Table of Contents
amazon Sony Action Cam FDR-X1000V and GoPro Hero 4 Black reviews
Design and Features
If you’ve ever heard of Sony’s Action Cam line, then you certainly know this little fellow called the FDR-X1000V. It still has the round body but in trendy white; and this time, it has a flat beveled bottom to stand on its own. The tripod mount is located at the bottom along with an external microphone mount port. Meanwhile, the lens is affixed at the front side, underneath the 19 mic stereo which can filter the noise of the wind. The well-renowned lens made by Carl Zeiss, has a wide angle of 170 degrees and a focal length of f / 2.8. The angle is reduced to 120 degrees when the feature image stabilizer (or focus-shift) is enabled. Sony has also included built-in settings to select levels of defibrillation to fit any usage scenario. The connectors Micro HDMI, USB, battery tray, and micro SD card slot are all under one cover at the rear side of the machine.
One other advantage of the FDR-X1000V is that it is IPX4-rated waterproof; thus, it can withstand use in various wet conditions without the necessity for a waterproof casing. Of course, as expected, Sony has a case that is water-resistant to 10 meters deep. Using this accessory, the FDR-X1000V is capable of operating at maximum depths of 60 m.
The use of the FDR-X1000V is quite simple, with buttons that have nothing to do with previous generations. There are two buttons Prev and Next to navigate the menu on the square LCD screen located next to the machine. At the top is the button to start / stop rotation, and also the selection button when browsing in the menu. In particular, the FDR-X1000V also has a built-in NFC near-field connection that allows quick pairing with compatible phones.
Just like the Sony Action Cam FDR-X1000V, the GoPro Hero Black 4 also comes with a box-like design that doesn’t really differ much from its predecessors. However, for those who have had the chance to use GoPro Hero 3/3 + Black, they will easily notice some minor but significant changes to the Hero 4 including the battery tray that has been moved from the beside to the bottom of the machine. This new arrangement makes it easier to swap batteries but means that the battery of the previous generation Hero is incompatible with Hero 4.
Apart from that, the Hero 4 Black retains the same button interface as its predecessor but for one point : instead of the Wifi switch, there’s a new button called the Hilight Tag. Basically, when shooting an amazing moment, you immediately press this button and then, you can quickly find the video and save it on the GoPro application by using your phone or computer. When not recording, this button would also serve as a settings menu access button. The interface on previous generations of Heroes is such a mess, but GoPro makes navigating the menus easier by just integrating the necessary options in each mode. This means that if you press the Settings button, it will only show you the settings for the video.
From left to right, it has a Mini USB connector, Micro HDMI, and Micro SD card slot, and all are covered by a detachable lid that is certainly easy to lose. The Hero 4 Black takes memory cards of up to 64GB. Apart from data transfer and charging the battery, a removable mic with a removable cable can also be connected to the Mini USB port; however, the Hero 4 Black, unlike the Sony FDR-X1000V, does not provide for an external mic. The Main Body does not have a monitor touch, but an optional touch panel or BacPac removable battery can be fitted via an exclusive port located on the Hero’s back. Being the same size as prior generations, all Hero series-compatible accessories are available in the marketplace for the Hero 4 Black.
Being somewhat less waterproof than the FDR-X1000V, the Hero 4 Black provides a large variety of accessories such as underwater housing going to 40 meters, the flat and curve adhesive mounts, and 3-way pivoting arms. There is no charger provided, just a Mini USB cable so as to charge the Hero from a phone or computer.
where can you get a Sony Action Cam FDR-X1000V online
Sony FDR-X1000V/W 4K Action Cam: Buy it now
Sony FDR-X1000VR/W 4K Action Cam and LiveView Remote Kit: Buy it now
Video formats
Both Sony and GoPro have the options for recording videos at 4k / Ultra HD resolution. Currently, it is not the scenario that people own computers or 4k TVs, in fact, despite having such resolutions, it’s only useful for capturing from a recorded picture again or editing.
The FDR-X1000V, from Sony, is claimed to be HD compatible MP4 and XAVC S, but the 4k dialing features are only available in XAVC S with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels at a frame rate of 30 / 24p at 100 Mbps or 24p at 60 Mbps. In more concrete terms, X1000V records a video in XAVC S with the following bit rates and resolutions:
50Mbps (1080/60/30 / 24p),
100Mbps (1080 / 120p or 720 / 240p), and
60Mbps (1080 / 120p or 720 / 240p).
Meanwhile, the options in MP4 format less, include:
1080/60 / 30p,
720/30 / 120p,
480 / 240p.
If you want to record at a 100 Mbps bitrate you need a micro SDXC card with a speed standard UHS-I U3 otherwise when you use this mode, the X1000V screen would click Media. Brightness can be adjusted as well as some white balance modes offered but the ISO cannot be adjusted from here.
For example, when in 4K mode, it records at 1: 1 by its sensor meaning that 1 pixel on the sensor = 1 pixel in the video. Rather on some other cameras, with bigger pixels on their sensors, they often bunch a number of pixels together on their sensor to create a video pixel. That is the reason why the X1000V has more true color and fewer jerkiness in its video. Loop function allows video recording to be continuous.
GoPro Hero 4 Black records only in MP4 format, but a myriad of options available for use with frame rate, bitrate, aspect ratio, resolution, in addition to the wide view. Many combinations are possible with settings of this kind, but listing them all will not be possible in this article. In a nutshell, Hero 4 Black is capable of video recording in 4K, 2.7K, 1440p, 1080p, 960p, 720p and 720p, and those are the supported resolutions. Supported frame rates per second are 120, 90, 60, 50, 48, 30, 25 and 24p. Lastly, it consists of three preset settings for viewing width: Super Wide, Medium and Narrow.
by introducing the Hero 4, GoPro gave a bragging feature of Ni-chah which lets a user adjust his very own shooting and angle parameters while recording a film or taking snaps, but this too isn’t full-fledged. In Protune-only features of video are limited to a bitrate of 60 Mbps, So in comparison with the X1000V, the machine has an entire settings array of white balance, brightness and even ISO.
Connectivity and battery life with the smartphone:
The X1000V offers a bevy of connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, NFC, and GPS to be used in tandem with the Sony PlayMemories application. This application utilizes the phone’s screen as a viewfinder along with automatic video editing functionalities via Highlight Movie Maker. The Highlight Movie Maker uses Action Cam images, data from the gyro sensor for video stabilization, color detection, and smile detection to intelligently filter out Highlight clips, merge them, and insert music. This function will not include clips shot in either VGA mode, 24p, high-speed clips, or 4K. Fully controlled through the Play Memories app, five cameras are manipulated simultaneously and streamed to the internet via Wi-Fi if an account is held in the Ustream service.
Sony claims that the X1000V can record continuously at 1080p resolution for 115 minutes, and at 4K for 50 minutes. If we go ahead and connect in 4K mode using Wifi, it is still the waiting game for us to do so within 50 minutes before the battery light flashes at us.
Connecting Hero 4 Black to your mobile via Wifi can be done using GoPro Mobile. This camera is also Bluetooth-enabled so that subsequent connections can be faster-but not quite as fast as the X1000V’s NFC. GoPro Mobile does not have too many added functions, like PlayMemories, but with that said, GoPro Mobile allows the Hero 4 Black firmware updating to be so much easier than having to insert a microSD card into a computer.
Battery life on the Hero 4 Black is not great, but then again, it would be tough to expect much from a robust little sports camcorder like this. Unless using Wifi, shut it down to save battery life. When in 4K 30fps Protune mode and not using Wifi, we can get about 50 minutes out of this camera, but that drops down to 40 minutes with Wifi on.
where can you get a GoPro Hero 4 Black online
GoPro HERO4 BLACK: Buy it now
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Goro HERO4 Silver: Buy it now
GoPro HERO4 Black 4K Camera/ Music Edition: Buy it now
The video quality is matchlessly smooth and crisp, all due to the Zeiss lens and high bitrate, making sure all the 4K videos are shot on the X1000V. Compared to the GoPro, Sony’s camcorders under default settings offer high contrasts; setting them into Neutral mode gives you the option of more natural colors. There is only slight color distortion in 4K 100 Mbps video and purple fringes along the edge of the frame. But this is pretty much a non-issue on account of the high resolution, which lets you cut away the error. And you would also want to do some cropping of your video frame to counteract some of the shake, as stabilization is probably out in 4K. The X1000V defibrillator works great in all other modes, though they sometimes get a little bit odized while in the process. All said, the video quality is by far much better than that of the non-defibrated camcorders.
In similar fashion, brilliant colors would describe the camera’s picture quality in the default mode as good. Nonetheless, photos still appear smudgy and lousy with details at 8-MP resolution. So yeah, they are still acceptable if you just plan to use them on the web.
Ever since the AS100V camcorder, the design of this waterproof case has remained unchanged. This means that water droplets on the curved front of the lens are easy to take. Thus under the occasional very wet environment, a few drops of water will sometimes spoil the video partially. Besides, lens dirt for cleansing and steam are within some of its weakness; thus cleaning would be required often. Lastly, sand is occasionally trapped inside the case after beach usage, affecting easy removal.
The Hero Black 4, as the highest-level version of the Hero line, should also be congratulated for the video quality it has produced. The low- and night-light video clips are fantastic, especially from a small sensor point of view. However, there is one disadvantage to the Hero 4 Black-no defibrillation. This disadvantage can be nullified if you shoot in 4K resolution and then crop later in editing.
The quality of pictures is merely good, but blown up will spoil the image. Let me keep saying again, the Hero 4 Black’s sensor is a bit smaller than that of the compact camera, so there is no reason to expect DSLR quality pictures from it. The new Auto Low Light mode on Black is actually slowing shutter speeds allowing for more light to enter the sensor. If both the camera and the object hold still, it will work perfectly, but even the slightest movement from either one will cause a blurred image.
The X1000V is a huge milestone for Sony by learning from the past experiences of action cameras. It has brought to the consumers a chance for yet another sports cam alongside GoPro Hero. If looking for high-quality steady footage, then X1000V is the choice to make.
On the contrary, the use of Hero 4 Black, while lacking in anti-vibration and having lesser battery life and features compared to X1000V, emerged advantageous due to its host of accessories from bigger third-Party vendors. Besides, the Hero 4 Black is “on par” in terms of video quality with the X1000V, and its set of imaging options remains unrivaled in the sports cam realm.