Sony FDRX3000/W Underwater Camcorder 4K, White

Great little camera. The image stabilization is BOSS. Literally. It's almost like you have gimbal. I think it's better than what's on the Hero 6. The video quality is superb. Make sure you have the right sd card with the right read write speeds. Something most reviewers never tell you. The sound recording is better than most action cameras with a higher volume recording level. Its louder than the Hero 5. You dont need an external mic but the great thing here is it has an external mic input. The bad thing is there is no db or gain control.Several external mics that I have used sounds too loud and there is some distortion peaking like when using a Boya wireless lav. When using a Zoom or Tascam you can go really low on the input levels almost to the point of not needing one. Others that have a negative db control like the Rode videomic pro works ok. If you have a mic that is not as loud as you like use it. For example my Hottec wireless sounds great with this.I would have liked to see a few more color profiles this only has flat and vivid but it looks great. The sony playmemories hook up was easy and you can do playback if you didn't get the remote but for some reason I get no sound through the app. The one thing that they could have done to really put the icing on the cake is a backlight screen. In dim areas you can't see the display.It comes with a mount but nothing to clip it to. It's like they forgot to include the sticky mount. Overall this is my go to camera with its features. It's so small and compact it's easy to take with you anywhere.

I only have the GoPro Hero3+ as a comparison so nothing GoPro with image stabilization. The image stabilization on this camera (BOSS) is very impressive. I've never been a huge fan of the super wide angle GoPro look of videos, I assume most camera makers way around not having image stabilization is to go with that really wide fisheye look to cover up the person holding the cameras shakiness. With this Sony that isn't an issue, and underwater videos shot from this thing look incredible, not that the GoPro is bad it's just that this Sony has way less of the stretchy wide angle so the videos just look better IMO.The underwater housing is somewhat tough to open and close, might be a good thing though. You'll need extra batteries especially shooting in the highest resolutions.Shooting in 1080p at 120fps makes some Amazing videos, drops of water slowed down during playback are just un-real. The only issue with those files are trying to network stream them back on my TV through an Apple TV or an Amazon Fire TV, they stutter, stutter.....crash. These are 2 year old TVs, not 4K though. You would think they could handle 1080p files? They don't even playback any better via USB plugged directly into the TV. I assume post processing the files would result in a playable file, they look amazing straight off the camera on a iMac with 5k display. Quicktime recognizes them as 120 fps files and gives you the cool slow motion playback option, no Sony software required.If you do already own a lot of GoPro accessories I would go ahead and order the part so you can use your mounts on the Sony. There's not a lot of accessories for this camera but, it has the standard threaded camera mount on it so, it's a non issue. The waterproof housing and the camera itself have the threaded mount option.The connection to your mobile device works nicely with the PlayMemories app, very easy to understand and really makes shooting a time-lapse a breeze. Actually, any camera settings you want to make are probably more easily done with the app rather than that tiny screen on the camera itself. For my old eyes that screen is a chore. I find that I prefer the way this camera fits in my pocket better than my GoPro, it's not a size issue just the layout of the cameras. I don't have the big weird hood lens cover on my Sony, probably should but I'm waiting for a better option.In summary I have to say that this is a better camera than my Hero 3+ but, I can't say for certain if it's better than the Hero 5 not having used it. What I can say for sure is that if I had never bought a GoPro and I just grabbed this Sony I wouldn't feel like I missed out on anything. Maybe a few tweaks here or there but this camera doesn't lack anything at all. It already creates better files than my devices can even playback.I've never been much of a Sony fan so, I bought this camera fully expecting I would likely return it and get the Hero 5. The fact that GoPro keeps changing things just enough to make us have to replace our accessories has made me look at other options, for the time being I'm not looking back.I'll keep the Sony!

Great little action camPros:+I like the design as it's easier to hold or use than the gopro form factor+ buttons are easy to use and menu system is easy once you get used to it+ I like the included waterproof case+ pretty good video and photo quality+ downloadable software is nice to help edit or do time lapses with+ 4k is decent but I normally shoot 1080p for size and space+ since i have other sony cameras, sync'ing to phone is nice for second screenCons:- using the waterproof case means you can't hear anything- battery life is average, keep some spares- not as much aftermarket accessories but can adapt to gopro system