shade, makes this worse. Most photographers would never shoot in bright sun, using any lens, without a shade. I am not sure what to do, given the Action Cam, and all the POV's, have no add-on shades that I know of.

[Woody Sanford]

Good comparison Mark,

Yeah you can see the blue gain needs to be dialed back but that's an easy fix. I haven't figured out the sharpness yet, Its not constant. Sometimes I get very sharp looking video and sometimes not. I haven't narrowed down just what environmental influences effect it. I'm thinking it has something to do with contrast. Not to hard to deal with in post with a gaussian blur or film grain on an adjustment layer to tone it down depending on what you are doing with a project. But that level sharpness isn't always there even when conditions seem to be the same.

[Ian Newland]

The wide shots with lot's of details will be the less sharper, close ups/ mids the sharpest. The In camera stabiliser will also affect sharpness and obviously camera motion. The strong blue channel is common to Sony products, that's part of the Sony look.

I'm liking some of the lower light stuff from this cam, the nighttime In car users will appreciate this.

[Don Litten]

Originally Posted by Mark Rosenzweig

If we are going to critique (as is wanted), let's get it correct:

The sky in this video is not "oversaturated" it is *overexposed* - the clouds are white blobs and the sky is too bright blue. This is the limited dynamic range compared to the camcorder.

This is not to say that the Action Cam does not produce somewhat oversaturated skies. These, however, look good when properly exposed, as here:

Sony HDR AS15 Action Cam Time Lapse: Clouds - YouTube


Also, when the sun is in the frame, you get flare; this is true for any camera. The extreme wide angle of the Action Cam, unprotected by any shade, makes this worse. Most photographers would never shoot in bright sun, using any lens, without a shade. I am not sure what to do, given the Action Cam, and all the POV's, have no add-on shades that I know of.

Is the sky really that color in your world Mark and you get PURPLE flares. That is not true of other cameras!
Videographers shoot with a shade and without, depending on if they want the flares while panning.

So like you said..."Let's get it correct!"

[Don Litten]

Originally Posted by Woody Sanford

Good comparison Mark,

Yeah you can see the blue gain needs to be dialed back but that's an easy fix. I haven't figured out the sharpness yet, Its not constant. Sometimes I get very sharp looking video and sometimes not. I haven't narrowed down just what environmental influences effect it. I'm thinking it has something to do with contrast. Not to hard to deal with in post with a gaussian blur or film grain on an adjustment layer to tone it down depending on what you are doing with a project. But that level sharpness isn't always there even when conditions seem to be the same.

I don't know if you're using GHears Woody, but if you are, a "Tone and Desaturate" layer works wonders with the blue and you're dead on that a film grain helps with the over sharpening.

[Mark Rosenzweig]

"Is the sky really that color in your world Mark and you get PURPLE flares. That is not true of other cameras!"

All Sony consumer camcorders get PURPLE flares when there is sun flare (!) - do you have a preference for flare color? green flare? yellow flare perhaps?:) There is the famous Sony "blue dot" (exists in the CX760 and the pro version HXRNX30U). And guess what; it goes away when there is a lens shade. And guess what again, Sony now provides a sun shade with its higher-end consumer camcorders and the Pro version. Guess why?

The point is in the car video the sky was overexposed - and that is the color you often get when there is sky overexposure - I can show you videos from Panasonic and Sony cameras that produce the same sky when there is overexposure. The Action Cam also has obvious CA (see it on tree edges exposed to the sky) - more purple, but that again has nothing to do with blue bias.

All of this has nothing to do with tint; and I am not arguing that there is not a blue bias to the Action Cam, so you can rest easy.

[Ron Evans]

It is unfortunate but all the Sony cameras in auto exposure over expose a little. I have SR11, XR500, CX700, NX5U and still have FX1 and they all over expose to my taste. In auto I run them all with AE shift backed off just a little. It is much easier to fix something that is just under exposed than to try and recover an over exposed shot. I expect this option is not available on the AS15. I currently have a ContourHD and am looking to get a more modern headcam for skiing. When announced I thought the AS15 would be great. Unfortunately no 1920x1080p60 or even 60i and I gather no sound with 1280x720P60 and limited mounting options sort of written it off for me especially with the Go Pro Hero3 Black edition. If Sony had 1920x1080P60 with image stabilizer and extra image controls that would be great. Maybe a future version.

For the price it may be OK But for serious video I do not think it comes up to the specs on the Contour+2 or the new Go Pro Hero 3. Both a little more expensive but with more image controls and mounting options.

Ron Evans

[Woody Sanford]

Originally Posted by Don Litten

I don't know if you're using GHears Woody, but if you are, a "Tone and Desaturate" layer works wonders with the blue and you're dead on that a film grain helps with the over sharpening.

Don, I haven't used GHears, going to try it out though, looks like a very useful tool for grading. I'm more of a correct by the numbers guy and then grade as a secondary treatment. It speeds me up when trying to match up cameras for color. I'm actually looking at making a preset now to just drop on the sony footage and speed things up. I just need to process a little more footage and dial in how far to bring down the blue gain on average. It would be adjustable but for most cases just drop and go on and render fast when its all done.

[Woody Sanford]

Turns out the "minus blue" preset in GHears works pretty good for an average. :-)

I think I'm understanding the sharpness as well now. The white balance influences the blue saturation which in turn enhances contrast. At least that sounds logical to me at this point. You just don't see how much blue is in there if you don't see sky or have it side by side, seeing a source and color corrected result frame for comparison.

It may be interesting what we can do with this thing when someone comes out with a housing front that has interchangeable lenses/filters.

[Lynne Whelden]

I see where Sony has now moved the release date of their LCD "camcorder cradle" to around Dec. 21., pushing it back another month.

[Mark Rose]

Originally Posted by Duane Steiner

My friend did another video with the Sony on a motorcycle.

Johnny5 on a Yamaha R6 - Sony Action Cam - YouTube

Duane -- In the video done by your friend, I am amazed at the quality of the sound of the motorcycle engine and the almost complete absence of wind noise. I would appreciate any information you can provide relative to the following questions:

1. In the video, how did your friend get the sound of the motorcycle WITHOUT wind noise on the recording?
2. Was the internal mic dampened somehow?
3. Was the camera inside the case and how was the camera mounted (location, accessories used, etc)
4. Was an external mic used in lieu of the internal mic & what was the brand of the ext mic?

[Noa Put]

If you read the comments under the youtube video you will find most info back.