Initially launched in February this year, the 4K camcorder has just debuted in Singapore. The FDR-AX43 is now available on Sony’s online store at S$1,699.
Sony FDR-AX43 Compact 4K Ultra HD Handycam Camcorder for bloggers
The FDR-AX43 was developed for content creators and vloggers looking to produce footage that’s of better quality than that from a smartphone.
Overall the Sony FDR-AX43 is an excellent camcorder for vlogger looking to improve video quality beyond that of a smartphone and desires an in-built gimbal for more professional footage, with good sound recording thrown in.
The camcorder is the newest member of a line-up that includes the AX33 and AX53, with its main addition being an in-built gimbal mechanism and its Balanced Optical SteadyShot technology for capturing smooth, natural and high-quality video footage.
So instead of purchasing and lugging around an external gimbal setup, it was a pleasure just using the compact FDR-AX43 during shooting.
When sitting down or just standing still, the footage came out totally free of shake.
The flip-screen of the Sony FDR-AX43 can be rotated 180 degrees for taking selfies.
But it’s when you’re walking (or even slightly jogging) that the embedded gimbal does its magic, producing smooth footage that doesn’t look like an amateur Blair Witch Project.
The ZEISS Vario-Sonnar T* zoom lens in the Sony FDR-AX43.
The other thing I like about the AX43 is the microphone structure with three mic capsules for sound gathering to produce great sound recording.
Sound pickup was great and the quality superb with 5.1 channel recording.
The other strength that’s great for vloggers is the new Highlight Movie Maker which creates short movies in-camera without any post-production editing.
This makes it easier and faster to share MP4 movies on social media sites via a connected smartphone.
Rear view of the Sony FDR-AX43 4K HD Handycam Camcorder.
In terms of specs, the AX43 comes with the a ZEISS Vario-Sonnar T* zoom lens with wide angle of 26.8mm (35mm equivalent); with 20x optical zoom and Clear Image Zoom of 30x for 4K (3840 x 2160) and 40K for HD.
The camcorder sports a 1/2.5-type (7.20mm) back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS image sensor (aspect ratio 16:9) and BIONZ X image processing engine and produced excellent image quality, even in low-light conditions.
For better video quality, you can shoot at high-bitrates at 100Mbps for XAVC S 4K or 50Mbps for XAVC S HD).
Availability in Singapore
The FDR-AX43 is now available at selected Sony Stores, Sony Centres, Sony’s flagship store and Sony’s online store at S$1,699.
Gifts include a 64GB SD Card (worth S$42), a LCS-U21 Carrying Case (worth S$25), and an NP-FV50A Rechargeable Battery Pack (worth S$99).
This requires SDXC/SDHC memory card Class 10 or higher for XAVC S 4K 60Mpbs and XAVC S HD 50Mbps recording, and SDHC/SDXC memory card UHS-I U3 or higher for XAVC S 4K 100Mbps recording.
Focussing wise, the fast intelligent AF was quick and precise in subject capture.
The flip-screen which contains a 16:9 aspect-ratio 7.5cm (3.0 type) Clear Photo LCD display (460,800 dots) can be rotated for selfie/wefie shooting.
Overall, battery life was good with a rated continuous recording time of 235min.
Tags: 4K, AV, camcorder, gimbal, handycam, Lazada, reviews, Singapore, Sony, video, vlogger
Does this videocam come with Nightsight?
No I’m afraid it doesn’t. But the low light cap is not bad.