So Sony sent over this ZV-1M2.
It's just a loaner and this video isn't sponsored.
I wasn't sure if I was even gonna make a video
as I have so little to say about this camera,
but I figured I'd share some of my test results
for those interested.
I've already covered the ZV-1 and the ZV-1F.
And you probably already know
almost everything you need to know
if you've watched those videos.
This is like the ZV-1F
when it comes to the new stuff like a USB-C port,
the layout, the updated menu system, et cetera.
And it also has the new 1/4 20 placement
that's away from the card and battery door,
which was a big issue with the original ZV-1.
It's also got the priority displays for video
that we've seen recently in other Sony cameras
and most of the latest software bells and whistles
like cinematic vlog mode and a self-timer for video.
It does not have any of the new AI autofocusing stuff
that we saw in the ZV-E1 though
as it doesn't have that dedicated chip.
What makes it a ZV-1 Mark II though
is that it also has the built-in ND filter,
a multi-interface shoe, because the 1F just has a cold shoe,
and it's got a zoom lens again,
unlike the fixed lens of the 1F.
The focal length is better though than the original ZV-1.
Instead of a 24 to 70 full frame equivalent,
we now have an 18 to 50,
which is much more useful for vlogging,
especially when you factor in the added crops of 4K
and active stabilization on this camera.
For further reach
you can have Sony's Clear Image Zoom kick in
after you reach the 50 millimeter equivalent
for a greater zoom,
but keep in mind, this is the old Clear Image Zoom,
so you will lose subject detection and eye tracking
if you use it.
However, I'd say the biggest weakness of this Mark II
is that the new lens is not stabilized,
where the ZV-1's lens was.
I'm finding I can see this present an issue
in the vlog-style shots,
and I'll show you an example of that in a minute.
But other than that,
it's mostly the same camera as those other two.
It's the same sensor and processor,
so we're getting the same codecs,
bit rates, and frame rates.
It's still only 8-bit.
So no S-Cinetone even in that cinematic vlog mode.
You can shoot log,
but I wouldn't expect stellar results
compared to its bigger siblings.
You're only gonna get 10 to 11 stops of usable dynamic range
regardless of what picture profile you choose.
It has the same thermal performance of the ZV-1 and 1F
and roughly the same battery life.
I was getting about 80 minutes of 4K24 recording
on a full battery.
And I didn't experience any overheating when doing that
in a 23 C or 74 Fahrenheit environment.
But expect worse results in hotter ambient temperatures.
It also prompts you upon your initial setup
to enable the high heat threshold to help with that.
It does have the updated mic array
with the intelligent direction switching
like we saw on the ZV-E1
where you can use it to record audio
from in front of the camera, behind it, or all around.
And it can take the Sony microphones in the hot shoe,
or connect via the 3.5 millimeter jack on the side.
And of course, the rolling shutter performance is the same.
Only this time, I was actually able to measure it
as I didn't have my strobe when I reviewed the ZV-1.
Regardless of shooting mode,
I measured high 15s to low 16s
in milliseconds for read speed
whether you shot in 1080p60 or 4K24.
What's interesting about this is that
16 milliseconds isn't a terrible result.
I'd say it's right at the passing mark.
Anything worse is a problem,
but you can get by with 16 milliseconds.
Yet when I reviewed the ZV-1F,
I found the walking footage really hard to watch.
So this new camera has actually helped me
diagnose that issue.
I think that these cameras need a stabilized lens
if you want pleasing footage while vlogging.
Now the ZV-1F's issue specifically was compounded by
having a poorly tuned digital stabilization
that was doing all kinds of
wonky rolling stuff to the frame,
and thankfully that seems to be fixed on this ZV-1M2.
In fact, I'd say the active stabilization
is quite good on this camera when shooting at the wider end,
and it's not the rolling shutter that's causing problems,
but it's the motion blur
that doesn't match the movement of the frame.
Here, let's do a vlog test and I'll show you what I mean.
Oh, and for reference for the vlog test,
I'm gonna be using this Sony handle
and I'll be holding it probably at about this distance
with a little bit of a bent elbow,
so you can get a sense of what the framing looks like.
And I'm gonna be using the built-in microphone
with the included dead cat on top of it.
Let's go do it.
Okay, here we go.
We got pretty much everything on auto,
auto white balance, auto focus.
The image deposition is set to active.
It's the only mode.
There is no standard stabilization, just digital or not.
That's on.
We've got the ND enabled and we're still at f/7.1
in order to manage the exposure out here
on a bright sunny day.
And I'm walking in and out between shadows,
but you're not really gonna get much
of a shallow depth of field
if you've got a set your camera at f/7.1
and you're shooting at 18 mil
'cause I'm at the widest end of the lens here.
For picture profile,
I'm using the HLG with Rec. 709 color.
I feel like that's a pretty good option
to not make this 8-bit codec have to do too much.
You don't wanna be shooting really wide color gamuts
and trying to squish all that in on this camera.
And I feel like this one
looks pretty good right at the camera.
I'm using the built-in mic,
like I said, we got the dead cat on top.
There is a dog barking over there
and birds all around me that I can hear,
so we'll see how it sounds.
I am noticing though,
that it's actually really hard to see things
on the display out here when it's sunny,
because this camera still has that issue where
when you switch to 4K the display gets dim
and you can't use the sunny weather setting on the camera.
So that's kind of annoying if you like to shoot 4K.
And the 1080p is kind of mushy on this so,
I would shoot 4K but can't see the screen.
Anyway, the motion blur issue that I'm talking about
I don't know if you've seen it yet so far,
but when we talk about rolling shutter,
we normally talk about this.
See if I move the camera back and forth,
kind of you expect like the trees behind me
to you know, bend.
They don't really do that.
What happens instead is everything gets smeared.
And basically what I'm thinking,
you can see if I do kind of like
let's say do like really heavy kind of,
I'm like, I don't walk like this,
but if I kind of clump around with the camera.
What happens is everything in the frame
is moving and getting motion blur,
but then the frame itself is stabilized
so you're seeing a stable frame with like my eyes.
If you try to just look at my eyes
you'll see that you can't really track them
because they kind of get blurry up and down.
And if I do do some kind of like weird movement like this
then the whole frame kind of smears.
So that's the issue.
I think it's not having a stabilized lens.
So you're feeding a really unstabilized image to the sensor
and then the sensor's just digitally cropping it.
So the question is,
what happens if we crank the shutter?
Instead of cranking the f-stop to 7.1,
what if we crank the shutter instead?
Then we can shoot wide open,
get that shallow depth of field.
And maybe for the type of content creators
that are doing this, this vlog.
But maybe that's the bigger question is,
does anybody even do this anymore?
But let's say is it okay to just crank the shutter?
Nobody cares anyway, let's do that now.
1/640 of a second shutter, f/1.8,
and we're at base ISO now.
So here we go.
Let's try the same test again.
So let's do a regular walk like this.
Look at my eyes,
see if they kind of look like they're smearing.
It's gonna have a different look now.
It's gonna be a little bit more lively and you know,
frenetic with higher shutter speed,
but maybe people don't care.
I don't know, maybe this is the right choice.
You can always set it on aperture priority
and just let the shutter speed
be variable for you if you want to.
Okay, now I'll do that little whippy pan test.
This probably be pretty gross but,
it's not smearing as much is it?
So that might be a way to deal with,
'cause I know when you use Catalyst Browse,
which is like post digital stabilization
that it has that same sort of motion blur issue.
So the trick is the shoot
had a bit of a higher shutter speed
than you would normally shoot.
And then you can add motion blur back,
post stabilization if you wanted to.
So how does this look, 1/640 of a second?
I'm still seeing zebras up there
so really I could probably go down an extra 1/3 of a stop.
Also, the built-in ND is not the complete savior here.
The fact that we're at 1/640 of a second
I would say the ND is probably about a three stop ND.
So that's not gonna do the trick on a sunny day.
I almost wish there was two degrees.
Maybe you could do like a three stop and a six stop
or something,
but I might be asking too much for this size of body.
Anyway, the last thing I wanted to talk to you about
while we sort of observe if this is any better looking is
what what the hell is vlogging anyway?
Do people still do this?
Like I don't see it very often.
Is this still a thing where you're walking like
should we even be testing cameras
if they're any good for this?
Is rolling shutter that important?
I feel like Sony,
you know, they're going hard on this word vlog.
And vlog can mean a lot to a lot of people.
But maybe these days they just mean like content creation.
And that content creation
might just be shot on a tripod vertically
for you know, short form content.
And maybe that's just what they're trying to say.
They're just trying to say content creator camera.
And in that case,
I mean if that's what you're planning on doing,
if you're planning on shooting this on a tripod
then it doesn't matter.
You know, none of this stuff matters.
It's all, it's gonna be fine.
The screen brightness probably isn't gonna be a big issue.
Rolling shutter isn't gonna matter,
stabilization isn't gonna matter.
The focal length is less relevant.
You don't have to hold it.
Just put it on a tripod and again,
get some good lights, get some good audio,
problem solved I guess.
So that's my question to you audience.
Let me know in the comments.
Do you vlog?
Do you see, do you watch a lot of content
of people doing this vlogging?
What do you think this whole of vlog test
and testing cameras for their ability to be you know,
whipped around is dead
and we should move on instead to different type of tests
for whatever the content creator is doing these days.
Let me know what you think.
At the end of the day,
this is Sony's best option in the ZV-1 line
and it really does seem like they listened to feedback
on the ZV-1 to improve this camera.
But it's also a pretty minor release in a lot of ways.
And I find it harder and harder
to get excited about cameras like this
when phones are becoming better and better options
for the type of content creation
that Sony is likely targeting with this product line.
I often get asked about cameras in this price range,
and this new model doesn't really change my advice.
If you have a reasonably modern phone,
I'd instead spend the money on lights and audio.
And if you already have that,
I think you'd be much better off saving up
for something like the FX30,
which absolutely obliterates this camera
and isn't a dead end when it comes to an upgrade path
like the ZV-1 series is.
But some people really love the ZV-1
and found a perfect use case for it.
And I'm not trying to take that way from them.
So if you've already considered all that
and you've decided that this kind of point-and-shoot body
is what you need for the content you're making,
then you can get M2 confidently,
because it's the best one they got.
Alright... I'm done.