Tag Archives: vlog

24 Hours with the Sony ZV-1 II – It’s Great, But Not MYR 3,999 Great

June 16, 2023 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

What can you buy with MYR 4,000? You can get yourself a very nice steak dinner for at least four people in a very expensive restaurant. You can buy an entry-level gaming laptop with older generation hardware. You can even buy a decent laptop that you can use for work and play for that money. Even if you buy a 4K TV, you might still have some spare cash to afford yourself a decent soundbar. Or you can buy a Sony ZV-1 II, Sony’s latest compact camera, and have MYR 1 to spare for your parking.

So Familiar

If you have had your hands on a Sony ZV-1, the original one, you would be surprised (or maybe not) at how similar this ‘second-generation- ZV-1 is to the first one. It is sort of the same body that both use with no changes in the layout or material. That also means that if you come from the ZV-1, you will be quickly familiar with the ZV-1 II.

We like plenty of things on the ZV-1. We like the swiveling hinged monitor that we can just swing out to quickly turn the camera on. We like that folding in the display also turns the camera off. We like that it is compact yet shoots decent 4K footage, and we like that it features a standard zoom 24-70mm lens. Most of these features stayed on for the ZV-1 Mk. II.

The ZV-1 II still has a brilliant swiveling display that will be the only source of monitoring you get on the camera itself. There is no viewfinder to look at here, which is pretty much expected in this form factor. Then there is the 4K 24p capabilities that continued from the older ZV-1. The lens offers the same zoom mechanism and look, except that it is an 18-50mm lens now instead of a 24-70mm with a maximum aperture of F4.0.

They have added a few things too. They added ‘background blurring’ effect toggle for your portraits. They also added more creative looks for the ZV-1 II. The highlight addition though, at least we think, is the Cinematic Vlog mode that completely changes how you shoot your videos.

21-Megapixel Photos and 4K videos

To view this content, you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
To do so, please follow these instructions.

The sensor you get on the ZV-1 II is pretty much the same one you can find from the first-generation ZV-1. You get a 1-inch 21-Megapxiel Exmor RS sensor that is also capable of taking videos at 4K 24p resolutions. You can technically also record Full HD videos at up to 60p with the camera. That also means there is no slow-motion video recording for the ZV-1 II. To be fair, that is not what the ZV-1 is for anyway.

If you come from the older ZV-1, there should be no surprises about the photo and video quality here. The 21-Megapixel photos are clear and well detailed, even at the edges. While the sensor is not very big, you technically can get great looking portraits with some deep ‘bokeh’ effect by turning on the camera’s ‘background blur’ mode. Even if you do not use the ‘background blur’ mode though, portrait still looks mighty good with limited depth. Still, for landscape photos, the image is mostly clear and sharp when you go closer to the edges of the image. If you are shooting at 18mm, you can expect some distortion at the edges of your image since you are technically getting an ultra-wide angle.

The ZV-1 II can also shoot photos at up to 24fps, meaning you can technically use this to shoot action photos. You can take it down to your local track on a track day and take great looking photos with this camera thanks to the fast and rather accurate autofocus. We did not get to do that though unfortunately. You technically can take photos when your friends are playing football or any other sports technically thanks to the clever eye-AF. Again, we did not get to do that in our test period.

For 4K video recording, the camera uses the entire 1-inch sensor to shoot, which also means that you are not getting any odd crops on your frame when you switch between photo and video mode. In video mode though, the camera defaults to 16:9 aspect ratio, which means that you lose a little bit of image from the top and bottom of the photo frame. The Cinematic Vlog mode cuts the image even more to make the traditional film 2.35:1 aspect ratio for that cinematic look. We also noticed that the image stabilization is a little more aggressive in cinematic vlog mode allowing for a much more stable looking contents without going through vigorous stabilization algorithms from your editors.

You can technically shoot in Sony’s colour gamut Log with the ZV-1 II. You can go up to S-Log3 in both 4K and Full HD modes. There is no S-Cinetone log here though, which is a shame since we thought it would be nice to pair with the cinematic vlog function. Of course, since the ZV-1 II is made for quick and fuss free vlog production and social media contents, it would not make sense for its intended user to use any of the colour gamut logs. Still, having the option to use the logs in all kinds of shoot mode would be nice for more advanced users.

You can even use the ZV-1 as your webcam if your PC does not already have one. Unfortunately, the camera only allows for up to 720p when you stream the camera directly to the PC via USB Type-C. Still, the 720p image still looks better than most 720p and even Full HD 1080p webcam you can find in the market today. If you are looking for a plug-and-play webcam that looks good, this one could be for you.

Oddly Poor Battery Life

There is a compromise with all the weight saving and focus on making the ZV-1 II the most compact camera of its type yet capable of even more than its predecessor. The compromise comes in the form of a small battery capacity. To be fair, the small battery also contributes to the lightweight construction of the camera.

It is a rather small 1,240mAh NP-BX1 removeable battery that the ZV-1 II packs: the same one as the first-generation ZV-1. It is rated for up to 290 stills and up to 75 minutes of continuous video recording. We took it out to do both stills and videos in the same venue for our test. In our test, we barely got the camera through an hour and a half (1 hour 30 minutes) before the ZV-1 II started warning us of low battery. Since it is replaceable, you technically can buy more to prolong your photo shoot or video shoot with the ZV-1 II. Each battery pack will set you back MYR 202 though. Thankfully you can charge the battery and camera via the camera’s USB Type-C port, meaning you can just plug it to your powerbank, and you are ready to shoot even more photos and videos.

Should You Then? Maybe Not.

We like the ZV-1 II. It is a tiny camera that is rather well packaged and well-rounded enough for a quick photo walk around town. Even if you are not on a dedicated photo walk, it is a compact enough camera for you to carry around and pull out when you see a photo opportunity. It is made for the spontaneous content creator that does not need or want to carry a bunch of gear or a large DSLR around for convenience and subtlety. It also works as a decent webcam to replace your rather poor one on the laptop for an all-around better video conferencing or streaming experience.

We are finding it difficult to recommend this camera to anyone who wants a compact camera that does everything though. For starters, it will set you back MYR 3,999. For that kind of money, you can get your hands on an older ZV-1 and still have extra to buy a proper Sony mic that can be mounted on the camera. Secondly, the ZV-1 will still be on sale, and there is nothing wrong with that camera in the first place. Thirdly, if simplicity is what you are after, what is wrong with the ZV-1F? The ZV-1F has a fixed lens and does everything the ZV-1 does too. If you already have the ZV-1 or the ZV-1F, apart from a few added features and the different lens length, you are not getting much of an upgrade on the ZV-1 II too.

Camera, News

Sony Announces Another Vlogging Camera ZV-E1 with Interchangeable Lens

March 30, 2023 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

Sony’s ZV series of cameras are known to be small, handy devices that you can whip out anywhere and bring anywhere with no fuss to take photos or videos for your social media and vlogging use. They are appealing because they are the size of a compact point-and-shoot but full feature packed for even professional use. What they are not though are full-frame shooters for the discerning photographer, until Sony introduced the ZV-E1 today that is.

The Baby α7S III

Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony

In its core is a full-frame sensor, not a 1-inch sensor you find in the ZV-1 and ZV-1F, not an APS-C cropped sensor you get from the α6600, a full fat full-frame sensor you get like the one from the α7 series of cameras. It even packs the same image sensor as Sony’s most modern cameras, the BIONZ XR processor. Both combines to shoot brilliant 12.1-Megapixel photographs and 4K videos at up to 120fps. There is a small caveat for the 120p 4K video recording function though, it is only available in certain regions and you have to manually update your camera’s software to get the function.

The 4K video recording is meant to be brilliant with this camera though. If you know your way around the camera, you can get your ZV-E1 to record 4K videos at S-Cinetone for that extra cinematic quality for your videos or vlogs. Of course, you still get the usual S-Log2 and S-Log3 colour gamut options. You also get 10-bit 4:2:2 colours for your videos, that means you get some of the best-looking videos out there. All of this is recorded without the need for the camera to do pixel binning, which means you get the best unfiltered quality there is for your films. It is not like you need to buy an extra gimbal for yourself too, it comes with a 5-axis in-body image stabilising mechanism alongside dynamic active mode for even more stabilisation when you roll the camera while moving vigorously.

The decision to go with a 12.1-Megapixel sensor could be in part because it is meant to do more videos than photos. It is technically the same sensor as the α7S III, which also means you can expect nearly the same video performance from this ZV-E1. It also means you get a rather admirable low-light video performance for your money. You can push the camera to ISO409600 to make your low-light videos look like it is shot with extra lighting boost. Of course, you want to deal with the noise artifacts in extreme conditions.

Shoot Cinema Quality Videos Out-of-the-Box

If you are not into setting your camera up manually, this one has something that the α7S III does not have. It has something called the Cinematic Vlog Settings. It automatically sets your camera up to shoot videos at 4K resolution and to the Look or Mood that you want from the selection the camera offers you. You get different sort of ‘Looks’ that emphasise neutral tones, soft colours, and highlights. You have a ‘Moods’ that offers a specific colour saturation and focus. You can even tune the Autofocus speeds in this mode, something only doable manually on the α7S III. All of the footages in this mode is shot at a traditional 24fps and at 2.35:1 Cinemascope aspect ratio for an added cinematic feel. All of these can be done and you do not need to even fire up your video editor, do any colour corrections, or add any colour gamut modes to your videos. Of course, if you want to get a true cinematic look and feel, you want to get down to S-Cinetone and do all the hardwork of colour correcting your footage by hand.

There are also some added AI (artificial intelligence) functions to the camera. With the fast Hybrid AF mechanism, the camera cleverly tracks your subjects and keeps them in focus while you work out everything else around the subject. You have Dynamic active Mode stabilisation that works together with the built-in optical stabiliser to achieve an even more stable footage than before. Then there is also something they call the Auto Framing function for videos. The AI-based function automatically recognises a subject in the frame while recording a video and automatically crops the frame to fit the subject focus and in optimum frame position no matter where the subject moves. You can also do that via the camera’s touch screen or the Creator’s App on any Android or iOS smartphone.

The One-Man Operator

For a one-man operation, this camera is a blessing. There is something called Framing Stabiliser in the camera. It automatically keeps a subject in a constant frame position even when you shoot without a gimbal. You can follow a subject, or even shoot around a subject and your frame stays the same and consistent, which is always a good thing. There is also a Product Showcase setting for when the user wants to showcase or review a product, allowing the camera to quickly switch its focus between the presenter and product as the product comes closer to the lens.

You even get to shoot time-lapse videos out of the box with the ZV-E1. You can set the camera to take photos in 1 second to 60 seconds interval. You do not even need to connect your camera to anything for this, just make sure you have enough battery power to get it through the shoot.

Unlike the α7 series too, there is a zoom lever on the ZV-E1. It not only controls the zoom on compatible lenses, but it also allows you to digitally zoom with your prime lenses. That means you can work with a single lens and still get a variety of shots with the camera. You may not even need to purchase a shotgun mic for your videos with three built-in high-performance microphones. The multiple mic set-up can be set to record videos from all sorts of directions and some can even be used as a noise cancelling mic.

All of these functions and features are packed within a body that only weighs less than half a Kg. Of course, this being an E-mount interchangeable lens camera, the lens you fit on the camera will affect its final weight. But it is still a rather light and compact camera to work with, more so than the α7c. It is in fact Sony’s lightest and most compact full-frame camera to date.

Price and Availability

Sony has not announced the final pricing of the Sony ZV-E1. The compact full-frame shooter will be available in Malaysia from June 2023 onward. For more information on Sony’s latest compact full-frame camera, you can visit their website.

Camera, Lifestyle, News

Sony Introduces the Alpha ZV-E10 – The Perfect Small Camera for Content Creators

July 28, 2021 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

The content creator market is huge in 2021. Of course, the rise in various social media mediums like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and even Twitch has created this huge demand for contents over the internet. To be fair, Twitch may not be a social media platform per se, but it does create a huge demand in more live streamed contents; pretty much what Facebook is doing with regular and even Facebook Gaming platform. In all these, the most popular contents are also the visual contents like videos and photo updates. Written contents have been taking a backseat for a while and we all know that.

On that note, we want to thank everyone who is still coming to the site to read our news updates, reviews, and editorial articles. We appreciate you and you are the reason we do what we do. Do let us know what you think we can do more of, or better in the comment section below or our social media platforms though.

With modern social media as well, content creation has been at its simplest form today. All you need is a smartphone that can support all the apps to start creating contents. Of course, using your smartphone to create contents can be pretty limiting. We always say that if you want to make the best video or photography content, invest in a camera; there are plenty of choices out there too. Today, your decision-making process is going to be a little harder, or easier, depending on how you look at it.

The Sony Alpha (α) ZV-E10, as they call it, is meant to sit above the ZV-1 compact camera. Rightfully so, with an APS-C cropped sensor instead of the small 1-inch sensor of the compact ZV-1. It is also an interchangeable lens camera with Sony’s proprietary E-Mount. This opens up a whole plethora of creative possibilities with Sony’s extensive E-Mount lenses as well.

It features a 24.2-Megapixel Exmor CMOS sensor backed by Sony’s brilliant BIONZ X image processor. Of course, with a bigger sensor than the ZV-1, you should be getting a better image quality and better low-light performance from the ZV-E10. At the same time, there are a few features that makes this camera perfect for both experienced and new content creators.

For one, the Sony α ZV-E10 packs a clever Background Defocus feature that was first seen and highly acclaimed in the ZV-1. While the feature is more catered for vloggers, it is a clever system to sort of mimic the depth-of-field effect you get with more expensive lenses and larger camera sensors without spending the extra money. At the same time, it is less focus sensitive in this implementation, which allows subjects extra movement tolerances. “Product Showcase Setting” mode is also something that content creators can appreciate to quickly shift focus from the subject’s face to a highlighted object.

At 343g (body only), the Sony α ZV-E10 is lighter than even the Sony α6400, and way lighter than the high-end Sony α7 series of cameras. That also means an added portability and versatility in your shoots. You do not need a large space to lug the ZV-E10 around and setting it up can be as easy as pulling it out of the bag and just point at your subject.

The α ZV-E10 is made with videos in mind though. It shoots at up to 4K 30fps and Full HD 120fps (slow-motion) to make this one of the most versatile compact shooters available in the current market. Of course, Sony’s clever electronic image stabilisation makes an appearance here. You do have to turn on Active Mode for stabilisation to kick in though. Still, you can get a crisp, stable 4K vlogs from the camera.

The new Sony compact camera is also sort of made to be a one-stop-shop for content creation. That is why the α ZV-E10 comes with Sony’s industry leading Fast Hybrid autofocus, and real-time Eye autofocus and tracking for all sorts of contents. You can use the camera to take great looking and detailed photos and track a moving subject for fast moving videos. You may not even need a separate mic with the α ZV-E10 too with its built-in Direction 3-capsule Mic and a wind screen included out-of-the-box. If you have a mic, you can easily use the ZV-E10’s mic jack on its side.

Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony

The Sony α ZV-E10 will be available in Malaysia from September 2021 onward. You can select between black or white colour options with the new camera. At launch the Sony α ZV-E10 will be available for MYR 2,599 (body only) and MYR 3,099 for a kit lens (E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS) bundle. More information on Sony’s camera systems and the α ZV-E10 can be found on their website.

techENT