similar to you, I have an HX-90 instead of the 80, Love that telephoto and lightweight, great pics. I have an RX100 III, just a faster lens than the 90, lot's more expensive, puny telephoto. I wanted an RX100 with the higher quality lens and 30X optical zoom. Since they don't make that I had to buy the 90 at he same time to cover it. If I could only have one camera of the 4 I have, it would be the HX-90 for it's versatility, light weight, small size and reasonable price I have HDR-AS200 action cam and just bought the FDR-X3000 because when walking, the electronic stabilization just wasn't good enough on the 200. I'm not disappointed with the stabilization when walking with the X3000 but I really really wish it was just 10 - 20% better than it is right now. I know it can never duplicate a gimball's performance, but I'd be Totally satisfied if they could improve it just a little more. I was hoping they'd come out with an upgrade this Feb 2018 at the electronics show but not the case. I'm going to walk the Camino de Santiago in May so I could not wait for the new iteration (if there is one this fall or next Feb). Life is all about compromises and I feel pretty fortunate to have what I have. It will be a long time before I upgrade.

Lol...great minds think alike...I still use the fdr more than my hx80...but I’ve moved over to my canon sl2 for my indoor talking head shots....always x3000 for outside or my mavic! Started posting more in my 2nd channel (non tech, mostly Vlog stuff). Your trip sounds incredible. Can’t wait to get back to traveling.

on the x3000 do you think the Active mode of stabilization (optical plus electronic) is any better than just optical? It seems to me to add no improvement which totally goes against my experience with electronic stabilization on my HDR-AS200 (which does not have optical stabilization, only the steady shot electronic stabilization). The difference in picture stabilization performance is huge comparing no stabilization to electronic steady shot stabilization on the AS200. If I did not know about the BOSS system and I shot identical footage with each camera, I'd have guessed the X3000 had the next level fairly small tweak of the electronic steady cam system and would not have ever guessed there was anything else helping it since the incremental decrease in camera shake was so small. If the huge increase in quality stabilization one get's with the AS200 (going from no stabilization to electronic stabilization) could be combined with the huge increase in quality stabilization one gets with the X3000 (going from no stabilization to optical only stabilization) it would seem, if the quality increases were additive, it would be damn close to a gimbal. But they appear not to be even close to 50% or 25% additive and instead mostly overlapping improvements in how they deal with stabilization. The X3000 doesn't give us the option of picking electronic stabilization only, it can only be added to the optical stabilization choice and like I said in my first sentence, I'm not really seeing much if any "additive" improvement when adding the electronic stabilization to the optical stabilization. What's your experience with this? Do you notice a stabilization improvement when you go from optical only to "Active" = optical + electronic ?

I definitely see an improvement! When I was on vacation last I wondered why my stuff didn’t seem as stable...I see it most when panning.

I use Filmora. Super easy to use and the update it a lot!

+mhs vz it’s my #1 most used and favorite cam!

David Maddern sort of...because you can choose wide medium or narrow...but it’s not really a zoom per se.

WantSumVid ? Best cam ever!

+Random stuff with Erick Martin I love this cam wayyyyy more than any other tech piece I own!

Lol you are gonna have so much fun!!

Great..

You should see how I set up my studio. Jinky all the way! But I’m totally fine with that.

I think the Sony grip is the smallest/steadiest that I have seen. I did try the Sony finger grip, but always had trouble keeping my horizon centered. I would say the finger grip is smaller, but because I like to Vlog...I need something stick/tripod like. I have even tried manfrotto tripods...but always go back to the Sony grip due to its size and weight.

If you are doing more water based stuff the Sony finger grip or the go pro’s “the strap” might be a good option for you.

Hi Rebecca, I have a question you may be able to answer regarding mixing numerous 2 - 5 minute video clips or actually connecting them together to make a 30 minute video. My software is a 2013 version of iMovie but I’ve barely used it. Pretty much all my video has just been short clips and I’ve never put them together. If I put a video together consisting of multiple clips of MP4 and XAVC S 1080 and 4K, when I play the movie back, will the video quality be reduced to the lowest common denominator?...or MP4 in this example or will the quality of the play back change through out the video when the various sections of differing formats are on screen? And the same question when rendering a video made up of multiple clips with varying formats. What does the final product look like on youtube with multiple clips of various formats all sewn together in a longer film or video? I’m guessing when rendering you have to pick the quality level for the whole film/video, so do you pick the lowest quality level of clips within the video or the highest? Thanks in advance for your response and if there is a tutorial somewhere that you would recommend on learning to put videos together in general and for youtube publication, I’d love to know about it.

Hmmm not familiar with tutorial on it, but I always try to use the highest quality when rendering. With my software, the first clip will set the tone for the rest as far as the codex goes. I think iMovie is similar to Final Cut Pro which has a setting you can change for the codex...but don’t quote me on that.

I hear ya. I don’t want to worry about tossing a camera...super light. Can’t beat it. Make sure you get the lens protector!

Will do.