Customer Ratings & Reviews

I am new to the videography business. I have several drones and we are expanding with cameras now. This camera is a dream. Small and compactor packs a powerful punch. I have not used the app, however that seems like a pretty nice add on. The picture is great and the mics work pretty well. The image stabilizer is pretty dang strong too. I mean one could use this for a vlogging camera. The stills that come out of this are amazing as well. If I would have known this? I would have not gotten the Lumix G7 - but,'I like different angles so more cameras the better. I got it during a sales and it was open box excellent condition. I think it was like 625 or so! Pretty good!

I'm not a techie so this review is just a quick overview. I have an old Sony Hi-8 camcorder that was one of the better models they offered back when I purchased it close to 15 years ago. I believe I paid $899 on sale at Best Buy. There's nothing wrong with my old Sony but when I saw that a package of two Hi-8 tapes would cost me $33 + tax I thought why spend 35 bucks on two tapes (especially since new HDTVs don't have necessary hookups I need to view my videos on them) when I can get a new Sony for 300 bucks?! Wrong! Despite the leaps and bounds in technology over so many years, the focusing speed and smooth zooming action of my old Sony is better than the $300 Sony models I looked at prior to purchasing the FDR-AX33. I REALLY liked the 30x optical zoom of the Sony CX675 but the ZEISS lens on the FDR-AX33 was a big plus in favor of the FDR-AX33 despite it's much smaller 10x optical zoom. I LOVE my new camcorder! I love that it turns on simply by flipping the LCD screen open - you can begin recording within seconds of picking it up. Crazy as it sounds, I primarily use my camcorder to video dogs - so I can study their structure, movement and overall conformation, so a camcorder that focuses quickly and is able to easily track maintain focus is important to me. Next in importance to me is quick but smooth zooming action. The FDR-AX33 delivers both. Even a non-techie like me had no trouble figuring out how to view my recorded video on a tv as well as copying it over to my laptop. The 4K capability was of zero importance to me - files would be too big for me to easily share and I don't even own a 4K HDTV - but I can see that it would be a fun feature to play with. I did take off one star on my overall rating for two reasons: 1) There isn't a remote control which makes playback a royal pain. Even my 15 year old Sony camcorder came with a simple remote control with the basic functions of a tv or dvd remote: stop, play, pause, fast forward, rewind, skip forward, skip back, etc. And maybe it's just me but I often have to tap the screen more than once to get it to do what I want. 2) Viewing in slow motion - a feature I use often to watch the details of a dog's' movement to see the details and where their paws are landing as they move. Without a remote you have to use the touch screen which means looking back and forth between the LCD screen and tv. Actually viewing the video in slow motion is marred by the icons and functions remaining on the screen so can't see much of the video despite watching via a 60" screen. I've done a bit of searching online and it looks like the only remote available for this camcorder is a cable remote for recording - no controls for playback. C'mon Sony! It's bad enough that you didn't include a remote with the camcorder but to not even offer one separately?!

First camcorder I have ever purchased and only been using a couple months so far but from what I have experienced it's pretty good. The zoom is excellent. Battery life is excellent. No need for a gimbal as it's stabilization is super. Functions are easy enough to get started right out of the box. Have not really got into all it's capable of yet. Happy so far.

I'm very happy with this purchase. I'm a professional photographer not videographer. I've used it at home, school gyms and at HS pools where the lighting is awful. Auto white balance and hi ISO noise is good. Focusing also very good. Best thing about is the image stabilization even Zoomed in all the way. Only thing keeping this from perfect review is battery life and I expected the 4K video to knock my socks off. It's very good just not knock socks off good. Get a spare battery and get genuine Sony battery. Learned that the hard way.

Most importantly of all, the AX33 is a 4K handycam that just about anybody can pick up and love, video recording buff or not. Basically, it’s the 4K video equivalent of the average joe’s home use camcorder. However, despite this and its correspondingly mundane appearance, this little camcorder comes loaded up with some excellent video recording features and can even pull off some excellent still photo shooting.

This Sony 4K camera does a really nice job at high-definition videos and still photographs. It also does night-vision in very low light. It is somewhat large, almost twice as big as the former JVC 1080p camera that it replaced, and 4 the size and price (around $849), it lacks an internal hard drive storage capability that my previous camera had, but I still recommend this camera as an entry-level 4K camera.

Nice compact video camera for the amateur cinematic enthusiast. Can use either the viewfinder or the side screen to establish your shots. Camera automatically turns on when either viewfinder or side view screen are engaged. Also have control over many features in recording, formatting and enhancements. Pricey but paying for the 4K hype, so wait and get it on sale!

I shot some test footage with the new SONY AX33. No processing, hand-held, right out of the box. In short; I am absolutely stunned by the quality and performance of this camera! I have been using SONY cameras since BETACAM (BVW 1a/3A) I have purchased HI8, DVCAM, Z100, EX1, FS100, CX550V, CX760V, and the AX1. (BTW: The AX1 is the WORST camera SONY has EVER made.) The AX33 ($) far outperforms the AX1 ($) in every way possible (I just did a side by side comparison...

This camcorder has great qualities for its price. First of all the balanced Optical SteadyShot system works excellent for shooting while walking or if you just don't have steady hands. You won't find any other camcorder that is 4k at this price that has such an excellent SteadyShot system. 4k videos are very clear and bright outdoors but the indoors and low light video shooting is not so perfect. There's gaussian effects in low light and it is just not that bright in low light conditions. In 4k 30p mode you have to keep your motions laterally very slow otherwise you will see significant motion blur when you watch it in review but as long as you keep the lateral motion meaning side to side or up and down slow it looks great. Another downside is it is advertised at having a 5.1 surround sound mic but they fail to tell you that the 5.1 surround sound only works when shooting 1080p resolution videotherefore they should not even mention it associated with the 4k video camcorder. Overall I would recommend this camera because of the balanced Optical SteadyShot and the price. It's not a professional series camera especially since all of the controls are located on the touch screen but is great for shooting family trips and not so professional video shots.

Crisp pictures and professional quality video. We started to buy a Go Pro and after talking to a clerk at best buy with knowledge of both cameras for our use this was best. We are using the camera to record church services. Glad we choose this one. Truly you get what you pay for.

This product was real easy to navigate. Make sure you have the right memory card which is a 4k card. Takes a nice picture as well as video. The stabilization is good. Even got I wet accidently and it fired right back up. I'm glad I made this purchase. Now I have video for my kids so the can see their games when they get older.

Sony has done a terrific job in making a camera capable of HD and UHD (4K) video production for under $1000. Compared to other cameras in the under $1000 price category, this model has real weight and a proper Zeiss Ikon lens. Some users may need more of a zoom range, but overall camera quality can't be beat except by more expensive products.

easy to use, love 4k it's awesome compact easy to carry

I love this video camera. I specifically use for High School sporting events. Great for capturing any video. The steady shot image stabilization is incredible. In my opinion this camera rivals the more expensive options on the market and is definitely worth the price.

This camera was awesome! It has very good 4K quality for the videos. The night vision is great too. I like the AF and stabilization functions. The pictures it takes aren't that good, but it's not meant to take pictures which was fine with me. Overall great camera.

This is an awesome camera, I was lucky to get for half price due to open box and picked up off brand battery for $8. This is the best cheap 4K camera you can buy.

I bought this camera for the sole purpose of live streaming. Initially I bought it because of it's capability to output different resolutions, especially at it's price point. However, after further review I have came to the conclusion that this camera is totally worth the money. The picture quality is great. I also used the CX440 with my streaming setup but there is NO comparison in picture quality. This camera compares to the higher broadcast cameras. The only drawback I can tell is that I use blackmagic switchers and they can only accept certain frame rates and this camera only outputs 60fps. No big deal if you get a decimator.

I’ve use several cameras from past to present and by far this camera is the best for stabilization and framing a shot; however, I did have to use the manual to get into manually white balancing and set up. Great quality!

i haven't had a lot of time to use this camera so there may be features that i have not yet found. For pros: great image quality, great low light capability, rock solid build. For cons: some of the doors that protect access ports make it a little difficult to get to those ports. I would be a little concerned about snapping off the doors at the hinge over time, but they really are solid and can probably take some abuse. The unit does NOT have a built in flash or video light so depending on intended use you may want to figure to add the accessory light. I have not found a way (yet) to directly connect this to a TV for live monitoring. it seems this feature is not available for 4K output, only for regular HD. It seems like the camera records in 4K, but has to process 4K video outside the camera maybe through the "Play Memories" app to obtain 4K viewing.

I needed a camcorder that could record continuously and Sony makes camcorders with the battery attached to the outside so you can buy larger capacity batteries. The video quality is ok - not as crystal clear as I thought with it being 4K. I thought it would be like High-Def but twice as big so you could then crop parts of the video to 1920 and be as clear as a High-Def camcorder at full screen. It's not. Also, recording at 4K gets really hot, in fact, the camcorder will shut down when it gets too hot. Recording at 100 fps is very HOT, the camcorder will not even record an hour before shutting down, so I'm using 60 fps. I bought a 128gb card, but didn't need to since I record only in 60fps, could have gone with 64gb. Also, recording in 4K eats up the battery like crazy. The Sony High-Def camcorder I used before this could go 4 hours easily with the largest capacity battery. This 4K Sony can go about 2 hrs 15 minutes with the same battery, this is with everything on manual and no stabilization. On the good side, the optical stabilization works great when I used it. If you don't need continuous recording for more than 2 hrs and record in cooler environments, then this camcorder could work for you. A couple of other things, it's bigger than it looks in the picture, and it is heavy. The stabilization works really really good if needed. Debating if I should return it, thought it would be better for the price.