Until now, Sony’s effort in the sports cams
mainly includes handhelds such as the Bloggie Sport HD and the waterproof
Handycam. However, the $200 Action Cam is an all-out adventurist, with a
backpack full of tools and supplies by comparison, that frankly makes the
brand’s previous attempts look like they’re barely prepared for a school field
trip.
Lots of technology can be broken down into
numbers. PetaFLOPS, gigahertz and megabytes – the idea are often as many as
possible. And often that’s true. Though, sometimes, what you really need are a
couple breaths of air and a healthy shot of adrenaline. That’s where something
like Sony’s new HDR-AS15 Action Cam shines. It’s one of a growing breed of
devices which allow us to get our fill of the great outdoor while still satisfy
our gadget fix. With many competitors are lining up to become your sporting
partner of choice, however, does the Action Cam have what it takes to keep up?
Let’s take a look and find it out.
Sony
Action Cam
Hardware
There seem to be two main methods to sports
camera design: the cam-and-case brigade (e.g., the GoPro and Veho) and the
tough-tube crew (think: Contour and ION). With the Action Cam, Sony has followed
the former. The naked unit isn’t all that rugged, but pop it in the supplied
waterproof case and it’s ready for use. A privilege for this approach,
especially with the Action Cam, is that you can use it as a regular
“non-action” helmet cam when you’re not white water rafting, but still want to
record some POV footage minus the extra weight. You might think this is a
fortunate side effect of additional design, but actually Sony will sell you a
head-mount for the un-cased camera does suggest otherwise.
The
Sony Action cam is quite small
The camera itself is quite slight (90g with
battery) but is well designed. The front lens pokes out from a round-edged,
rectangular body, with two small forward-facing mics below it. One side of the
unit has a small LCD and a pair of buttons, and there are some hidden ports
along the buttons (HDMI, USB, and 3.5mm mic input and expansion connector).
Around the back is a sliding / hinged cover, underneath which is where you hide
the battery (1240mAh) and micro SD or Memory Stick Micro memory card. This back
cover is also where you can find the big red record button, which should be
easy enough to locate when mounted up put of view in a helmet, along with a
small “hold” switch to prevent accidental filming, or unintentionally stopping,
indeed.
The
front lens pokes out from a round-edged
Any of the three buttons on the unit will
switch the Action Cam on when pressed, but if you select the Record button, it
will start recording immediately – by activating a small red LED above it to
let you know that it’s shooting. It’s great for quick recording, but also a
recipe for a bundle of inadvertent one or two second clips if you just want to
switch it on. The two side buttons, next to the screen, are for Menus and
Options, at which point, the big red one becomes “select”.
Naturally, if you want to see Action Cam in
its full glory, you will need to slip it into the waterproof case. Unlike the
GoPro or Veho Muvi, the Action Cam’s hinge/ door mechanism isn’t fixed to the
rest of the case. There is a hinge to lock it in place like the others, but
once opened, the lid is only kept united with the body by a long rubber strip
with a barb at the end. It’s pretty easy to pull it out completely. While it’s
quite easy to thread back in from the comfort of home, we can imagine it being
a bit more of a fiddle when gloved, cold or otherwise ready for use.
The case also allows some control of the
device while sheathed, but you’re pretty much limited to stare and stop video
capture or photograph, depending on what mode you’re in. As you may have
guessed, there is an external equivalent of the record button on the case,
along with its own hold control, but if you want to access the device directly,
or use Wi-Fi feature – which we’ll talk later. If you already have some
photography equipment, then the inclusion of a standard tripod mount on the
bottom of the case will be cause for a mild mental cheer (we’re looking at you
GoPro!).
Sony
Action Cam and Wifi connection app via a smartphone
The complete, cased unit is probably one of
the largest POV cameras that we’ve seen. It’s not cumbersome or hard for use,
but it is something you’re going to notice when mounted about your person.
This’s especially true – unlike the Contour – it doesn’t have the option of a rotatable
lens to keep footage level regardless to position, so your choices are limited
to have the right way up, or upside down and use software to flip the videos.
Accessories
The
Action Cam’s accessories
If you have never opened the GoPro, ION or
Muvi HD, then you’ll know that once opened, the accessories almost spring out
at you, somehow never to fit back in again. This is not a problem to Sony
Action Cam. Once you open the camera, along with the waterproof case, you’re
left unburdened by accessories, barring a pair of battery trays (why the
battery doesn’t fit the compartment is unclear), a couple of adhesive mounts
and a mounting clip for the case. There are a few additional options available
– handlebar and headband mounts for the naked and cased units. However, if you
want them, you will have to spend more money.
