GoPro's Protune mode on the Hero4 might not give you noticeably better video, but it does offer you more control over the final results.Īs we experienced with the AS100V, highlights tend to blow out (common for these small-sensor cameras) and while exposure is generally very good, if the camera is head mounted or moves around a lot, you can expect exposure to change with it.Īudio quality is quite good, too.
There are no other controls though save for an Underwater scene mode, which I imagine is made for bluer waters than I tested in. The video above was shot in Vivid, but even the Neutral setting is all too neutral. The camera has Vivid or Neutral color settings. Using the EIS does narrow the field of view to 120 degrees, and it occasionally looks jerky to me, but it's way better than the wobbly mess it could be.
The clips in the video above were recorded in XAVC-S format in 1080p at 60fps with Sony's advanced SteadyShot electronic image stabilization. For the best video quality, you'll want to go with the XAVC S format available in full HD at 60, 30 and 24 frames per second.
The 720p at 120fps can be recorded as slow-motion video or just at high-speed.
In MP4, you can record in 1080p at 60fps or 30fps 720p at 30fps or 120fps and 480p at 30fps. The camera can be set to record in MP4 at bitrates up to 28Mbps or Sony's XAVC S format (in an MP4 container) at a bitrate of 50Mbps. Video and photo qualityĪgain, despite the smaller size, the Mini's video quality is close to the AS100V and on par with the GoPro Hero4 Silver. The rest take advantage of the quick-connect buckle. Sony has a little more than a dozen mounts available for the camera, though about half of those use a standard 1/4-20 tripod mount. There is a quick-connect buckle to use with the flat and curved adhesive mounts that are part of the package. In the box along with the camera and remote (should you buy the bundle), you'll get a Micro-USB cable, a battery, a waterproof housing good down to 5 meters (16 feet) and a tripod mount that clips on and securely screws into the base of the camera. Lastly, you'll find a Wi-Fi button for powering that on and off and changing its mode.
There is a hold switch to keep this from happening accidentally. Aside from the power button, there's a record button that, with one press, will turn on the camera and start recording. On top of that, you'll need at least a 64GB SDXC card to record in XAVC-S format. Normally this would be a good thing, but it makes it very easy to seat the card incorrectly, which you may not know until you're ready to record. Basically, you'll want to buy a backup or two if you're going out for a full day of shooting.īehind two panels on the back, you'll find a Micro-USB port and a memory card slot that takes both microSD cards and Memory Stick Micro cards. That was better than I expected, but switching to the camera's high-bitrate format and/or using Wi-Fi shortens that. I tested the battery life continuously recording at 1080p at 60fps in MP4 (28Mbps) and averaged 1 hour and 18 minutes.