Sony ZV-1 Review
Who is the Sony ZV-1 for?
Specifications
Talking Head Videos
Vlogging and Audio Samples
Indoor Photography
Outdoor Photography
Pros and Cons Summary
Verdict
Who is the Sony ZV-1 for?
The Sony ZV-1 is marketed towards vloggers, but that’s not really where it excels. It’s best for newcomers to mirrorless cameras who plan to use it stationary on a tripod.
To explain why, I’ll be covering four use cases for this camera: talking head videos, vlogging, indoor photography, and outdoor photography. But before I jump into those, here are the specs really quickly.
Specifications
Max video resolutions and frame rates: 4K 30 FPS, 1080P 120 FPS.
Sensor: “1.0 type” (13.2 x 8.8 mm).
Lens: integrated, f/1.8-2.8. 9.4-25.7 mm. Full frame equivalent is 24-70 mm.
Photos: 20 megapixels (5472 x 3648). JPEG + RAW.
Integrated 3 stop ND filter.
Ports: Micro USB, Micro HDMI, 3.5 mm microphone jack, multi-interface shoe.
Key note: the 4K video has a crop applied to it. Also, the autofocus tracking boxes no longer appear when using the device in 4K if the remote control function is enabled.
Talking Head Videos
Video still from the ZV-1 in 4K.
The ZV-1 ticks pretty much every box needed for great talking head videos. By that I mean videos for YouTube, live streaming content, or video conferencing while you’re talking to the camera on a tripod.
The sharpness is excellent without artificial looking post processing filters like webcams and phone cameras. Sony cameras have had great color accuracy for years, and this is no exception.
I would have liked a bit more background blur and separation from the subject, but it’s more than the kit lens of some competing cameras like the Canon M50.
Out the box, the contrast was too extreme for my tastes with blacks being too deep and losing detail. However, Sony provides excellent options if that moody look isn’t your thing. You can change the contrast in the “creative style” settings, and you can also apply a dynamic range optimizer.
The DRO has 5 different levels and it mainly brightens up shadows. This does increase the noise a bit, but it allows you to decrease the exposure of white areas to avoid blown out whites while still keeping texture in anything dark in the scene.
The autofocus doesn’t get lost too often and locks onto faces well. Unfortunately, with product showcase mode on it can and will start locking onto the background if you’re not right in the center of the frame.
Product Showcase Mode
Product showcase mode can be enabled in the menus, and its set to the trash can button as a shortcut out the box. This mode says it prioritizes whatever is closest to the camera. It’s great for product reviewers like me showing off things like headsets.
But again, since your face has lost priority, the ZV-1 is prone to locking onto random boxes or other objects behind you. It needs more work, but it’s a valuable feature.
Product showcase mode is perfect for product reviewers and makeup artists.
Background Defocus Button
The background defocus button is a cool little gimmick that can be found at the top of the camera. Really all it does is opens the aperture to its maximum when pressed once and then closes it down to around f/5.6 when pressed again.
Once you understand how depth of field works, I wouldn’t touch it. But even if you don’t, just remember that a lower f# means more background blur, and a higher f# will keep more of the shot in focus.
Background defocus is on the upper right.
Live Streaming
The Sony ZV-1 has two options for sending live video content to your computer to stream or record.
First, you can use a micro USB cable and set the camera to “live streaming” mode. You can then select “ZV-1” in OBS or whatever software you want. There are two weaknesses with this method. The resolution and frame rate is capped to 720p 30 FPS, and the battery will die after extended use.
I’ll talk more about the battery in the vlogging section, but if you want the device to avoid running out of power, you’ll need to connect the USB cable to a power brick.
To prevent overheating, make sure to change the auto shut-off setting to “high” temperature. That way, you can use the device indefinitely without it turning off on its own.
The second method of live streaming or recording directly to a PC is to use a micro HDMI to HDMI cable and plug that into a capture card. The ZV-1 has clean HDMI out which means you won’t see all the focus boxes and overlays on the final video in OBS or other software.
I use the Elgato 4K60 Pro for this method and it’s far superior to the USB streaming mode since you can take advantage of 1080p 60 FPS and 4K 30 FPS footage. Just make sure the device is in movie mode.
Vlogging and Audio Samples
Sony says the ZV-1 is made for vloggers, but I wouldn’t recommend it for that use case. Here’s why.
The optical image stabiliation is just not enough. Walking and talking to the camera causes an unwatchable level of shaking and jerking. In order to control this, you have to enable “Active SteadyShot” which is a form of digital image stabilization.
The weakness of Active SteadyShot is it crops in on your video. Since 4K already applies a crop, this makes your FOV even more narrow, so at arm’s length your face will take up the entire frame. Not fun to watch…
Battery life is also terrible on the ZV-1. While fliming the the vlog above and taking pictures and videos of the animals around, my camera died just an hour and 20 minutes into my shoot.
The ZV-1 does have two things going for it for vloggers, however.
Microphone Quality
The microphone is surprisingly high quality even though it lacks some bass. The EQ is probably made to compensate for how susceptile it is to wind noise. The great news is the included wind guard minimizes distortion from gusts of air very well.
Camera Body
The other positive vlogging attribute about the ZV-1 is its form factor. The body is easy to hold in one hand due to its small size and light weight.
It’s unfortunate that the touch screen is limited to tap to focus, but once you set your own custom buttons, it’s not too much work to navigate to whatever setting you need on the fly.
The screen flips out so you can see yourself without blocking any mic you have mounted. The tripod threading on the bottom will let you utilize it with a gimbal as well.
Indoor Photography
Taken with the Sony ZV-1.
Taken with the Google Pixel 4 XL.
I love the ZV-1 for indoor photography. I switch between it and my Pixel for the product shots on this website, and no phone can come close to the ZV-1.
The background blur is natural because it’s all physics based, not an artificial filter. The sensor and lens lets it bring in adequate light without having to increase the ISO which causes grain. The colors fantastic, and using a remote shutter lets you avoid any sort of camera shake even with longer exposure times.
Taken with the Sony ZV-1.
The only weakness with the ZV-1 indoors is the manual focus. While tap to focus usually works, sometimes it has issues with all black or all white objects. In this case, you’ll need to navigate the clunky menus to access manual focus.
Manual focus is not as simple as just twisting the focus ring like on a traditional lens. You have to control the integrated lens through software and the zoom rocker. It’s not fun, and I’m fortunate how rare it is for tap to focus to fail.
Outdoor Photography
f/2.8. 1/250. ISO 1600. 26 mm.
f/1.8. 2.5 second exposure. ISO 125. 9 mm.
The limitations of the ZV-1’s optics are most apparent when taking pictures outdoors. Can you get decent shots? Sure. But having only a 1” sensor and a built-in lens starts to cause problems that you simply can’t get around.
The low light performance is not great. While using long exposures can work for landscape shots like the one with the supermoon above, it’s useless for moving subjects. I missed some pretty friendly kittens because the scene was just too dark to capture them.
Moreover, 24-70 mm isn’t very deep of a zoom. Taking pictures of wildlife is very difficult because you have to get so close to them to get a decent shot. The duck photo below is the closest proximity I could achieve without scaring them off, and they still look far away.
f/2.8. 1/200. ISO 125. 26 mm.
f/5.6. 1/160. ISO 200. 26 mm.
For context, every shot was taken handheld except the moonrise.
Just like how vlogging would benefit from a wider field of view, wildlife photos would be so much better if you could detach and replace the lens with something that had more zoom such as 200 mm.
TFortunately, there is a very similar camera from Sony that can do exactly what I just mentioned. The following pros and cons list will help illustrate why I ultimately recommend that over the ZV-1.
ZV-1 Pros and Cons Summary
Pros
Great image quality in terms of sharpness, color accuracy and dynamic range.
Integrated lens is decent and it has an internal ND filter.
Microphone audio quality is great especially with the wind guard.
Compact, pocketable design.
Flip out screen.
Clean HDMI out and USB live streaming functionality.
Remote control app (Sony Imaging Edge) is fantastic.
Cons
Sensor Size is only 1”. APS-C and full frame sensors take in more light and crop in less.
No 60 FPS at 4K. 4K video crops in farther.
No interchangeable lens options.
Optical image stabilization is not very good. Digital stabilization crops in very hard.
USB-Mini slot is not USB-C.
LCD isn’t a true touch screen. Also the orientation can’t be flipped or locked manually.
Menus are clunky.
Verdict
I recommend the Sony ZV-1 for talking head videos and indoor photography. For vlogging or outdoor photos, the limitations of the sensor and integrated lens are just too much.
For versatility in those use cases, I would get the Sony Alpha ZV-E10 instead. It has the same processor as the ZV-1 with a very similar menu system and body. However, the sensor is a much larger APS-C, and it can be used with interchangeable lenses.
This means the low light performance will be improved, and if you need a wider shot for vlogging or something more zoomed in for taking pictures of animals, you can swap out to whatever lens is best for the job.
