Sony FDR-X3000 - any input?

[John Nantz]

I really like those Promaster clamps! They’re something that an Engineer could love. Lots of possibilities for mounting, knobs for tightening, and a huge number of potential angles.

There are numerous places with odd shapes available where I could mount one on. Like Paul points out, “with anything in saltwater you have to stay on top of it.” That will be another area to investigate: what one could spray to protect it without leaving a permanent undesirable coating afterward, if there is anything available.

The Manfrotto Nano is nice and would work on the railing. There would need to be some kind of ball mount to go with it for fine angle adjustments and there are many to choose from.

Ordered the X3000 so “it’s in the mail” so to speak, along with a spare battery and USB charger.

The charger is a Sony BC-TRX that uses a cable with a USB connector to plug it into the computer. The charge time via the computer is 265 minutes and that’s about 4.5 hours! However, I wonder if one of the white iPhone or iPad USB transformers can be used to also adapt it to AC. More research.

Paul - tried the link but I suspect part of it may be missing. I'm interested in what you have for adapters.
There is a radar mast on the stern (off to one side) that is about 2-inches in diameter, maybe a bit more, and that could provide a better cockpit view. Also, been giving some thought of using a couple EMT conduit pieces to form a temporary and removable A-fame support off the stern for a mounting point further aft so the shot looking forward would be more inclusive of the cockpit. Lots to think about.

[Paul Cronin]

John,

Sorry the link did not work try it again from the MFG site. Some cool stuff for POVs.
SmallRig Multi-Functional Crab-Shaped Clamp with Ballhead Magic Arm 2164 - SmallRig

The Small Rig clamps look good for the price, but from my experience having snapped a few clamps time will tell on these. But $11 bucks and it is worth a try for a few. This weekend they will get a run.

I also use Cine Arms which I have a few:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1043735-REG/noga_mg9038ca_cine_arm_mg_hold_it.html/BI/2855/KBID/3801

To mount the Cine Arms I use different clamps. I can't find the one I have will take pics when sailing this weekend.

I also have two of these from Panasonic when I tried their POVs years ago.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1144777-REG/panasonic_bike_and_tripod_mount.html/BI/2855/KBID/3801

And a few clamps from my pile of drum gear I collected over the years. A couple of these are great, but a lot heavier then most POV gear.

[John Nantz]

The Small Rig Multi looks like a really useful accessory. When searching the sites (Amazon and eBay) have strips with “Customers also viewed … or Customers also bought …. “ where SmallRig and Camveta (sp?) showed up a lot. The comment “… from my experience having snapped a few clamps time will tell on these” reminds me I need to search for some tethers or at least rig something up.

Speaking of snapping, years ago I bought a set of three (daddy, mama, and baby one) look-alike vice grips at the checkout in a hardware store. It was a tough decision as the US made one cost as much as all three of them together. The first time I went to use the momma one the lower jaw broke off. Later I was talking to West Marine about how I won’t buy one of their shackles (for use on the anchor chain) because of my experience. Not long after they switched sources and went to shackles from Japan. Load handling gear such as used around cranes has a lot of safety requirements and ratings for cables, chains, shackles, etc. is a large part of the safety requirements. One’s ground tackle is just as important.

In the meantime I ordered one of the ProMaster Clamper Jr clamps to get started. I really like the looks of them; reminds me of a Swiss Army Knife. Unfortunately, they’re made out of steel, and certainly not stainless.

The Panasonic bicycle mount has a quick release link so I could use it on the bike as well. Besides being multi-purpose (boat and bike), the quick release is nice when going to the grocery store and leaving the bike outside.

[Paul Cronin]

ProMaster Clamper Jr looks great and I am sure higher quality then the Small Rig.

Another items that is very helpful for fast battery charge is a wall charger from Sony.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...2855/KBID/3801

[Charlie Steiner]

I use my phone with the sony app for composing, settings and start/stop record.

[John Nantz]

Charlie -
Using the iPhone for controlling things works pretty darn well, at least so far on the things that I have (recorder and cams). Just "inherited" my wife's old iPad a couple months ago as she got a new 12-inch model. Uses it a lot in lieu of her Mac laptop, so her old one is a real upgrade from my iPad 1,1 (which was also one of her hand-me-downs) and this one will give me more realestate for the app.

What'd be really nice is an app that can do split screen for two apps at the same time - like one for Sony and another for Tascam for example.

Paul -
The BC-TRX has a 1.5 hour charge time compared to the 4.5 hours for the one I'm getting. I had a really difficult time finding out details about the various Sony chargers for the BX1 batteries. Their web pages aren't the most helpful in the world. Some parts are good, some ... well, leave something to be desired. With the X3000 having a such a short battery life one needs some backups and at this point I've got two coming. Unless something else comes up I'll spring for the BC-TRX and then a true-sine inverter for the boat.

Yesterday we went to the kickoff for the R2AK in Port Townsend and got a chance to talk, albeit briefly, to Russell Brown as he was doing some last minute fix-its on the boat. The race had a 5AM start time this morning and out of a large fleet of contestants, including some very respectable sleds, he and his two-person crew did a horizon job on them and came in first into Victoria for the end of the first leg. Really impressive for such a small boat because waterline length generally rules.

[Paul Cronin]

John,

The wall charger is worth the money. So much faster then USB into the POV. Did not use the POV this weekend sailing since it was a sail with Carol and we just needed a break.

But I did launch the drone while we were planning downwind with the kite. All was well for about one minute then lost contact. Yikes, kite down and back up wind to get it. Not sure what happen, and only had up and down control so we had to get under it with the main up and just saved it with 90 seconds of battery left. Entertaining.

Glad Russel Brown had a good leg. No surprise since he is very talented and has a ton of miles on his boat. will go check out the results. Just back at computer after four days pretty much offline, ah.

[John Nantz]

A lot has happened in the past couple days. The action cam, I found out, takes a lot of other kinds of grip gear accessories (if that’s the correct term) compared to all my other cam stuff. Finding out what was needed took research and over the past couple weeks various items were ordered, and surprise … the first of them arrived on Friday then all the rest except one arrived on Saturday and the last one today.

Sony makes a number of battery charger models that will accommodate the NP-BX1 battery but one of Sony’s failings is being able to easily compare their features. It’s a real hassle to get information and I thought the one I had ordered used a USB cable running off of the computer for doing charging. At least the picture showed the cable with the charger. As it turned out, the charger that arrived is the BC-TRX you had recommended and it does charge much faster like you said. It has the folding AC wall plug and a USB receptacle plus a few LED charge state indicator lights. I … am … happy!

Got it and a spare BX1 battery based on what y’all had recommended and those were the Friday items. The cam with a bundle of accessories came on Saturday and the cam lens protector (all highly recommended) came today. Spent the better part of yesterday figuring out how to use the cam - t’wasn’t easy (for me) but got it going and talking to the app on the iPhone. Yesterday evening I mounted the cam on the bike (one of the bundled accessories was the handlebar mount) and I was amazed how well it did. Thought the picture would be bouncing a lot but it was surprisingly smooth so will be excellent on a boat railing (same diameter as the bike handlebar).

One thing that came Saturday morning was the ProMaster Clamper Jr that Mark Watson recommended and that is some piece of gear. Picked it up at the Post Office then headed off to the Seattle Girls Choir performance. Took along the AX53 just in case there would be some family shots. Got a front row seat in the balcony and with the Clamper Jr. set up on the railing I got some video of their performance. This, used for the first time impromptu, and only three hours after picking it up! Went to buy another one but they were sold out (paid $25 delivered). See picture with the AX53 and the Røde mic.

Mark: Thank You for the recommendation, this is one super piece of gear!

The Clamper Jr will be perfect for the FDR-X3000 and my wife’s HDR-CX380 handy-cam (but she says I can’t use it … we’ll see). The AX53 is just about max for it because so much of it’s weight is aft of the tripod screw hole that the ball joint clamp has to be tightened really tight. The ball joint can be removed and there is another 1/4-inch thread that can be used for mounting things and this mounting point would be able to accommodate somewhat heavier gear.

As for taking on-board video I’m ready to go equipment-wise. Operating it is going to be a steep learning curve and there is lots to know. The small size of the cam actually made the menu more difficult but the iPhone app helps but one has to watch battery life and dropped connections (I guess).

Things to figure out:
1. How to capture good on-board audio with weather and wind protection. Separate recorder? If so, how to get audio on the cam to sync with?
2. Quick release QR plate setup - go with GoPro gear or something else?
3. Tethers, what to get for cams, clamps, and maybe a recorder?

[Edit] Steven Diggs: What’s the story with the cam? Find out anything from Sony about how to deal with the firmware?

Paul - That was a real fire drill capturing the drone before its going into Davy Jone’s locker! Not something you’d like to loose.

R2AK: Russel was out in front of the fleet (really, really impressive) when I started writing this but sailing solo against crewed and much bigger sleds for several days will take it’s toll. He got an estimated six hours sleep last night according to one post but every time he stops the crewed boats can keep going so how he can keep that pace up is anybody guess. So far, so good.

[Mark Watson]

John,
Glad to hear the clamping tripod is working out. If you splurge for the larger version, you'll find that it's much more than just a bigger version of the little guy. But, it has more mass, which can be a consideration if you're lugging around in a backpack full of other camera gear. Very useful though.
For a safety line, I have made 3 lanyards consisting of two spring clips and a piece of 550 para-cord.
I made three so I could have different lengths of cord on each, ranging from about 9 inches to 16 inches. I use these mostly on hotel balconies. I used them on drift cars but there wasn't always a way to attach the other end to something, usually ended up closing the trunk or a door on the loose end to hold it secure. When attaching action cams to my own car, I just gaffer-taped over the suction cup mount so if the mount lost its suction, the tape would hold it. Never had a failure of the Sony or Gecko cups though.

Your requirements might be different, but I'd think you would want a solution where the lanyard won't scratch the finish on the boat as it's fluttering in a breeze. Maybe they have rubber-coated spring clips?
For the camera attachment to the clamp, I use a small quick release adapter and plate. I have tried a few and I know I don't like the plastic ones. I also like to use the kind where I can mount/un-mount the camera using just one hand, as I always seem to have something else in my other hand when doing that. I am still unpacking my household goods shipment that just arrived, so I don't have my lanyards or QR adapters at-hand yet. Maybe something like the Manfrotto 323.

Get the big clamp.

Mark