Several new action cameras have been introduced to the public during the annual CES fair. Here’s a brief look at some of the most exciting, newly unveiled cameras from Sony, Nikon and Activeon.

Nikon KeyMission 360

Nikon, a beloved camera brand in New Zealand, is entering the action camera segment with an exciting camera capable of recording 360 degrees: KeyMission 360. It records in 4K resolution. It has two camera sensors, one on each side, which enables it to create high-quality 360-degree photos as well as recordings. We’re still awaiting more news from Nikon regarding mounts etc.

GoPro

GoPro probably felt the heat from Nikon and announced that they’ll also plan to launch a 360-degree action camera similar to KeyMission 360 in 2016. The company’s CEO Nick Woodman said that GoPro will intensify the partnership with Youtube in order to release more 360 content this year. GoPro is also betting big on the HDR technology. GoPro is currently the most popular action camera brand in NZ. The GoPro Hero4 Silver leads the pack based on popularity on PriceMe the last 30 days.

Activeon Solar X

Activeon is the new challenger to Sony and GoPro. It’solar power-driven Solar X action camera. The panels are located on a docking station, which also functions as a battery. A fully charged battery last about two hours. The charging is very fast: it only takes 30 minutes of solar “charging” to reach 80% of full battery capacity. It records in 4K resolution with 2160p. Activeon doesn’t have any products listed on PriceMe, so hopefully it expands into the New Zealand market in 2016.

Sony HDR-AS50

The new HDR-AS50 model, which visually resembles the lower-end AS20 model, is Sony’s latest addition in the mid-tier segment. The optics are advanced with 11.1 MP resolution and Zeiss Tessar optics similar to the FDR-X1000V model. The image stabilisation performance is three times better than the predecessors HDR-AS30 and HDR-AS100VR. The HDR-AS50 will hit stores in February.

New Sony camcorders

Sony also unveiled three new camcorders in addition to the HDR-AS50 action cam:

• FDR-AX53 – powerful camcorder that records 4K video at 30 frames per second
• HDR-CX455 – entry level camcorder for the budget conscious consumer
• HDR-CX675 – mid-tier camcorder