The Sony Action Cam AS10/ AS15 review and users thread

[lozcs]

So I bought one of these yesterday on ebay..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261249524684

It's not arrived yet but any recommendations for mounting?

Also it says waterproof - do I need one of those plastic covers I have seen???

 

[Blurb]

The standard kit comes with the 60m waterproof case. Sound is poor through this.
I have mine bar mounted with a Minoura mount. I found it a bit heavy helmet mounted.

 

[Tyke]

It is a bit heavy when helmet mounted but not that bad I could not find a mount at the time so used some heavy duty velcro from B&Q it`s held the AS15 camera in the waterproof case for the last 3 months including a 4hr ride and helmet being left in garden for 2hr last sat in hot sunshine. I don`t remove it so don`t know how it sticks when pulled on and off all time.

 

[lozcs]

170 or 120 degrees best for handlebar mount?

 

[BSRU]

The standard kit comes with the 60m waterproof case. Sound is poor through this.
I have mine bar mounted with a Minoura mount. I found it a bit heavy helmet mounted.

I wear mine on my helmet when commuting, you get used to the extra weight, but for leisure rides I do not wear a helmet so it is bar mounted

 

[lozcs]

Handle bar mount arrived today...going to try on way home..

Only set to 720 as memory card not arrived yet and only have a spare 1 gig card here....

 

[Blurb]

I use 1080 30fps - 120 degrees on the bar because at that setting you can enable the really effective image stabilisation. A 32GB card gives about 4 hrs 15mins recording with this combo (Battery only lasts about 2hrs 20mins though).

 

[paulw1969]

Well, I used my AS15 for the first time today, 1080 30fps120 degrees (don't like the fish eye on the 170 degrees), had steady shot on. Its was still not fully light at 6 this morning but the camera coped very well...the sky was very bright on playback mind and the light from my front light (T6) on the road quite bright. Cracking picture, well impressed no artifacts that I can see but I have not watched the converted files yet. I have mine mounted off the bottom of the drops on a Ram mount. Camera shake is terrible due the roads round here being dressed/spray tarred.......so going to try turning off the steady shot to see if it makes any difference.....other than that I don't know what to try to get rid of the shake....not keen on putting it on a helmet....great review by the way!

 

[gaz]

Well, I used my AS15 for the first time today, 1080 30fps120 degrees (don't like the fish eye on the 170 degrees), had steady shot on. Its was still not fully light at 6 this morning but the camera coped very well...the sky was very bright on playback mind and the light from my front light (T6) on the road quite bright. Cracking picture, well impressed no artifacts that I can see but I have not watched the converted files yet. I have mine mounted off the bottom of the drops on a Ram mount. Camera shake is terrible due the roads round here being dressed/spray tarred.......so going to try turning off the steady shot to see if it makes any difference.....other than that I don't know what to try to get rid of the shake....not keen on putting it on a helmet....great review by the way!

Your shake is probably due to it being off the drops. Find a better location to secure it and it shouldn't be so bad.

 

[paulw1969]

Your shake is probably due to it being off the drops. Find a better location to secure it and it shouldn't be so bad.

that could be the case Gaz, but I do get a lot of buzz round here. I spent a couple of hours on Sunday trying different configurations....I cannot get off the bars near the stem, preferred, without a) not having part of the bike in view (want this for point of reference) b) flipping on its side or upside down c) just generally being in the way.

IF I did mount the camera on its side or upside down what editors do you all use which would allow me to flip the orientation of the files once taken off the camera? I cannot seem to find any freeware which isn't stuffed full of bl$$dy adverts etc.

 

[gaz]

that could be the case Gaz, but I do get a lot of buzz round here. I spent a couple of hours on Sunday trying different configurations....I cannot get off the bars near the stem, preferred, without a) not having part of the bike in view (want this for point of reference) b) flipping on its side or upside down c) just generally being in the way.

IF I did mount the camera on its side or upside down what editors do you all use which would allow me to flip the orientation of the files once taken off the camera? I cannot seem to find any freeware which isn't stuffed full of bl$$dy adverts etc.

flipping it is a pain in the arse. definitely avoid it if you can.

 

[paulw1969]

not good for fitting then Gaz as mount is at the bottom of the camera which severely restricts orientation.

I'll private message you cos I don't want to highjack this thread

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Yes, I think it would be fine in an urban environment - most of my footage in villages and towns looks ok. It just doesn't like the complex detail of movement by lots of rural roadside vegetation, although rapid pans can throw it as well. Googling 'sony as15 artefacts' throws up some interesting results.

I think there may be more to the artefacts than the degree of compression. Although the Sony's 720p bitrates are lower than Contour's, the 1080p bitrate is higher but still has problems. Hopefully fixable in firmware but if the type of compression is part of the problem, that could be hardware-dependent.

[edit] I think what I'm seeing is 'mud', or loss of detail in low contrast areas. This would explain why a high contrast urban scene is ok but low contrast areas are poor.

Has there been any firmware updates to fix this? I'm thinking of getting an AS10 but this thread is putting me off!

 

[Rezillo]

There has been a firmware update but it doesn't address the compression issues or the wierd sky colour..

Various moans, including mine, about compression here onwards:

http://community.sony.com/t5/Camcor...-Cam-Firmware-update-wishes/td-p/56759/page/2

 

[lozcs]

The battery in the AS10 is smaller than the hole in the camera and sits in a cradle to fit.

This would suggest to me that there is a larger battery available that negates the use of the cradle?

Anyone know?

Battery is NP-BX1 and 1240mAh