Move over, GoPro: Sony has just stepped even further into the action camera giant’s territory with the launch of two new Sony Action Cam models offering a choice of either 4K or HD capture along with game-changing image stabilization capabilities. Slated to ship in late September 2016, the Sony FDR-X3000 and HDR-AS300 inherit their newly-uprated Balanced Optical SteadyShot image stabilization technology from the company’s Handycam camcorder series.

Much is shared between the Sony X3000 and AS300 Action Cams, but clearly Balanced Optical SteadyShot is the big news, so let’s start there. The technology made its debut in early 2012 with the Handycam HDR-CX760V, and has been widely lauded for providing steadier footage than is offered by competing stabilization techniques. Instead of simply moving individual lens elements, the image sensor, or perhaps a combination of the two to steady motion from camera shake, Balanced Optical SteadyShot moves the entire optical block (that is to say, the whole lens and the sensor which sits behind it). Now, the technology arrives in both new Action Cam models for the first time, and it’s arguably of even more importance here, given the reputation of action camera footage for being nausea-inducingly shaky.

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https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2016/09/09/sony-launches-4k-hd-action-cameras-with-higher-quality-better-stabilized-ze