Man, there's a camera on your head!

Adventurous types wanting movies of themselves performing extreme sports no longer have to ask a friend for assistance.

They can simply attach Sony’s new action cam, the HDR-AS15, to a helmet or headband and capture their feats in full HD video.

The AS15 may be small but it’s more than capable of recording fast action in steady and good quality videos at 1920 x 1080 resolution and 30 frames per second.

The cam, which comes complete with Wi-Fi connection, doesn’t have a monitor for framing the video but is designed for quick and simple use with just four buttons. The first one is the record start/stop button that also serves as enter for menu execution. The two other buttons are Previous and Next, which allow navigation through the menu and the last one is the hold switch.

The AS15 really is tiny, measuring just 24.5mm x 47.0mm x 82.0mm, smaller than the average person’s palm. The body weighs 65 grammes and about 90 with the battery.

There is no internal storage so a Memory Stick Micro or microSD card is required, although curiously no memory card is provided with the package. Although the video is recorded in MP4 format, the Full HD video requires a lot of space, so buy at least a 16 GB card, which should record about two hours of videos.

It has a tiny monochrome LCD screen for interacting with the menu and functions, as well as monitoring the recording time.

The cam comes with a micro HDMI port to play the recorded videos to a large-screen LCD TV, a micro USB port to charge the battery and transfer the video files to a computer, a microphone jack and an expansion connector.

There’s also a waterproof case that can withstand the water depth down to 60 metres so you can also enjoy recording under water.

The package also provides an attachment buckle for connecting to the case so that the camera can be mounted on your helmet with a flat adhesive mount and a curved adhesive mount, which are also provided with the package. Several other mounting accessories need to be bought separately including a headband mount, a suction cup mount, and a cam camcorder cradle with LCD monitor for turning the HS15 into a full camcorder.

You cannot zoom during the recording unless you move closer under your own steam because AS15 uses a fixed focal length lens – the Carl Zeiss Tessar Lens with ultra-wide angle of 15.3mm focal length in 35mm equivalence. Activate the Steady Shot mode to increase the focal length to 21.3mm. Its minimum focal distance is about 30cm from the subject.

The lens has f/2.8 aperture, which is bright, and together with 1/2.3-inch back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS Sensor, the AS15 is capable of recording sharp, clean and good quality videos in most light conditions.

The camcorder is also capable of recording videos at either 120-degree or 170-degree viewing angles. The 170-degree is an ultra-wide angle that can record everyone around when the cam is set for self-portrait recording. The AS15 can slow the actions down by recording in HD SLOW 2x (1280 x 720, 60p) and HD SLOW 4x (1280 x 720, 120p) modes.

The test found that AS15 captured sharp and clean videos during action. My colleague jogged along fast as she recording her dog running and the clips came out smooth and clean. I recorded while walking, riding a bike and sitting on a bus and was impressed by the clean video quality. Its microphone is sensitive and picks up the sounds around it very well.

The AS15 has a built-in Wi-Fi adapter for connecting to a smart phone of Android or iOS platform but the smart phone must be first installed with Sony PlayMemories Mobile app. The Wi-Fi password of AS15 is provided with the manual. When you turn on the Wi-Fi function on AS15, you can use the PlayMemories Mobile to connect to AS15 and copy clips to your smart phone as well as upload the clips to your YouTube account.

Sony HDR-AS15 retails for  Bt10,990.

 

      Key specs

_ Imaging Sensor: 1/2.3-inch back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS Sensor 

_ Processor: BIONZ image processor

_ Lens Type: Carl Zeiss Tessar Lens with f/2.8 aperture and 15.3mm focal length (35mm equivalent)

_ Angle of View: 170 degrees (without SteadyShot), 120 degrees (with SteadyShot)

_ Video Format: MPEG4-AVC/H.264 

_ Video Resolution: 1920×1080/30P (HQ), 1280×720/30P (STD, SLOW, SSLOW), 680×480/30P (VGA)

_ Media Type: Memory Stick Micro (Mark 2), Micro SD/SDHC, Memory Card (Class 4 or Higher)

_ Interface: Memory Card slot, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, micro HDMI port, micro USB 2.0 port, microphone stereo mini jack, expansion port

_ Dimensions (Approx.): 24.5mm x 47.0mm x 82.0mm

_ Weight (Approx.): 65g