It is astonishing how consumer video cameras have developed over the last five years. The difference between professional and amateur equipment is not so much in the quality of the pictures (although, of course, there is still a substantial difference) but in the way they are used; to put it simply, professional cameras aim to give maximum control over all the functions whereas as those aimed at the consumer market are designed to produce great looking pictures as easily as possible.
The spec for for this camera is impressive: Ultra High Definition (4K), a 20 to 1 Zeiss zoom and a state-of-the-art optical stabiliser (Balanced Optical SteadyShot). It has an excellent flip out LCD monitor screen (which also functions as a touch screen to control most of the camera’s functions) as well as a small viewfinder (essential if you are filming in bright sunshine). Built-in microphones record stereo or (only in HD) 5.1 surround sound. It also has a minijack to plug in an external microphone - an essential element that many consumer cameras lack. And it is compact and light - it’s about 6.5” x 2.5” by 3” and weighs about 22oz (614g) with battery attached. It records on to inexpensive SD cards but for UHD you need fast ones (SDHC UHS-I U3 or Higher). It takes still photos as well.
If you are considering a stills camera for video use in this sort of price range, let me assure you there is a huge difference: stills cameras (DSLRs and mirrorless cameras) have bigger chips (sensors) which means you used longer focal length lenses for the same angle; the consequence of this is shallow-depth of field. Shallow-depth of field means that the background will tend to be out-of-focus - an effect that everyone currently thinks is very desirable (it is referred to as ‘bokeh’). Larger sensor also tend to be more sensitive to light so they are better in low-light. However, there is a downside to this: you won’t get a fast 20 to 1 zoom lens and, if you are shooting documentaries (or anything spontaneous), you generally want as much as possible to be in focus; shallow depth-of-field is not always desirable. Moreover, stills cameras are designed to shoot stills, video cameras to shoot video and the ergonomics of stills cameras are often inappropriate and there tend to be compromises on basic video functions - like recording audio.
To cut to the chase - this camera produces fantastic pictures. Shoot in UHD and plug it to a 4K TV and you can’t fail to be impressed - the pictures are clear, sharp and vibrant. Particularly impressive is the optical stabilisation system - the whole lens assembly floats within the camera body like a miniature Steadicam. Stabilisation works at its best in HD but even in UHD it does an amazing job: you can shoot right on the end of the zoom lens and get acceptably steady pictures - I’ve never seen a stabilisation system within a camera as good as this.
HD is also extremely good - and, arguably, HD is perfectly adequate for home viewing unless you sit very close to a really huge screen (the majority of cinemas in the UK are still 2K - basically the same as HD - and no one seems be complaining that there aren’t enough pixels on the screen). In HD it will shoot up to 100fps but in UHD you are restricted to 25fps. The Zeiss lens is a beauty - it goes from a decent wide angle (approximately equivalent to 28mm on a 35mm camera) to a decent telephoto, it’s fast (F2 at the wide end), very sharp and has no noticeable distortion.
Although this is camera designed for the home user and thus intended to be used largely in ‘auto’ mode, Sony have added a significant amount of manual control functions. The lens ring (there is only one) can be used to control Focus, Zoom, Exposure, Shutter Speed, Iris, Auto Exposure Shift and White Balance Shift - to select functions you use a manual button and the touch screen. In practice, this is far from ideal - you really need to decide what you want to use that ring for as switching between functions is clumsy. Also, you can not set Shutter Speed and Iris independently - to ‘stop down’ or ‘open up’ you have to use the Exposure setting. From a professional point of view this is a huge compromise. However, the camera does have some welcome features for assisting manual settings which you get on professional cameras - ‘zebras’ to set exposure and ‘peaking’ and ‘centre enlargement’ to set focus. Despite this, the vast majority of users will use the camera on auto and the camera will deliver great results. My only other real gripe is the zoom rocker switch - it’s very small and almost impossible to use it for slow steady zooms (but then I avoid zooming in shot as much as possible).
I can find little wrong with this camera apart from my regret that you can’t easily control everything manually - but then that is not really what this camera is designed for. Use it well, and the pictures may be some of the best ones you see on your TV - really, it is that good.
There are many other functions of this camera that I haven’t really investigated - photos, wi-fi and various special modes - some of which are there perhaps for marketing reasons, some that may appeal to the home user - but they are just icing on a very fine cake.
This is a great little camera. £750 is a significant amount of cash, but you are getting a lot of camera for that money. Highly recommended.
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This item  Sony FDR-AX53 Ultra HD 4K Compact Camcorder (HD 5-Axis Balanced Optical SteadyShot, 20x Optical Zoom, Wi-Fi and NFC), Black |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | £615.07 | £599.00 | -3% £337.95 RRP: £349.99 | £129.99 | £1,449.00 | £1,849.00 |
| Delivery | Get it as soon as Saturday, Mar 30 | — | Get it as soon as Saturday, Mar 30 | Get it as soon as Saturday, Mar 30 | Get it as soon as Saturday, Mar 30 | Get it as soon as Saturday, Mar 30 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
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| Sold by | Amazon Warehouse | Amazon | CAMERA BOX KETTERING | Suncail Trade EU | Amazon | Amazon |
| model name | ultra | FDR-AX43 | Panasonic HC-V785 Full HD HDR 20x Zoom Camcorder | — | HC-X1500E | HC-X2000E |
| display size | 3 inches | 2.5 inches | 3 inches | 3 inches | 3.5 inches | 3.5 inches |
| digital zoom | 250 multiplier x | — | 60 multiplier x | 18 multiplier x | 10 multiplier x | 10 multiplier x |
| optical zoom | 20 multiplier x | — | 20 multiplier x | — | 24 multiplier x | 24 multiplier x |
| video resolution | 4K | 4K | 1080p | 4K | 4K | 4K |
| connectivity tech | USB | HDMI, USB | HDMI | USB | Wi-Fi | xlr |
| shooting modes | Manual | Low Light | Movie | Continuous Shooting | Manual | Slow Motion |
| lens type | wide angle,zoom | wide angle,zoom | Zoom | Zoom | wide-angle,zoom | wide-angle,zoom |
From the manufacturer
The high true-to-life quality of 4 K
Shoot 4 K footage that contains about four times more detail than Full HD (3840 x 2160 pixels vs. 1920 x 1080) footage and capture more of the high qualities that bring images to vibrant life.
Product features
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The keys to high image qualityThese lens helps to depict remarkable details of high-quality 4 K images throughout its wide-angle-to-telephoto range. The use of an AA (aspherical) lens not only keeps depiction faithful — it also keeps the lens unit compact. ED (Extra-low Dispersion) lens helps to ensure accurate reproduction of colour. Multilayer ZEISS T Coating further enhances image quality by reducing unwanted reflection, such as ghost and flare. |
Balanced optical steadyshot (not supported in 4K)Image stabilisation suppresses camera shake to stabilise a movie as it is being shot within the wide-angle-to-telephoto zoom range. In HD shooting mode, it further reduces effects of camera shake even under unstable conditions with 5-axis Intelligent Active mode compensating for vibration in five different directions, so you can shoot stable high-quality movies even while running. |
Fast Intelligent Autofocus (AF)Fast Intelligent AF achieves very speedy, accurate contrast-detection autofocus by minimising lens motion, predicting the AF range and accelerating lens drive, thereby improving response so you can capture more fleeting moments. |
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High-quality sound recordingIts structural design enables the microphone to gather, from five directions, clear sound with approximately 40 per cent 15 less noise and twice as effective15 2 ch stereo (for XAVC S shooting) and three times as effective15 5.1 ch surround (for AVCHD shooting) sound performance. This makes it possible to faithfully reproduce audio with clearly defined separation. |
4 K Time-lapse captureYou can capture 4 K size still images continuously over an extensive duration of time at a selected constant interval from each shot to the next, edit the entire sequence of still images in post-production and enjoy playback of that series of images as a time-lapse movie. |
More professional-style functionsTime Code and User Bit can be added to movies as data elements. Time Code function records hours/minutes/ seconds/frames on image data for precise video editing. User Bit function records information such as date/time/scene number, etc in eight-digit arbitrary numbers and is useful for editing movies using two or more cameras. |
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| HDR-CX405 | HDR-PJ410 | HDR-CX625 | FDR-AX33 | FDR-AX53 | |
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| Customer Reviews | 356
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| Price | £195.00 | — | — | — | £615.07 |
| Quality | High Definition | High Definition | High Definition | 4 K Ultra HD | 4 K Ultra HD |
| Imager | 1/5.8 inch | 1/5.8 inch | 1/5.8 inch | 1/2.3 inch | 1/2.5 inch |
| Wide lens size | 26.8 mm | 26.8 mm | 26.8 mm | 29 mm | 29 mm |
| Screen size | 2.7 inch | 2.7 inch | 3 inch | 3.0 inch | 3.0 inch |
| Dots | w/230,400 | w/230,400 | w/460,800 | w/921,600 | w/921,600 |
| Optical zoom | 30x | 30x | 30x | 10x | 20x |
| Viewfinder | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Image stabilisation | Optical Steadyshot | Optical Steadyshot | Balanced Optical SteadyShot | Balanced Optical Steadyshot | Balanced Optical Steadyshot |
| Wi-Fi and NFC | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
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