Sony's FDR-X3000R Action Cam To Hit The U.S. In 'Late' September

During IFA 2016 in Berlin, Sony showcased the FDR-X3000R, the company’s latest flagship action camera, but only gave pricing and availability details for Europe. Now, Sony has confirmed that its new Action Cam will be heading to the United States later this month.

Sony only said that the FDR-X3000R will be avaialble in the U.S. in “late” September, and it didn’t disclose the exact date, according to Engadget. The camera will sell for $400 or $500 if users decide to buy it along with the Live-View remote.

The X3000R comes with a Zeiss Tessar wide-angle lens and it’s also equipped with a 1/2.5-type 8.2M Exmor R CMOS sensor. The new lens will allow the camera to produce video without much distortion, a common problem with wide-angle lenses.

Powering the camera is a Bionz X processor which should efficiently handle any recorded media and enable full pixel readout. The main feature of the X3000R is the addition of OIS (optical image stabilization). Previously, Sony only placed digital stabilization on its Action Cams.

With OIS, stabilizing shaky footage is done by physically or mechanically moving parts of the lens and the image sensor while recording. This is preferred by a lot of people compared to software-based solutions as it does’t crop off huge parts of the videos, as pointed out by The Verge.

The addition of OIS is also accompanied by the ability to record video in 4K resolution at 30 frames-per-second. The device is also capable of capturing 8.3-megapixel stills in intervals to produce 4K time-lapse videos. There’s also 1080p video recording up to 120fps for slow motion.

The Sony X3000R comes packaged with an underwater housing that will make it waterproof up to 60 meters. There’s also the optional Live-View Remote which kind of looks like a wristwatch. the Live-View Remote allows users to adjust camera settings and start/stop recording without having to touch the X3000R itself.

Sony also announced the AS300R which is also an Action Cam with a cheaper $300 price tag along with all of the same features of the X3000R except for 4K video recording.