Sony ZV1 – a vlogging camera and more

A point and shoot camera for stills and video. More importantly a surprise in 2020 for the camera enthusiasts both in terms of price and purpose wise. And its the purpose that is of interest.

Did Sony blink with the ZV1?

I quickly went through the features and ordered it online. It turned out to be good decision. The appropriate description for this point and shoot would be re-purposed. It targeted vloggers but perfectly good for everyone else.

Re-purposed

The word “re-purposed” needs an explanation,What Sony did was to take most of the features from a expensive model and add the articulating screen.

An articulating screen is a must for serious vloggers to allow selfie mode with greater flexibility. Further helped by the compact size and weight and at a much reduced price point.

They aimed it for vloggers who are typically younger with relatively lower affordability hence the price and the rest of us jumped behind the slipstream.

This camera goes all the way to 4K and 30p, and with built-in stabilisation, giving high grade footage. Great for YouTube in particular if, good for those keen to share their work for others to enjoy.

If you are keen on making short films of family holidays and just everyday life this is all you need. If commercial influencing is something that you are keen on, this too does the job.

The good and the bad

I would regard the following as positive attributes.

It is pocketable, does well in low-light, very fast focus, a fully articulating LCD screen and an impressive rapid background defocus.

With features to handle most photo and video challenges, I wondered how good the price is?

The not so good attributes are the lack of built-in flash, a micro-usb not USB-C and houdini style battery latch that is hard to access.

I can understand the lack of built-in flash as the size and weight are the drivers. It had to be light and small and somethings have to give. Portability is essential for vloggers as they often carry their gear with them so opportunities are not missed. But no excuse for the USB port of choice.

Two others things to note.

You will need a selfie stick for vlogging as you need distance to get a wider coverage of the back scene. Hand held and your face will be too close.

Second you will need a 3rd party microphone as the use of the selfie stick extension will drop the built in mic sound pick-up considerably. The microphone will need a muffler or dead cat to reduce the wind noise. I would leave the dead cat on permanently.

And for whom besides the blogger

For the general public, from moms and dads to teenagers, this does a lot. For the serious prosumers the multiple settings covering much of photography and the video spectrum is a boon.

I use the “Intelligent Auto” mode both for photos and videos for most occasions. Just pick it up and shoot and its works fine. I did try manual and semi-manual modes and the Intelligent setting got it right better than I did.

Low light a plus

In my opinion, the single biggest plus point is great quality photos in low light and indoor conditions. Something nearly all mid range cameras struggle with.

This is where colours comes alive without flashlights. Flashlights unfortunately does give an artificial hue to things unless you are proficient in the use of one. So this cameras ability to handle low light without flash is significant.

Whether indoors at home or on a street at night, with little light from street lamps or from a shop’s neon light, the image quality is above expectation. People probably think you got yourself a high end camera when they see the images.

Look at the various reviews in YouTube where side by side comparisons when low light photography is done. You can form your own impression on its capability.

And there is no iPhone or Android smartphone that comes close for low light conditions.

What it does not do

Do note that for wildlife and distance image capture and fast moving events such as sports, you would need a proper SLR with interchangeable and fast lens.

Macro shooting is also limited. So this camera is not going to cut it for somethings. No point and shoot camera is designed for it.

Gentle warning, a new good camera and making short films on YouTube can be addictive.