Don’t Disregard Sony’s New Action Camera

It’s easy to just toss aside the news of the new Sony action cam as “late to the game” or “too late to matter.” However, I beg that you give this little guy a chance, and maybe think a little bit about what it means for the industry.

In all honesty I am writing a piece on gear that I know very little about and rarely use, but more view this as a market-based overview. With the announcement of Sony’s new Action Cam, many have called it out as too little too late, since GoPro has already established itself as the run-and-gun mini HD camera of choice. The truth of the matter is that Sony seems to have released a competitive camera to the GoPro, and said camera happens to be released after the GoPro. All things held constant, it would take a very pessimistic outlook to say that it is too late for this camera.

As much as I have had a good time with the GoPro system, it boils down to not cameras, but markets. GoPro did a great job at exposing a market and catering to it very well. We all wanted a camera that was cheap in case we destroyed it, robust to resist us destroying it, and small so we were less likely to destroy it. The fact that the camera took great quality video was a plus.

Now Sony has entered this market with a camera that looks to have rather comparable specs and even a few benefits over the GoPro. Do I think is will have the market saturation that the GoPro does? No, but I do find it to be a viable camera that should be considered rather than written off. This camera looks slick, and just because the game is already being played doesn’t mean other players can’t try out for the team. The mini-HD cam is here to stay, so now it’s up to companies like Sony to refine and improve upon what already exists.

Close your mind off to the opportunities that a piece of gear may present, and you have limited your art to your pride.