Sony X3000 Action Cam - Optical Stabilization in 4K, and AS300

markr041

Camera in Active mode, then Mercalli stabilization applied to the same clip in post, then the vertical comparison view of both.

Bottom line: you want to walk, get a gimbal.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

Bottom line: you want to walk, get a gimbal.

Bottom line is that you better up with good 3 axis gimbal :-)

As X3000 needs Mercalli due to lack of roll axis.
Mercalli needs some tuning as your output did not remove all things.

@markr041

Try same with attached monopod that almost touches ground. It must fix most of roll issues.

And make just vertical comparison short version. Make sure to select proper lens.

markr041

There is no preset for the new lens on the X3000 in any software, including Mercalli. The X3000 lens is completely different from past Sony action cams, with much less fisheye, as is evident in the videos and is consistent with Sony's statements about new X3000 features. There is thus no proper lens preset to use. I am sure there will be in the future. I am also sure that someone with patience and time and Mercalli experience can do better, but I used the defaults, given the current absence of any proper lens preset.

I am confident that a hanging monopod can help for movement, and for static shots. But I cannot travel with them, so my interest is stability in static shots without aids for small cameras. Hurray for BOSS and dual IBIS!

Vitaliy_Kiselev

But I cannot travel with them, so my interest is stability in static shots without aids for small cameras. Hurray for BOSS and dual IBIS!

Why you can not travel with small carbon monopod?

markr041

Using the waterproof case:

Vitaliy_Kiselev

@markr041

In each video camera small camera roll movements are visible and distract.

For intended purpose where it is mounted to head or body or bike it will be ok, but here not so good.

markr041

It turns out that for handheld static shots, wind is the main culprit. The camera is so light and small it is really difficult to buffer against it. NYC is a gusty place.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

@markr041

If you can't use monopod you can use 1/4 hand screw, fish line and small clothing pocket. First attach screw to camera, attach line to it, attach line to pocket and put nearest good brick(s) into pocket.

markr041

Yes, that is a good technique. Hopefully someone will use it.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

Hopefully someone will use it.

LOL.

Even more simple and effective is same small bag and rock attached to selfie stick (like small monopod).

DrDave

Thanks @markr041 this looks like a steal of a deal--any downside? Recording time limit? Weird artefacts? I'm very impressed with your videos, as usual.

markr041

Thanks. So far I am very impressed with the picture quality. Interestingly, ooc the clips seem overexposed but when I bring down luminance in post there is nothing blown (as you see in all my videos). This means that using curves one can have shadow areas with detail but no noise consequences while bringing down highlights - good (I have not tried that, just brought down overall exposure in post).

The one caution is overheating - on a hot sunny day, the camera in the airtight waterproof case got very hot and the clips showed signs of image deterioration (same happens to GoPros), but no shutdown But obviously, keeping it in that case when it is hot and sunny is not needed. Also, audio is very good - no aggressive agc, so you get real dynamics and clean sound (PCM too).

markr041

Sony FDR X1000 vs. Sony FDR X3000

Mainly shows that the fisheye effect is much more pronounced on the older model. This was shot using both cameras from exactly the same spot under the same lighting (two levels):

The older model also appears to use slightly more contrast and more sharpening perhaps in default mode.

markr041

Time-Lapse Test - and a surprise (to me)

One big improvement of the X3000 over the X1000 is now you can shoot 4K time-lapses. In the X1000 the jpegs for time-lapse mode were at most 1920x1080. Now they can be 3840x2160 (UHD).

The surprise was, and this may be true for all time-lapse pics in all cameras, the time-lapse jpegs are 4:2:2. Now, all consumer cameras produce video that is 4:2:0 (as does the X3000). So we get better chroma subsampling for the time-lapse videos (yes, still 8-bit)!

To take advantage of this I rendered the 4K time-lapse video using a codec that was also 4:2:2 (almost all are 4:2:0) and uploaded the 4:2:2 video to Vimeo. In Sony Vegas Pro that is XAVC intra, which renders at 280 Mbps in 10 bit and 4:2:2. It has a suffix of mfx. Won't play in Windows Media Player (you have to download codec packs). But Vimeo will and did take it.

For time-lapse, there are also two useful features: you can lock WB and you can lock exposure (new in the X3000)! This is very useful to insure no flickering.

So, here is the X3000 test 4K time-lapse: