Digital cameras for video under $1000 have surely gone a long way since the times our camcorders recorded on tape. With 4K already early mainstream, a lot of entrepreneurial YouTubers are beginning to consider adopting the 4K workflow as well; starting off with cameras.
Criteria
I’ll be going through a few cameras and will systematically eliminate them for a particular usage case in mind. This is a case that I’ve done for a client with the following parameters in mind:
- Must shoot continuously for at least 1hr
- Camera body / kit must be under $1000
- Shoots 4K
- Easy to operate
- Can take an external mic
Affiliate links to kits will be used in this article.
4K Cameras under $1000
It’s 2020. Almost every new camera now shoots 4K in some shape or form. I’ve rounded up some popular choices for YouTubers and split them up into their different categories.
Mirrorless Cameras
Sony a6500
Sony’s Alpha line has been slowly taking back the market share Canon and Nikon have been enjoying since the time DSLRs have started including video recording functions. The a6500 or ILCE-6500 is the popular choice for people not willing to shell out $2000 or $3000 for a camera for video.
Notable features:
- Shoots S-Log 3. Good for advanced users.
- Shoots XAVC 4K (3840×2160) at 100 MB/s.
- Good low light performance
See Pricing and Availability
Sony a6400
The Sony a6400 or ILCE-6400 is the newest camera in the a6 line despite it having a lower model number than the Sony a6500 camera for video. It comes with notable performance improvements like the ability to shoot in slow-mo.
Kits for this camera can be found for under $1000
Notable features:
- Shoots 1080p at 120fps that you can slow down to as low as 25% speed.
- Shoots XAVCS 4K just like the a6500 at 100 MB/s
See pricing and availability
Canon EOS M50
The EOS M50 is Canon’s entry for the mirrorless market. As of writing, only the M50 is capable of shooting in 4K.
The M50 makes it to this list not just because it’s a 4K camera for video but also, being Canon, has the reputable Canon color science behind it. It gives the photos and videos a more natural and true to life quality to it without the need for color grading them yourself.
Notable Features:
- Canon Colors
- Shoots 4K H.264 at 23.976 fps
- Shoots 119.88fps but only limited to 720p
- Easy to use interface
- Cheaper option that the other two on the list
See pricing and availability
Point and Shoots
Canon Powershot G7x Mark III
The Canon Powershot G7x is another crowd favorite among the vlogging community. It’s a nifty little point and shoot camera for video that delivers exceptional image quality in such a small form factor.
Notable Features
- Shoots 4K H.264
- Decent Built-in microphone
- Being a point-and-shoot, it comes with almost everything you need. out of the box.
See pricing and availability:
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 VI
Here we have the Sony RX100 VI. The second latest version of this camera. We would have included the current RX100 VII but unfortunately the kits already cost above our recommended budget for this.
Notable Features
- Has both a mechanical and an electric shutter
- Records XAVC S UHD 4K like its mirrorless counterparts
- Built-in microphone
See pricing and availability
Action Cameras
GoPro Hero 8 Black
Whenever someone says action camera, the first thing that usually comes to mind is a GoPro. Almost anything in this category has been conceptualized because of the popularity that the GoPro brand has achieved. More often than not, people refer to action cameras as simply GoPros. As far as cameras for video go, this one is the default answer for someone who’s looking for a lot of image in not a lot of space.
Notable Features:
- Shoots UHD 4K at up to 60fps
- Can shoot 120fps at resolutions 1520p and lower
- Waterproofing already built into the unit
- Unrivaled image stabilization
See pricing and availability
DJI Osmo Action
The Osmo Action is DJI’s answer to the popular GoPros. It holds its own against the competition by being a little different to operate but in a good way.
Notable Features
- Has very reliable voice commands
- Amazing electronic image stabilization performance
- Front and back screens
- Bigger sensor than the GoPro 8
- Handles wind noise better
See pricing and availability:
Sony FDR-X3000
The Sony FDR-X3000 maybe showing its age a little bit, but it’s still definitely in the fight. It features optical image stabilization versus electronic image stabilization. The built-in mic is also pretty top-notch but also natively accepts a Rode VideoMic Pro to give you even tighter pickup patterns.
Notable Features
- Amazing Built-in Mic
- Has a mic input at the back
- Uses Optical Image Stabilization
See pricing and availability
Sony RX0 II
Here comes the odd ball of the category. First off, it’s not really meant as an action camera. It’s actually more of a production camera in a very small form factor. I’m only putting this here just because it sort of fits the form factor likeness and functions.
While its older version doesn’t shoot 4K internally, this mark II version can shoot 4K at up to 30fps at 100MB/s. That’s a lot of data you can work with.
Notable Features:
- 1″ Sensor
- Can shoot S-log in 8-bit just like the bigger Sony cameras
- Waterproof and durable without the need for accessories
- Has a flip-out screen at the back
- Has a mic input at the back as well
See pricing and availability
Elimination Round
As I’ve mentioned in the introduction of this article, I have a particular criteria that need to be met in order for them to be considered as valid options for this usage case. As I’m doing this rig recommendation for a client, I have to be fairly strict about the requirements.
The Usage Case
These video cameras are going to be used for hour-long interviews where the two participants would be from two separate locations. Each kit would have to be shipped out but shipping costs won’t figure too much into the decision.
A major consideration to be had is that the end user may or may not have any experience operating video equipment. Keeping the setups as simple as possible would be a big help in the production.
The kits should also be able to shoot for at least 1 hour. If the cameras can only shoot for 30 minutes at a time, the users might have to redo an important speech that got cut off by the time limit. This would make creating the content a little awkward from the sudden loss of momentum in the delivery.
Disqualified Entries
Since we’re running of a budget of $1000 for the video camera kit, the first items to go away were the expensive production cameras and the high end mirrorless ones. Initially, we were going to spring for a Panasonic GH5 so that we can have access to a very nice image from the camera. Unfortunately, the base kit for that alone already sets us back $1400 and that’s without support accessories like tripods and mics. We would be buying three of these kits so these got knocked out early.
The same goes for the fan favorite Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K that runs for about the same amount with the added disadvantage of it being more of a production camera. It would have been something not easy to teach how to use.
The mirrorless cameras we’ve mentioned have also been disqualified with the exception of the Sony a6500 (more on that later). As most of these cameras only shoot for 30 minutes at a time, these get disqualified for the continuous recording time. The a6500, however, can be hacked to shoot continuously until you completely fill up the storage media.
Point and shoot cameras would have been a great choice for beginner level users because of their ease of deployment and use. However, like most mirrorless cameras, they also have a recording limit of 30 minutes. You might find a way around it using some firmware tweaks but it might not be advisable. These video cameras also have microphone inputs which would have been essential to production.
Because of the level of the end user, we’ve opted to not include a separate audio solution like a Zoom H1n or a Zoom H6.
The Remaining Contenders
While most of these 4K video cameras are great in their own right, most of them got knocked out just by the recording limit that most of them had. With the exception of the Sony a6500, all that remains are the action cameras.
Like I mentioned earlier in the article. when it comes to action video cameras, the first choice in mind would always be the GoPro. It would have been a done deal already if I hadn’t seen Potato Jet’s Video of the comparison between the GoPro and the DJI Osmo Action.
It might not be clear from the screenshot above so I encourage you to check the video out.
The GoPro for some reason has some weird smoothing going on whenever it’s on someone’s face. I’m not sure if this is a grading thing from the video camera or something else, but this isn’t acceptable.
So I looked at the other camera being compared in the video: the DJI Osmo Action. It seemed to have a more natural reproduction of the skin and it preserved most of the details. Its image stabilization is only second to the GoPro’s but since our usage case for these video cameras would just be fixed onto a tripod, this won’t be an issue.
The Final Source
I found iPhonedo’s video on the DJI Osmo Action. In it, I saw another contender. Three video cameras were being compared in the video to show how they stacked up against each other.
In that video, the other two cameras sounded a whole lot better than the GoPro. Both also didn’t have that weird face smoothing.
I got curious and checked out a camera that I had never heard of before: the Sony FDR-X3000R. It was a weird barrel looking camera. I immediately looked it up and lo and behold. I think I have my solution.
It would be hard for any camera to go beyond the 30 minute recording limit that most of them have. It’s mostly down to how the files are being saved on the SD cards. On most cameras today, there is a file size limit. This is enforced by the file system being used by the cameras and their SD cards.
The Sony FDR-X3000R gets past this recording limit by continuously recording and saving to a new file whenever it reaches a certain duration in Loop Recording. It would have been nice to have just one file but it’s not too much trouble to sync in sequence. It’s not perfect, but it gets the job done.
As an added bonus, the Sony FDR-X3000 also has a microphone input! Perfect for the addition of a Rode VideoMic Pro! I can get good audio all in one system.
Conclusion
There are a lot of trade offs to consider especially as you go further down the budget allotments. While we won’t be getting a very cinematic image from it, it’s definitely no slouch either.
They say that audio is also HALF of the presentation, so I made sure that it had a high priority.
The winner of this roundup would have been the Sony RX0 II since it had all of the features of the other video cameras. Unfortunately, it had been documented in the forums that the RX0 II would not be able to record for an hour continuously. One of the key criteria that I needed to be addressed. This would then be the Runner up since it can still record up to 45 minutes. Pretty close but not quite.
I’d have to give a special mention to the Sony a6500 because with a little modding, it too can shoot entire hour-long podcast episodes. However, it’s not clear whether if installing the Open Memories app on your video camera would void the warranty. It would also involve a little bit of work to set it up for the first time. There are also risks in using it that way. Keeping in mind that the end user might not be as savvy as a lot of you are, this might not be a risk I would be willing to endorse.
The Winner: Sony FDR-X3000R
And so we have our winner: the Sony FDR-X3000R. It’s not a camera I’d expect to win but it definitely ticks all of the boxes. It has very good image quality for its size. The device is pretty easy to get used to. As long as there’s a fresh battery in the mic, it should be just two clicks away to being up and running.
Technical Specs
NTSC
Memory Stick micro (Mark 2), microSD/HC/XC
3840 x 2160 at 24/25/30 fps (100 Mb/s XAVC S)
1920 x 1080p at 100/120 fps (100 Mb/s XAVC S)
1920 x 1080p at 24 fps (60 Mb/s XAVC S)
1920 x 1080p at 50/60 fps (28 Mb/s MP4)
800 x 480p at 200/240 fps (28 Mb/s MP4)
1280 x 720p at 25/30 fps (6 Mb/s MP4)
1280 x 720p at 200/240 fps (100 Mb/s XAVC S)
1280 x 720p at 100/120 fps (28 Mb/s MP4)
1920 x 1080p at 24/25/30/50/60 fps (50 Mb/s XAVC S)
1920 x 1080p at 25/30 fps (16 Mb/s MP4)
Optical & Digital
Yes, Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n)
1 x Micro-HDMI (Type D)
1 x Composite Video Requires VMC-15MR2 cable, available separately
1 x USB Micro-B
It’s likely that I have missed other great video cameras under the $1000 mark. DM us over on Instagram @socialmediaeditors to let us know what you think would have fit this case better. While you’re there, leave a follow!