Difference between actioncameras: FDR-X3000 and X1000VR ?

[PatrikT]

I bought a X1000VR last year and quite satisfied with it, except for the GUI on the camera itself. That is a very simple and bad CLI GUI.

I now see that Sony launched X3000 action cam and it looks very alike the X1000 except that X3000 as a graphical GUI. Is it same cameras but with different GUIs or are there any more differences bietween them?

I also think I noticed they want different wrist remote controls, but frmo camera point of view, is it same camera as such?

Thx in advance!

/Patrik

[Pumpkin_Duke]

Hi Patrik,

Biggest advantage on X3000 is the Balanced Optical Steady Shot for sure.

Means it's no longer an electronical steadyshot but an optical now.

Cheers

PD

[PatrikT]

Does it mean that photo mechanism "physically floats" inside the camera
housing, instead of computing picture to be stable and steady?
Browse Patrik

[Marino.Manolo]

Hi,

for few seconds, from minute 0:15:

Manolo

[IamNic]

Hi there PatrikT ,

besides the better UI and menu navigation, the camera comes with an improved wrist remote, can be switched on via bluetooth from standby and features the new BOSS stabilization.

Here is a comparison I made with the X3000 (middle) against the X1000: 

- Nic

[peterh337]

The 3000 has less distortion on any particular angle of view than the 1000, which reduces or eliminates the need for lens correction in the editing software. AFAIK no lens correction software supports the specific type of barrel distortion of the Sony action cams, so the best you can do is an approximation. If you look at the X1000 videos here

https://vimeo.com/user8026275

you see various artefacts in the X1000 ones, whereas the later X3000 ones, while showing the slightly curved horizon, are IMHO acceptable without lens correction. This greatly expands the range of video editing software.

Also the 3000 can use a 256GB SD card.

Also the X3000 doesn't have the USB external power problem of the X1000 i.e. unable to use external power unless the supply voltage is above about 5.1V at the moment the camera is turned on. It does however have other issues e.g. unable to properly communicate over wifi or bluetooth if external power is applied (I wrote up the details of this in the Sony US forum; don't recall the exact scenario).

Another thing is that the underwater housing of the X3000 uses a flat plate whereas the X1000 is curved; this matters in some applications e.g. for one project I attached a heated glass plate to the former; obviously not possible with the latter. But the GoPro Session is also flat.

[wklatt]

I have the X1000, and considered the X3000 when it became available. I like many of the new features, particularly the blue tooth on/off. However, was disappointed that 4K only worked in wide angle, which is the same as my X1000. So I wasn't gaining anything there.

So I ended up buying the AS50 instead, which also has bluetooth. I have been very happy with it so far, and is a good complement to my externally mounted action cams on my airplane. I also like that my lens protectors for my other action cams also fit the AS50 (not so with the X3000).

[peterh337]

I have abandoned shooting in 4K. 

Since one cannot host 4K anywhere usefully (e.g. Vimeo downsamples 4K to 22mbps which is quite poor quality unless it is very compressible material e.g. CGI) the main use of 4K is if doing geometric corrections, motion stabilisation, etc,  and other stuff which needs cropping in the video editor.

Then one renders to 1080P which is the only format which is feasible to host with a decent quality. Well, Vimeo downsamples 1090P to 5mbps...

4K is popular for quick and dirty stuff which is the bulk of the action cam business, but I doubt 99% of the resulting footage is watched by anyone more than once. Too much distortion, for a start.

Also very few cams do 4K at 50 or 60fps. That will come in the next Sony generation.

[IamNic]

I agree - it is sad, that bandwidth isn't growing together with camera/TV technology, which is the reason for the bitrate limits on video platforms like VIMEO or YouTube.

Though I would like to mention one major benefit of 4K 100Mbit/s recordings you maybe haven't thought about yet:

Reframing/zooming during post production.

You can enlarge any part of the frame by 200% and still export a 1080p (1920x1080) video with a bitrate of 25000kbit/s (25Mbit/s). I actively used this on my 4K Action Cams (X1000; X3000) in the past.

By doing this, you can add "virtual camera pans/tilts" or simply enhance the most interesting part of the video.

Of course it depends on the way you use the camera, if this is of any use for you in particular.

- Nic