CES 2015: preview Sony's new 4K video cameras
LAS VEGAS — Sony is confident you'll want a 4K video camera in your life this year.
The Japanese tech giant unveiled two new 4K video cams here at the Consumer Electronics Show. One is a traditional handycam: the $1,100 AX33. The other is an action camera aimed at the GoPro crowd: the $500 X100V.
Sony wants you to shoot lots of 4K footage, as it's four times the resolution of standard 1080p high-definition, and looks great when plugged into a new 4K TV.
The TVs suffer from programming issues—the networks have yet to start broadcasting in 4K, leaving consumers with little ultra HD content to watch when they bring home the new TVs. Solution: make your own.
The AX33 is Sony's third 4K video camera in just over a year, following two earlier models that sold for $4,000 and $2,000. In a world of smartphone video footage, the camera is aimed at family shooters who want the tools they can't get from cellphone cameras—like zoom, image stabilization and the ability to shoot continuously for hours.
Image stabilization is the big selling point for Sony's X100V action cam as well. Sony's line of action cams compete with industry leader GoPro, whose cameras have become part of the uniform of the extreme sports crowd.
GoPros, when attached to ski helmets, bike handles and the like, tend to shoot for hours. That leaves a fair amount of labor for editors searching for the few moments where the camera doesn't shake.
Sony hopes the $500 X100V is the solution for that crowd. It's priced higher than the $400 GoPro Hero 4, silver edition, which shoots in 4K and has a built-in LCD screen. Weir says his action camera has more usable footage, because of the image stabilization.
Both cameras are expected in stores in February.
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