Sony a3500 Video Review

Well, I created this short video to test out the capabilities on the Sony a3500. There isn't much in the way of example videos for this budget camera so I made one that has clips from a range of lighting situations. I used the Manual setting on the top selection dial and have also kept the same internal settings from the menu for all shots:
White Balance- 4700 Kelvin
ISO- 400
Movie Codec- 25p 17M FH
The reason I picked 4700 for my white balance and didn't use auto-wb is because it's the one I use the most on my Sony A7 when I film promotional footage. It renders pretty nicely and it's not too yellow or cyan.
The lighting was either bright sunshine or dark shade so I chose ISO 400 for this reason. I felt like 800 was a bit high and required shutter speed to be about 2500 in sunshine. Because the camera has quite bad rolling shutter, I tried to make the shots as steady as possible. Even some movement from breathing makes the video a bit 'warpy'. So no whip pans! I did a panning shot but I didn't use it because it was horrible. I did include an improvised tilt shot (no tripod, just tilted down with my arms) which was okay. I also did some spinning shots pointed up at some trees but even though they weren't too bad they didn't fit the video so I didn't include them.
I picked the lower resolution movie codec because most people who buy this camera are going to be beginners and they really won't need a higher resolution movie codec. There is the option of 25p 24M FX setting but when I did a side by side test when I first got the camera the 24M setting was only marginally better anyway regarding blocky pixels. I'm sure it would allow a better colour grade though. I also maybe forgot a little bit to get a formatted SD card and had to conserve a little space. No biggy, I just made my project 720p instead of 1080p to compensate. TH-cam does also compress it further on upload so it's blockier here than in QuickTime.
I edited this clip in Final Cut (as always) and did a custom colour balance that removed some saturation/contrast and added a fake widescreen bar at the top and bottom because I like how it looks. I also used a third party film plugin that looks like old 16mm film footage. Complete with the occasional hair and line through it. I used 5% grain to cover some of the noise the camera produces and 15% sepia tone to give it an old film look. I also fiddled with some of the clips that had bright sunlight and dark shadows in it and stacked them with a Luma Key to do a basic workaround colour grade and lift the blacks so that they weren't so, well, black and dark. Looks okay but really shows the limitations of the camera in terms of pixellation.
This camera costs about $500 AUD but it's been on sale for $300 AUD a couple of times since it got released. I've used it for a C-Roll camera on occasion- when I need something like a normal angle in a 'dangerous' situation, like hanging it out of the van window to get road travel footage in the middle of regional Queensland! My ActionCam would have been blown out of my hand. I also use this camera to get behind the scenes footage or lend it to people with limited camera knowledge. It's great to give to kids as a learning tool. And ergonomically, it handles nicely. Like a smaller a99. The buttons are in good places. There's also a flash and an actual really real viewfinder, although the screen and finder are super low res. I guess this keeps the price down.
I think if you're poor but a bit clever you could totally make a short film on this camera but you would need an external sound recorder. I don't recommend this camera to professionals as it clearly will not offer the same features as any of the professional models such as the a99 or Canon 5Diii or Nikon D810.
I am not a Sony employee.

[@ARPNET]

Hey do watch my video test on sony a3500 here
th-cam.com/video/XcOoPCb3GUk/w-d-xo.html

[@SonnyJangSoundRecordStudio]

Please review video black bar sony A 3500

[@SarahEHowson]

Hey! Nope I can't I no longer own that camera and it's about 10 years old anyway.

[@spokenwordillusions5756]

guess i don't know a whole lot about cameras, other than wanting to use a camera instead of a phone.
in the description, you mentioned Queensland
and Australia popped in my head. is there another?

[@SarahEHowson]

I'm pretty certain there is only one Queensland. There's a few Queenstowns, however!
This video is so old I forgot it was still on here haha.

[@yong2947]

looks a bit dull ill stick with the canon powershot sx700 hs but thanks anyways

[@Jonrocat]

looks really flat, no vibrance or contrast, is it like that all the time?

[@SarahEHowson]

Hello. If you read the description, I outline what I graded the clips with as a personal choice and to show that it can be graded adequately for someone who wants to make short films. You, of course, can bump up the contrast in post or use a preset for colour in-camera called "Vivid".

[@kachli1987]

whats the difference between the a3500 and a3000 ?? i just ordered the a3000

[@SarahEHowson]

+Mohamed Kachli Sorry, I never replied. There's no difference.

[@kachli1987]

thankk you !! im enjoying my camera :)

[@disasterlord2010]

can it record 1920 x 1080 in mp4 format ?
because i heard the max. resolution i can get with the mp4 format is 1440x1080 ?

[@SarahEHowson]

Hi! What you have written is correct. In fact, it's the same on the A7 regarding mp4 codec. If you only want your videos to be on TH-cam, mp4 is fine and any software you use to edit should have a 1440x1080 setting. However, I recommend the AVCHD 24m FX setting. :)

[@disasterlord2010]

thanks for your quick response :)
do u have any sample mp4 1440 for me to download especially if shot with the a3500 ? if u can get me one it'd be awesome because anything uploaded on ytube is converted to 1920 and i wanna check the mp4 1440 quality and comptability :) thanks in advance

[@SarahEHowson]

disasterlord2010 Hello. Sorry I haven't got back to you before now. I don't have any useful test footage at 1440 I'm afraid. I don't use it as it has to be converted/rendered anyway in Final Cut Pro X so I may as well just import it straight as AVCHD at higher quality for the same amount of time.