Review on Sony FDR-AX53 Black Camcorder: High-Quality Recording and Stunning Clarity by Nurul ᠌

Name: Sony FDR-AX53 Black Camcorder: High-Quality Recording and Stunning Clarity
Item: Sony FDR-AX53 Black Camcorder: High-Quality Recording and Stunning Clarity
Rating: 3

April 13, 2023

Thought it would be better, but overall not bad.

Used a lot of SONY cameras. From household to semi-pro.
1. AX53 is the first camera in which the stabilizer turns off by itself. Shooting with a tripod and even more so with a monopod is almost impossible. A lot of marriage in the form of trembling from the fact that you lightly touched the tripod handle. The tripod stands on a wooden floor. A man is passing by. Result: image jitter. The new firmware 1.02 does not solve this issue. The stabilizer turned off and on. If you are a person with strong hands, then the stabilizer may turn off even when shooting handheld. To turn it on, you need to shake the camera. When it works, it stabilizes well. Except for artifacts from adding a fifth stabilization axis. There are many artifacts. It all depends on the shooting conditions.
Disabling the stub just infuriates! Those. SONY support was completely unaware that it was shutting down. They assured me that this could not be. After a week they change their mind. Apparently consulted with more literate guys. Now they say that it should be so. This is stated in the specification. Lies! The specification is silent. Otherwise, no one would buy such a camera.
2. With a lack of light, the camera shoots worse than SONY's predecessors. The image turns into a blurry mess without details. Apparently more aggressive noise reduction is working.
3. The manual settings button is almost not felt. It's hard to find and click. Adjusting the lens ring is also inconvenient. It is tight and needs more rotation. In this case, the fingers fall into the frame.

I shoot a lot. The first recordings of the concerts went into marriage (shaky image). Because the tripod wasn't good enough for her. On subsequent shootings, he singled out a serious tripod for her and things went well. Other SONY cameras stand on simple tripods and give excellent results.

To say that I am dissatisfied with the purchase is an understatement. Disappointed. Maybe SONY will be honored and release a new firmware to improve the operation of the stabilizer, then the camera will become an ordinary household and at least somehow it will be possible to use it.

Pros

1. Very smooth exposure control. The steps are almost invisible. What has been done for the first time in a model of this class. 2. Auto exposure correction. 3. The presence of a wide angle.

Cons

1. The main disadvantage is the stabilizer! SONY's innovation breakthrough has quite a few artifacts. But the main thing is the spontaneous shutdown of the stabilizer when the vibration level decreases. The new firmware 1.02 did not solve this issue. 2. Poor video quality in low light. 3. The quality of the internal microphone is frankly weak. The sound is booming. 4. Inconvenient viewfinder with stray light. 5. Frequent autofocus errors. Autofocus is slow. 6. Cannot shoot with a tripod or monopod. If you shoot, then the cost of such a tripod should be no less than the camera. Tripod of a professional series for a household camera. Funny! 7. Very inconvenient manual settings button. 8. Manual focus adjustment is almost impossible. the ring must be rotated more than one revolution. 9. The impossibility of installing a hood or even a protective filter.