Customer Ratings & Reviews

Great video quality with excellent zoom capabilities. Low light is great and was a huge need for early morning and evening videos which look great I would highly recommend

We bought this camera as an upgrade/replacement for an old Sony HD model. It is capable of great recordings but only under ideal conditions or when it feels like it. We use it mostly for action recordings of our dogs in agility competitions. The auto focus is iffy at best and completely useless at its worst. In less than ideal lighting it is terrible and the recordings are worthless. The WiFi transfer option is also very buggy when connecting to our phones and tablets, all Apple products. We still prefer to use actual video cameras over our phones for recording, mostly due to the zoom capabilities in cameras and the zoom limitations in smartphones but it is such a shame the manufacturers do not put the effort into creating quality products of this type anymore. Our last three Sony cameras have each been worse than the last model as far as if the features function correctly. We have owned this camera for a little over a year and are now replacing it with another brand in hopes of finding one that actually works.

Bought this camcorder last minute so I could have a friend record the special moments of our wedding day. When we watched the video we could believe how crisp and clear the picture is! So easy to use and totally recommend this camcorder.

Very sharp picture. Easy to use. Portable. Lightweight. Bright picture. Worth every penny.

I use this to take video of sports teams, including downhill ski racing. It performs well in low light and the zoom is great. It has been out in very cold conditions and I'm impressed with the performance.

It is a very nice camcorder. I am upgrading from a HD version of a very similar Sony model from a few years back. The controls are very familiar. The same batteries worked on this which made me very happy. Sony did not resort to changing the batteries unnecessarily to force people to buy new ones. The picture quality is very good. Low light performance is good, but not great.

I love this camcorder. Great 4K video quality, great stabilization, good low light performace, good zoom, the list goes on and on.

I needed a camera for some personal movie making as in vlogs and some short films. I wanted a small camera that I could run and gun with and that had great picture quality. After a bit of research, it came down to either the Sony AX-100 or this. The debate for me was between more manual controls (AX-100) vs. BOSS stabilization (AX-53). I was willing to spend the extra money for the AX-100 though the price difference is significant ($800). I chose the AX-53 because in the end it suited my needs of run and gun portability better. Because of the BOSS stabilization, most moving or walking shots are rock solid. In fact, this camera is better handheld than with a tripod. It's very easy to just point and shoot. The trade off is that this camera really should be used in "auto" most of the time. The manual controls are never fully manual. You get the camcorder equivalent of aperture and shutter priority along with manual focus and limited exposure compensation. You can do basic settings if you find a need. For example, you can set a constant 1/48 sec shutter speed to help with the "film look.". The only shortcoming i found necessary to address was to buy a separate variable ND filter for really bright sunlight. Other than that, it's full auto most of the time. The AX-100, conversely, has a better sensor, real manual control and a higher ceiling as far as picture quality,. But it's also bigger and shakier and more complicated. It's meant for a more measured style of shooting. I have a DSLR for that. The AX-53 is a capable camera with fantastic picture stabilization. The picture quality is remarkable. It's small and relatively inexpensive. There are a few creative controls but not many. That suits me just fine as i can focus my creativity on what's in front of the camera instead.

We bought this camcorder to take to an air show. We always take a digital SLR camera but now wanted to try our hand at recording the planes instead. What a great device. Easy to use And fast focus, even on the faster jets. The lens has a gyro so that no matter how much you shake or move, you always have a stable picture. Great purchase!

Easy to use, light. Great quality image, even in low light

I have had other Sony camcorders in the past and have always had excellent luck with them. So it was a natural choice to step up to this 4K camcorder. The stabilization is unbelievable to remove unwanted camera shake. I highly recommend this camcorder for the serious person wanting a excellent 4K model!

In my opinion the Sony ax-53 has performed incredibly well. It’s surpassed nearly all my expectations. High School soccer and Basketball are no problem for this camcorder. Even for interviews and walk and talk filming as well. Very stable for handheld use. It’s not fair to judge this product by standards beyond its limitations. So please understand that my issue with it is really more a matter of what I am looking for in a product than the product itself. I realized after using it for multiple uses that what I really needed was a camera with ability to record video in 4K for an hour without overheating but also be able to take photos like a camera with a full frame or crop sensor. If you’re looking for a product to record things like sporting events in 4K and also wanting to have a product that can take quality photos than this Camcorder is probably not for you. If you’re looking for what I believe is the best camcorder available to consumers then I believe that this is the best one out there to get

I had high expectations for this camera as I owned an earlier model which performed wonderfully! However, this model was a letdown as it's auto focus was frustratingly slow. I gave it a three week try as image quality was wonderful but waiting on an image to come into focus means the loss of shots when it comes to photographing children. Nice try, Sony but you've taken a step backwards with your auto focus technology and possibly product testing standards as well. Many reviews on this camera state the same but checking the reviews after purchase was my mistake. Be forewarned there is a $150 restocking fee if you return it which is something else I didn't know in advance and is not clearly stated when purchasing on line.

Trying to understand why a video camera would cost a thousand dollars, I now realize you get what you pay for. I've always felt that way, but this camera brings this reality to fruition. This camera was recommended by a gentleman who was filming what was outside his window while flying in an airplane at 40,000 feet. He added an IR filter taking away the dust & clouds and he captured the flat plane of the Earth showing the entire state of New Mexico. This grabbed my attention almost immediately, I wanted to begin capturing things we were told didn't exist so I had to test this theory and found him to be telling the truth. This camera will do amazing things if utilized properly. Enjoy the fun of zooming in boats that have left your ability to see them at a distance. Just AMAZING!!

This camera gives you a plethora of options. The image quality is amazing in 4K, and the stabilization is great. I would suggest getting a stick mic and 4K 128 sdxc card. I worked in news for the past decade and am now branching on my own. If you are looking for good quality and an affordable price, this is that camera.

this is my second time purchase of the same exact model, to replace the one I purchased in December 2018. The first one fell on the concrete, which caused a c:32:60 error -- unable to focus. An authorized Sony camcorder repair shop quoted a price of $700 to fix it. It was better value to buy a new one, while it was on sale. I really like to stability/anti-vibration feature of this camcorder. My hands are shaky when recording, and the stabilizer helps a lot. Especially when shooting while walking or holding it to capture sporting event. the image stability feature is the reason I purchased this same model, even though this model is quite old. I move a lot while shooting and this is one of the best that does that well. At a minimum, I shoot 3 hours of my kids' private tennis lesson lesson per week with this. So it is worth it. Beware it doesn't shoot well under low lighting conditions, for example, indoor evening. But for indoor, I can use my samsung s7 mobile to shoot or my wife's samsung s10 to capture low light condition. Be extra careful not to drop this camcorder, as the internal lense is very sensitive.

The Sony AX53 is one of the best dedicated video cameras under $1000. The stabilization works extremely well for both HD and 4K. Battery life is better than expected and I have not found a need to buy a second battery. Videos import into Final Cut X without any issues. Only complaints are that wireless camera control could be improved and it doesn't record 4K at 60fps.

Put it in full auto and you're good to go. The best image stabilization of any camera.Touch screen to focus. If you do a lot of hand held shots and walk around, or film in cars while moving, you can't find anything even close to this good for 1000$.

I was not disappointed. This camera is replacing a more expensive Sony camera, The AX 53 is much better suited for my use. I shot a wedding on Friday. Using my iPad Pro edited the video on Saturday all in 4K. Rendered video and DVDs in 1080P and 720P by Wednesday. I was impressed with both audio and video quality.

I've been using this camera for almost a year and I've created so much amazing content and I haven't looked back. The camera stabilization is top notch and the zoom is great in multiple situations. The battery life is bearable but that's the price of recording in 4k (buy extra batteries chief). Overall it's worth the 5 stars and if you're on a budget this is bang for your buck.