Sony DEV-3 digital recording 3D binoculars
Admittedly not a compact, but Sony’s inventive DEV-3 digital binoculars certainly falls under the ‘active’ category. Aimed at twitchers and super-spys, the DEV-3 digital binos record in MPEG-4 MVC 3D and 2D AVCHD. There’s a 10x (2D) zoom enhanced with an effective SteadyShot Active Mode. Although mostly automatic, there’s convenient manual focus for when you want to hold what may be a flighty target in sharp relief.
Picture quality is high; Sony has grafted decent G lens optics to a Dual Exmor R CMOS sensor. The DEV-3 records to SD/SDHC/SDXC cards or Memory Stick; you can also snap digital still images with a maximum resolution of 7.1MP in 4:3 ratio or 5.3MP in 16:9. Battery life runs to around 3 hours. File under: utterly unique... and expensive.
Reg Rating 75%
Price £1449
More info Sony
Sony HDR-GW55VE waterproof Handycam
Buoyed by the success of its 'net share Bloggies, Sony has developed this waterproof pistol gripper. The HDR-GW55VE is dust and drop (to 1.5m) resistant, not to mention water proof down to an impressive 5m. The shooter uses the brand’s Exmor R CMOS sensor and Sony G lens, and boasts an extensive 10x optical zoom. There’s also Optical SteadyShot with Active Mode for judder free panning and 3in screen.
The HDR-GW55VE shoots 1080/50i AVCHD onto Memory Stick Micro or Micro-SD/SDHC card, and grabs still images from a 5MP sensor. To compensate for colour discrepancies when you go diving there’s an underwater shooting mode. Even better, the HDR-GW55VE will geotag all your footage thanks to on-board GPS. All well and good, but it is pricey with not much discounting around at the moment.
Reg Rating 75%
Price £465
More info Sony
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COMMENTS
Re: No GoPro?
In fact, not one really 'active' cam in the review: none can be mounted on bike/helmet/....
No GoPro?
Seems a glaring omission. They have mounts for attaching to pretty much anything, waterproof to 60m and used often by TV shows to film their action content. 3D kit, wifi streaming/remote control available to satisfy the geek in you too.
Vegas can do a Bob and Weave deinterlace to produce double framerate footage.
Agreed though, anything 25 based needs to be shot. Let us move on from differing framerates, nonsquare pixels, PAL and NTSC as quickly as humanly possible. It was a horrible nightmare best left in the past and made things confusing for non-savvy consumers.
How Bad?
Exactly how bad is the 15x digital zoom on the Panasonic HX-WA20, for instance?
I've highlighted the relevant term. That should tell you all you need to know.
Riot gear
Is there a model for filming riots in low light conditions? i.e. with an exposure control impervious to police strobing flashlights, with a strong strap for resisting assaults, and "hidden" internal buffer memory so no one can erase the last ten recorded minutes (or continuously uploading a lowres stream via 3G or 4G to a cloud backup site).
