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Sony Handycam FDR-AX700 4K Ultra HD Camcorder | Review 2023

April 24, 2023 by  
Filed under Digital Camcorders, Featured Camcorder


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Best of 2023 Award The FDR-AX700 is Sony’s upgrade to the popular FDR-AX100 4K consumer camcorder. SmartReview previewed this model at CES in Las Vegas. The biggest upgrades are the new 273 point phase detection AF for fast and accurate video focusing, Dual Card Slots, Higher resolution LCD touchscreen, new 120p mode for HD, S-Log2 and S-Log3, and new HDR recording mode. This model shoots at 4K Ultra HD (3840×2160) which is at 8 megapixels resolution versus only 2 megapixels for Full HD, a four fold increase in resolution.

The FDR-AX700 has a huge 1-inch back-illuminated Exmor R® CMOS Sensor (14.2M pixels). This is far larger than most camcorder imagers, and will give better low light performance and increased dynamic range. Shooting at this resolution will future proof your videos, as the industry moves toward 4K resolution in TVs. Footage in 4K can also be used for Full HD video production, as you can crop or zoom in on your footage and still maintain Full HD quality. For best image quality, Sony has equipped the FDR-AX700 with a Carl Zeiss 12x Optical Zoom Lens. It has an excellent 2.35 million dot OLED EVF Viewfinder as well. EVF Viewfinder. External Microphone and Headphone jacks. Infrared Night Vision. Built-in WiFi and NFC. This is a premium quality camcorder in all regards and won our BEST of 2023 Award …More…

Sony Handycam FDR-AX53 4K Ultra HD Camcorder | Review

April 23, 2023 by  
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BEST of 2023 Award The FDR-AX53 is Sony’s newest compact 4K consumer camcorder. SmartReview previewed this model at CES in Las Vegas (see video below). This model shoots at 4K Ultra HD (3840×2160) which is at 8 megapixels resolution verus only 2 megapixels for Full HD. In addition to shooting at 4 times the resolution of HD, this model has Sony’s best Balanced Optical Steadyshot (BOSS) image stabilization.

This camcorder, although a consumer model has many high end features, such as a premium Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar® T lens f2.0-3.8 (20x optical and 30x extended zoom). Shooting at this resolution will future proof your videos, as the industry moves toward 4K resolution in TVs. Footage in 4K can also be used for Full HD video production, as you can crop or zoom in on your footage and still maintain Full HD quality. Manual Control (Iris, Shutter, Exposure, and White Balance. External Microphone and Headphone Jacks, Infrared Night Vision and an EVF Viewfinder. Future proof your videos by going with 4K Ultra HD resolution. The FDR-AX53 has won our BEST of 2023 award for camcorders under $1000. …More…

Panasonic Professional (HC-X2000) 4K Ultra HD Camcorder | Review 2023

April 22, 2023 by  
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BEST of 2023 Award Panasonic’s Pro HC-X2000 4K Ultra HD compact professional camcorder. This model has a detachable handle with XLR inputs, a video light, and a microphone holder. 4K has 4 times the resolution of Full HD, and is about the same resolution as the 4K projector in your local movie theater. The HC-X2000 shoots 4K video at 8 megapixels (3840 x 2160) per frame, vs. 2 megapixels (1920 x 1080) of Full HD. With the industry transitioning to 4K TVs, this camcorder will future proof your videos to look spectacular on these TVs. If you shoot video in 4K and then convert it to HD, the video will still appear much sharper than a regular HD camcorder would. The HC-X2000 can record in either 4K (at 24, 30 & 60p) or HD.

For best image quality the camcorder includes a fast Leica F1.8-F4.0 lens that was designed for the HC-X2000 to help in low light situations and provides up to 24x optical zoom. 5 Axis image stabilizer keeps images steady. The 3.5-inch flip out LCD has the highest resolution (at 2,760,000 Dots) that we have seen, which is excellent for composing a shot. Other features include an ND filters, accessory shoe, and an external microphone jack and headphone jack. EVF Viewfinder. At full 4K Ultra HD resolution the camcorder records at a high bitrate to preserve quality. High Dynamic Range (HDR) feature. Full HD slow motion feature. …More…

Panasonic Professional HC-X1500 4K Ultra HD Camcorder | Review 2023

April 19, 2023 by  
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BEST of 2023 Award Panasonic’s HC-X1500 4K Ultra HD compact professional camcorder. 4K has 4 times the resolution of Full HD, and is about the same resolution as the 4K projector in your local movie theater. The HC-X1500 shoots 4K video at 8 megapixels (3840 x 2160) per frame, vs. 2 megapixels (1920 x 1080) of Full HD. With the industry transitioning to 4K TVs, this camcorder will future proof your videos to look spectacular on these TVs. If you shoot video in 4K and then convert it to HD, the video will still appear much sharper than a regular HD camcorder would. The HC-X1500 can record in either 4K (at 24, 30 & 60p) or HD.

For best image quality the camcorder includes a fast Leica F1.8-F4.0 lens that was designed for the HC-X1500 to help in low light situations and provides up to 24x optical zoom. 5 Axis image stabilizer keeps images steady. The 3.5-inch flip out LCD has the highest resolution (at 2,760,000 Dots) that we have seen, which is excellent for composing a shot. Other features include an ND filters, accessory shoe, and an external microphone jack and headphone jack. EVF Viewfinder. At full 4K Ultra HD resolution the camcorder records at a high bitrate to preserve quality. High Dynamic Range (HDR) feature. Full HD slow motion feature. …More…

Sony Pro HXR-NX80 4K Ultra HD Camcorder | NXCAM Review 2023

February 10, 2023 by  
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Best of 2023 Award The HXR-NX80 is Sony’s upgrade to the popular NXCAM Series 4K Pro camcorder. SmartReview previewed this model at CES in Las Vegas. The biggest upgrades are the new 273 point phase detection AF for fast and accurate video focusing, Dual Card Slots, Higher resolution LCD touchscreen, new 120p mode for HD, S-Log2 and S-Log3, and new HDR recording mode. This model now shoots at 4K Ultra HD(3840×2160) which is at 8 megapixels resolution verus only 2 megapixels for Full HD. In addition to shooting at 4 times the resolution of HD.

The Pro HXR-NX80 has a huge 1-inch back-illuminated Exmor R® CMOS Sensor (14.2M pixels). This is far larger than most camcorder imagers, and will give better low light performance and increased dynamic range. Shooting at this resolution will future proof your videos, as the industry moves toward 4K resolution in TVs. Footage in 4K can also be used for Full HD video production, as you can crop or zoom in on your footage and still maintain Full HD quality. For best image quality, Sony has equipped the HXR-NX80 with a Carl Zeiss 12x Optical Zoom Lens. It has an excellent 2.35 million dot OLED EVF Viewfinder as well. EVF Viewfinder. XLR Audio Inputs. Infrared Night Vision Feature. External Microphone and Headphone jacks. Built-in WiFi and NFC. This is a premium quality camcorder in all regards, and won our BEST of 20232 Award for 4K Pro Camcorders… …More…

Panasonic HC-WXF991K 4K Ultra HD Camcorder | Review

May 21, 2022 by  
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Panasonic’s HC-WXF991K 4K Ultra HD consumer camcorder. 4K has 4 times the resolution , of Full HD and is about the same resolution as the 4K projector in your local movie theater. With the industry transitioning to 4K TVs, this camcorder will future proof your videos to look spectacular on these TVs. If you shoot video in 4K and then convert it to HD, the video will still appear much sharper than a regular HD camcorder would. The HC-WXF991K can record in either 4K or HD. The camcorder records video to SDXC U3 Memory cards, with 4K recording at a high 72mbps bit rate.

For best image quality the camcorder includes a fast Leica F1.8-F3.6 lens that was designed for the HC-WXF991K to help in low light situations. For night recording, you can use the Night Vision Feature. Panasonic has added a Second Twin Camera, for picture in a picture effect. The HC-WXF991K has a twin camera, so you can record a picture in a picture. Included are advanced features such as the new Hybrid optical/digital image stabilization with HYBRID O.I.S. which uses five-axis correction to suppress blurring, 20x optical zoom (Intelligent Zoom function can go up to 25x in 4K and 40x in HD), accessory shoe, and an external microphone jack and headphone jack. EVF Viewfinder. At full 4K Ultra HD resolution the camcorder records to MPEG-4 H.264 at a high 72mbps bit rate. High Dynamic Range (HDR) feature. Night Vision. Full HD slow motion feature. …More…

GoPro (HERO10 Black) 4K Action Camera | Review 2022

May 20, 2022 by  
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4.9 Stars Rating

Best of 2022 Award GoPro’s HERO10 Black Edition is the top 4K action cam on the market. HyperSmooth 4 image stabilization, is a breakthrough in stabilization technology. Action cams are made to be in shaky environments, and image stabilization is key. The folding built-in mounting fingers, that make it so you can mount your GoPro without a frame or bulky case.

The HERO10 Black has a new more powerful GP2 processor (first upgrade in years). This enables better low light performance and higher framerates. You can now shoot video up to 4K120 video (4K at 120fps). A new higher resolution 5.3K mode is available at up to 60fps. The most powerful HyperSmooth 4.0 works to give rock solid video, even when handheld or mounted. For many applications the HyperSmooth 4.0 will replace a gimbal for stabilization. Another new feature is Time Warp Video 3 which is a time lapse movie, that uses HyperSmooth to give you a much smoother and less jittier time lapse movie. A new Night Lapse allows timelapse at night. A new Live Streaming application allows you to show streaming live video to social media like Facebook. The Hero10 Black has received our BEST of 2022 Award for Action Cams…. …More…

Sony Handycam FDR-AX43 4K Ultra HD Camcorder | Review

February 10, 2022 by  
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The FDR-AX43 is Sony’s newest compact 4K consumer camcorder. This model shoots at 4K Ultra HD (3840×2160) which is at 8 megapixels resolution verus only 2 megapixels for Full HD. In addition to shooting at 4 times the resolution of HD, this model has Sony’s best Balanced Optical Steadyshot (BOSS) image stabilization.

This camcorder, although a consumer model has many high end features, such as a premium Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar® T lens f2.0-3.8 (20x optical and 30x extended zoom). Shooting at this resolution will future proof your videos, as the industry moves toward 4K resolution in TVs. Footage in 4K can also be used for Full HD video production, as you can crop or zoom in on your footage and still maintain Full HD quality. Manual Control (Iris, Shutter, Exposure, and White Balance. External Microphone and Headphone Jacks. Future proof your videos by going with 4K Ultra HD resolution. The FDR-AX43 is a Smart-Review Top Pick camcorders under $1000. …More…

GoPro HERO8 Black 4K Action Camera | Review

February 5, 2022 by  
Filed under Digital Camcorders, Featured Camcorder


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4.9 Stars Rating

Best of 2022 Award GoPro’s HERO8 Black Edition is one of the top 4K action cameras on the market. HyperSmooth 2 image stabilization, is a breakthrough in stabilization technology. Action cams are made to be in shaky environments, and image stabilization is key. Another huge upgrade is the folding built-in mounting fingers, that make it so you can mount your GoPro without a frame or bulky case.

The HERO8 Black also can shoot 4K60 video (4K at 60fps), and HyperSmooth 2 works, even at this high resolution and framerate. For many applications the HyperSmooth will replace a gimbal for stabilization. Another new feature is Time Warp Video 2 which is a time lapse movie, that uses HyperSmooth to give you a much smoother and less jittier time lapse movie. Both of these technologies are readily superior when compared to prior models. A new Live Streaming application allows you to show streaming live video to social media like Facebook. The Hero8 Black has received our BEST of 2022 Award for Action Cams…. …More…

Panasonic HC-VX870 4K Ultra HD Camcorder Review

March 7, 2021 by  
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Panasonic’s HC-VX870 was the first 4K Ultra HD consumer camcorder offered by Panasonic. 4K has 4 times the resolution , of Full HD and is about the same resolution as the 4K projector in your local movie theater. With the industry transitioning to 4K TVs, this camcorder will future proof your videos to look spectacular on these TVs. 4K shoots at 8 megapixels per frame vs. 2 megapixels for Full HD. If you shoot video in 4K and then convert it to HD, the video will still appear much sharper than a regular HD camcorder would.

The HC-VX870 can record in either 4K or HD. The camcorder records video to SDXC U3 Memory cards, with 4K recording at a high 72mbps bit rate. For best image quality the camcorder includes a fast Leica F1.8-F3.6 lens that was designed for the HC-VX870 to help in low light situations. For night recording, you can use the Night Vision feature. Included are advanced features such as the new Hybrid optical/digital image stabilization with HYBRID O.I.S. which uses five-axis correction to suppress blurring, 20x optical zoom (Intelligent Zoom function can go up to 25x in 4K and 40x in HD), accessory shoe, and an external microphone jack and headphone jack. At full 4K Ultra HD resolution the camcorder records to MPEG-4 H.264 at a high 72mbps bit rate. Panasonic has added a High Dynamic Range (HDR) feature for challenging lighting conditions. Full HD slow motion feature. …More…

Panasonic HC-V770 Full HD WiFi Camcorder | Review

April 26, 2020 by  
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Panasonic’s midrange HC-V770 Flash Memory WiFi Camcorder replaces the extremely popular HC-V750K series. It records to SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards in Full HD video. (This camcorder features High-density, ultra-smooth video at 1080/60p Recording (Full-HD 1920 x 1080, 60 Progressive frames Recording). It also includes a fast F1.8-F3.6 lens that was created for the HC-V770 to help in low light situations. The wide angle 29.5mm lens can fit more people and more of the background into the frame than a conventional lens. The back illuminated imaging sensor is a large 1/2.33″ High Sensitivity MOS Sensor which can provide up to 1,920 x 1,080 of HD resolution, and improve video in low light. Takes 24.0 megapixel still pictures.

Included on the HC-V750 camcorder are advanced features such as the new Hybrid optical/digital image stabilization with HYBRID O.I.S. which uses five-axis correction to suppress blurring, 20x optical zoom (Intelligent Zoom function can go up to 50x), accessory shoe, and an external microphone jack. At full HD resolution the camcorder records to MPEG-4 H.264 at a higher 50mbps bit rate. All other video is recorded with AVCHD. At maximum quality , you can record over 2 hours and 40 minutes of video using a 32GB memory card. Built-in WIFI, Redesigned Microphone shields the camcorder from wind noise. Dolby 5.1 sound. New features: Wireless Twin camera & HDR (High Dynamic Range). …More…

Sony Handycam FDR-AX100 4K Ultra HD Camcorder | Review

April 9, 2020 by  
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The FDR-AX100 is Sony’s first compact 4K consumer camcorder. SmartReview previewed this model at CES in Las Vegas. It received more awards than any other camcorder, and is SmartReview’s top consumer 4K camcorder for 2016. This model shoots at 4K Ultra HD (3840×2160) which is at 8 megapixels resolution verus only 2 megapixels for Full HD. In addition to shooting at 4 times the resolution of HD, this model has a huge 1-inch back-illuminated Exmor R® CMOS Sensor (20.9M pixels). This is far larger than most camcorder imagers, and will give exceptional low light performance and increased dynamic range.

Shooting at 4K resolution will future proof your videos, as the industry moves toward 4K resolution in TVs. Footage in 4K can also be used for Full HD video production, as you can crop or zoom in on your footage and still maintain Full HD video quality. For best image quality, Sony has equipped the FDR-AX100 with a Carl Zeiss 12x Optical Zoom Lens. It has an excellent 2.35 million dot OLED EVF Viewfinder as well. EVF Viewfinder. External Microphone and Headphone jacks. Night Vision Infrared. Built-in WiFi and NFC. This is a premium quality camcorder in all regards. …More…

GoPro HERO7 Black 4K Action Camera | Review

January 20, 2020 by  
Filed under Digital Camcorders, Featured Camcorder


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Best of 2019 Award GoPro’s HERO7 Black Edition Camera is one of the top action cameras on the market. The big new feature is HyperSmooth image stabilization, which is a breakthrough in stabilization technology. Action cams are made to be in shaky environments, and image stabilization is key.

The HERO7 Black also can shoot 4K60 video (4K at 60fps), and HyperSmooth works, even at this high resolution and framerate. For many applications the HyperSmooth will replace a gimbal for stabilization. Another new feature is Time Warp Video which is a time lapse movie, that uses HyperSmooth to give you a much smoother and less jittier time lapse movie. Both of these technologies are readily superior when compared to prior models. A new Live Streaming application allows you to show video live to social media. This is a fantastic Action Cam, the best we ever tested. For that it has received our BEST of 2019 Award….
…More…

Sony Handycam FDR-AX33 4K Ultra HD Camcorder | Review

January 3, 2020 by  
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The FDR-AX33 was Sony’s first compact 4K consumer camcorder. SmartReview previewed this model a while back at CES in Las Vegas and it received many Best of CES awards. This model shoots at 4K Ultra HD (3840×2160) which is at 8 megapixels resolution verus only 2 megapixels for Full HD. In addition to shooting at 4 times the resolution of HD, this model has Sony’s best Balanced Optical Steadyshot™ (BOSS) image stabilization, the first 4K model to have this technology.

This camcorder, although a consumer model has many high end features, such as a premium Carl Zeiss lens f1.8-3.4 (10x optical and 20x extended zoom). Shooting at this resolution will future proof your videos, as the industry moves toward 4K resolution in TVs. Footage in 4K can also be used for Full HD video production, as you can crop or zoom in on your footage and still maintain Full HD quality. Manual Control (Iris, Shutter, Exposure, and White Balance. EVF Viewfinder. Shoots at 100Mbps for best picture quality. …More…

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