Vlogging Camera

Sony has announced its new Sony ZV-1 II (buy here) vlogging camera, the successor to the popular Sony ZV-1 (buy here), released in 2020. At release, the ZV-1 seemed to essentially be an RX100 V in a new vlogger-oriented form factor. And true to RX100 fashion, the ZV-1 series seems to be following suit. The ZV-1 II is largely quite similar to the original, with some slight – but significant – changes.

The Sony ZV-1 II and ZV-1 both feature the same 20-megapixel 1.0 type sensor, but the lens has been switched out. Gone is the 24-70mm equivalent f/1.8-2.8 lens of the original ZV-1, replaced by a smaller range 18-50mm equivalent lens with a slower f/1.8-4 variable aperture. I said the changes were significant. I didn’t say they were necessarily better. Some will find it better, with the wider angle on the short end providing more environmental context. However, the slower aperture at the long end is not so great.

Sony has now officially announced the new Sony ZV-E1 (buy here) mirrorless camera. It follows on with the general theme of the ZV-1 and ZV-E10 in that they’re targeted primarily towards vloggers. In many ways, it seems to be just as good as the Sony A7S III and Sony FX3 – at least on paper. It contains the same full-frame 12.1-megapixel sensor capable of shooting 4K video at up to 120fps (in a future firmware), but there are some key differences.

Well, there’d have to be. When the A7S III and FX3 cost $3,499 and $3,899, respectively, and the new ZV-E1 costs $2,198, you know there are going to be some compromises somewhere. Let’s take a quick look at the specs and see where Sony’s skimped to bring the price down as low as they have.

Yes, that’s right Sony has now officially announced the camera that we all knew was coming; The Sony ZV-E10. Unlike the Sony ZV-1, which was based around the RX100 sensor with a built-in zoom lens, the new ZV-E10 features a larger APS-C sized sensor and instead of a built-in lens, they’re swappable, thanks to the E mount on the front.

Sony’s press release suggests that the camera was designed especially for vloggers, and ones that have particularly high demands at that. It contains a 24.2-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, which is great for when you do want to shoot the occasional stills, but as a “video-first” camera, video is obviously where it excels.