This is the new ZV-E1 from Sony,
which surprisingly, in many ways,
is like an FX3 for half the price.
Let's get undone!
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- What's happening, everybody?
I'm Gerald Undone and Hey, Macarena!
So for disclosure,
Sony lent me this camera to make this review.
I don't get to keep it.
No money changed hands,
and Sony does not get any input
on this video's production
or get to preview it before it's posted.
This video does have an actual sponsor though
and that's Storyblocks.
So for the sake of simplifying this review,
let me clear up the FX3 comparison I made in the intro.
This camera possesses many of the same internals
as the A7S III and FX3.
It's using the same sensor and processor,
so you can expect a nearly identical image
when it comes to dynamic range
and rolling shutter performance.
But just to be sure, I tested it,
and yes, in 4K24 we're getting the same rolling shutter
of 8.7 milliseconds,
and using the Xyla 21 and Imatest,
I measured 14.4 total stops of dynamic range
with a medium score of 12.7,
which is very similar to the results
of the other cameras using this sensor.
It features the same dual native ISOs
in S-Log3 as the a7S III,
which are ISO 640 and ISO 12,800,
and the noise performance, color,
and overall image quality are basically equal.
It's the same sensor.
The comparisons to the FX3 go deeper though
because this camera also doesn't have an EVF,
and it has most of the features
of the FX3's 2.0 firmware,
including the separate Log shooting tab,
the ability to upload user LUTs, the preset LUTs like s709,
and the new cleaner display when in video mode.
It doesn't have Cine EI mode though,
so the log shooting is limited to Flexible ISO
and as I mentioned, the base is 640 instead of 800,
which is more like the a7S III.
It's also aimed more at video.
It can still take pictures
and has a mode switch that goes to photo mode,
but there's no EVF, no mechanical shutter,
and fewer photo-centric functions.
Oh, and it also has a tally lamp,
and the strap eyelets are silent with no jangly triangles.
The main differences between this camera and the FX3
are its size, ports, and heat management.
This is Sony's smallest full frame camera to date,
and because it's a ZV camera,
it takes design cues from the previous models in that line:
like recycled plastic, the large mic capsule on top,
function buttons mapped
for things like product showcase mode or background defocus,
and only a single card slot.
It does still have 3.5mm microphone and headphone jacks,
and a USB-C port for charging and live streaming,
but the HDMI port is a micro Type-D,
which is significantly less robust
than the FX3's Type-A port.
Functionally though, the HDMI output performs the same
as the last few Sony cameras.
Same strengths, same quirks.
Nothing new to report.
But the flip out LCD screen has a few new tricks.
First you can now swipe from the sides
to bring up some extra buttons on the screen,
and if you don't like this feature,
you can turn it off in the menu.
But now you can also control
your exposure and white balance using touch,
which is something I've been wanting Sony
to implement for a long time.
So I'm happy to see it here
and hoping they continue this with future cameras.
Now despite it being small and using recycled materials,
it doesn't feel too bad in the hands.
I expected to hate the grip,
but I actually kind of like how they balanced the small size
while still feeling like you have a decent grasp
on the camera.
But the finish is smoother, more plasticky,
and a bit slipperier than the more premium models.
So overall the build quality
certainly isn't as good as the FX3,
but it's definitely my favorite of the ZV lineup.
It does still use the same FZ-100 battery though,
which is great.
So record times are solid,
with the only limitation being heat,
because as I mentioned this camera
does not have the same thermal capabilities
as the FX3 or even the a7S III.
Now because it only has one SD card slot,
it can't record the absolute highest bitrates
that the FX3 can,
but it can still manage any of the modes you could record
to via SD card on those previous cameras,
including All-Intra recording up to 600mbps.
Currently it only comes with up to 4K60,
but they'll be releasing the 4K120 via firmware.
This seems silly to me as we all know this sensor
is capable of 4K120,
so why not release it alongside the camera?
I've heard rumors that this could be to sell the 4K120
as an upgrade in some regions,
and if that's the case,
I'm pretty disappointed by that decision,
but I'll save that scorn
until we know what's actually going to happen.
Anyway, that means for my testing,
I was only able to check the runtime of up to 4K60,
which Sony is rating at 30 minutes at 25C,
which is 77 Fahrenheit.
I tested it in a 22C environment or around 72F
and got 1 hour and 11 minutes of 4K60
before the camera shutdown due to heat.
All of these tests, by the way,
were with the heat threshold set to high,
the screen open and away from the body,
and the camera on a tripod.
When I increased the ambient temperature
to 24C or 75 Fahrenheit,
the runtime shortened to 42 minutes before overheating.
In 4K24, my results were 2 hours 19 minutes at 22C/72F,
at which point the battery died,
but the camera didn't overheat.
Then I got 1 hour 36 minutes at 23C,
and 1 hour and 11 minutes at 24C,
both because of overheating.
So you can see that the camera's runtime quickly tapers off
as you increase ambient temperature,
which leads me to make a few conclusions
and recommendations.
This camera will do quite well
in an environment of 22C or lower,
but is definitely not recommended in hot environments
unless you only record short clips.
I suspect Sony finds this acceptable though
as they're targeting this camera toward vloggers
who likely aren't recording hour-long takes
and are probably recording their 4K60 in very short bursts,
but it would be nice if it was capable of performing better
in higher ambient temperatures.
Oh, it also has a newly upgraded live streaming protocol
that allows up to 4K30,
so I tested how long I could use that feature
before overheating,
and I got 56 mins in a 23C/73.5F environment.
And that wasn't using
the simultaneous internal recording option,
which when enabled
will drastically shorten your streaming runtime.
And if you're like me and your first though was,
"What if I record externally?
Will that bypass the heat limits?"
Sadly, no, similar to live streaming,
HDMI output doesn't seem to increase your runtime
in any significant way.
I only got 36 minutes of 4K60 in a 25C environment
when recording exclusively externally.
Now all of these times are significantly increased
if you opt for Full HD instead of 4K,
with 1080p60 tripling the 4K60's rated runtime
from 30 minutes to 90 minutes in a 25C environment.
And I had no issues live streaming at 1080p60 either.
But overall, that's the biggest difference
between this and the FX3, that heat management.
So if the limited record times aren't an issue for you,
consider it an FX3 at a major discount.
Now it does not come with the audio top handle of the FX3,
but unlike the previous ZV cameras,
this one actually does have the multi-interface hot shoe.
So you can plug the digital mics or the K3M XLR module
into the shoe on this camera
and record up to four channel digital audio.
But the built-in microphone is pretty cool too.
It's directional now, so you can set it to pick up sounds
from in front of the camera,
behind the camera, or all around.
And it also has an intelligent auto switching mode
that uses subject detection to determine
when to switch to the front capsule
based on if your subject has entered the frame,
and then switches back to omni-directional
when the subject leaves.
But the new subject detection features
go well beyond just this new microphone
and are some of the most interesting aspects of this camera.
It's using the new AI processing unit
that we saw in the a7R V.
In fact, the entire autofocus experience on this camera
feels very similar to that a7R V.
You've got the same subject selections
like human, animals, birds, insects, cars,
trains, planes, etc.
And the human detection is more than just face and eye,
and involves recognizing limbs, the back of a torso or head,
predicting movement and so on.
The autofocus was incredible on the a7R V
and it's just as incredible here.
However, what's new is that this camera
is now taking that subject tracking capability
and using it to improve the stabilization
and to add useful functions for the solo shooter.
But before we get into all those new functions,
let's take a moment to pause
and talk about the new stabilization
and the improved clear image zoom,
since those new functions are built on the improvement
of these classic features.
So Clear Image Zoom, for those that don't know,
is the ability to zoom in digitally,
while seemingly not losing any quality.
In 4K, for example, you can zoom an extra 1.5x
while still keeping a 4K recording
and with a final image that's very hard to tell that
it's been zoomed or upscaled.
I've always thought it was cool technology,
but I never used it in video
because it came with significant drawbacks.
Primarily, you'd lose your ability to track subjects
and lose eye detection in autofocus,
which was a big deal for someone who filmed themselves.
However, on the ZV-E1,
not only does it have a zoom rocker
on the front around the shutter button,
another similarity to the FX3,
but you can map that zoom rocker to use Clear Image Zoom,
and when you use Clear Image Zoom on this camera,
you don't lose anything.
You maintain all of your detection and tracking methods
even as you zoom up to 1.5x in 4K.
You can even keep active stabilization on the entire time.
This is huge!
It basically makes any lens you put on this camera
more versatile without giving anything up.
The 20mm prime, for example,
now becomes a 20-30mm f/1.8 lens for free
without losing eye tracking.
But that active stabilization I mentioned,
now has a new mode that uses clear image zoom
to stabilize even further.
They're calling it Dynamic Active,
and it's basically a more aggressive crop
that's possible thanks to Clear Image Zoom,
because the sensor isn't high enough resolution
to support that much of a crop natively.
It then uses that extra simulated real estate
to significantly reduce shakes in your image.
Here's some clips for you to watch
of me jogging after Lindsey in the garage.
The same test I did with the Panasonic S5 II.
And you'll notice
that even when enabling Active stabilization,
the drops from my footsteps are still very visible.
However, when we turn on Dynamic Active,
a significant crop is applied,
but then the foot drops are almost entirely eliminated
and instead we get this floaty feel
that is the closest I've ever seen a camera
look like it was flying on a gimbal.
Now the S5 II did really well in this test too,
but because the IBIS was so strong
it suffered from those warpy, wobbly corners,
but because the ZV-E1 is using Clear Image Zoom to crop in,
the warpiness is cropped away
and you're left with probably
the best in-camera stabilization I've ever seen.
The only drawback is that you won't be able to get as wide
because of that extra 30% crop.
But since this is a vlogging camera at heart,
let's take it outside and put that stabilization, autofocus,
and new mic capsule to the test.
Okay, so here we go.
We're vlogging.
I've got the 20 mm lens on.
I'm shooting with active stabilization,
so there's a little bit of a crop there.
If I put it in dynamic active
it would be even more of a crop,
but too much for vlogging with the 20 mm.
I'm using the built in microphone with
which is facing forward for the capsule,
and I have the little dead cat that
comes included with the camera attached,
and there's quite a bit of noise.
I'm walking through sort of a noisy area
with wind and with traffic and stuff like that
there's some kind of weird pump sound over here,
so we'll see how it does for rejection,
and isolation of my sound--
or my voice there.
And I'm using auto pretty much everything,
so auto white balance, auto exposure,
I do have a variable ND on,
so if the colors a little bit different
it's probably because of that,
and I'm also using the eye tracking autofocus,
so let's evaluate all this:
the autofocus, the stabilization, and the audio,
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Now what gets more interesting
is that this camera can take
that new Dynamic Active Stabilization
and use the new subject detection algorithms
to enable a feature called Framing Stabilizer,
which allows that extra crop to move
around intelligently to ensure
that the subject stays in the same place
throughout the shot.
You can choose between keeping them
in the center or manually assigning a position.
This is particularly handy
when you're doing those follow shots
or if you're tracking from the side
and you're dodging obstacles and struggling
to keep the subject where you want them.
This feature will keep them framed up nicely
for you automatically
while stabilizing as well,
but you can also use this function
to auto-frame a subject
to give the appearance of camera movement.
Essentially, imagine that same Clear Image Zoom crop,
but rather than be fixed to the center of the screen,
it follows you around as you move.
Now it's limited to the total width of the sensor,
obviously, because the camera isn't actually moving,
but it can give the illusion
that you have a camera operator
that's following you to a certain extent.
And you have a lot of control over it,
so you can decide if you want a full-body shot,
a medium crop, or a tighter shoulders and up crop.
You can control the speed of the tracking
and how it gets initiated including the ability
to loop the crop so that it moves in
and out of the tight and wide angles on a timer.
And what's even cooler is that
if you have an HDMI recorder connected,
you can record two different versions of your shot.
For example, you could send a completely uncropped version
over HDMI and then record the baked-in crops to the SD card.
It's definitely an interesting inclusion
and something I could see solo creators
getting serious use out of.
There's also a few other features
they've included that I imagine are targeted at beginners,
they've added a Cinematic Vlog mode,
which basically just bakes in black letterbox bars
into your footage and let's you select
from a few preset color grades.
It's mostly a gimmick
since you're still recording a 16x9 image,
but I guess it could save time if your intention
was to put black bars and some cliché grade on your footage,
or if you weren't comfortable doing that in post yourself.
But to be honest, there's a part of me that hates
that this feature exists.
Does this look cinematic?
I sure hope so,
because we have it in cinematic vlog mode.
Ooh cinema-- the colors actually look pretty good
to be honest with you.
Doesn't look too bad.
These black bars are ridiculous,
but the image between them actually looks pretty nice,
but is it cinematic?
There's also a self-timer for video now, which is handy,
and this cool automatic depth of field thing
that only works when you set the camera to intelligent auto,
but it'll recognize when a second subject
enters the frame and will stop down your lens
to bring both of you in focus
and compensate with ISO to normalize exposure.
This is incredibly handy for people
that switch between one and multiple subjects
at different depths,
but don't always have the ability
to change their camera settings on the fly.
And the final feature this camera has
that I want to discuss is Focus Breathing Compensation.
Now, if you've watched any of my recent Sony camera reviews,
you've likely seen me complain that every new camera
is getting Focus Breathing Compensation,
but they still haven't added it
to their more expensive cameras like the a7S III or a1.
And occasionally you get some Sony apologizers trying
to defend this by suggesting that it's
because of a limitation in the a7S III sensor,
or something about the size of the camera, etc.
Well, the existence of this ZV-E1 basically
disproves any apologizer theory
and instead shows a lack of listening
and firmware support on Sony's side.
Because this camera is their smallest full frame camera
and it uses the same sensor and processor as the a7S III.
So if this camera can have it,
I can't see any reason why the a7S III
can't receive focus breathing compensation
as a firmware upgrade.
But it goes beyond that now,
because most of the features of this new camera
are just software.
So sure, maybe we can't
do all the AI subject detection stuff,
because other cameras don't have the AI processing unit.
But the a7R V does! Will it see these features added?
It's only a few months old.
What about this new Clear Image Zoom?
Can we get that added to the a7 IV, a1, a7S III, FX3, etc.?
What about the 4K30 webcam improvement?
Or the touch functionality?
The list could go on and on.
And then there's these strange limitations
that have been around since the a7S III,
like the inability to record 30 frames per second in H.265
which still persists in this camera,
but with no fix or explanation from Sony.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's incredible that Sony
is able to keep coming up with cool functions and features,
and it's even better that they're willing
to put all of them into their less expensive bodies.
And I really appreciate that they aren't afraid
to cannibalize their bigger cameras
by loading up the cheaper bodies
and letting consumers with smaller budgets
enjoy these aspects.
But this release system only works
if you also have enough resources dedicated
to bringing some of those features back
to your customers who bought your more expensive bodies.
If you don't, you'll risk losing them
when you announce your next flagship.
Because let's face it, the word flagship
has started losing some of it's punch when this small,
significantly cheaper camera can do more stuff!
So this puts me in a weird position,
because this is a review of this camera,
which is actually really cool.
It's just that each time I review a new Sony camera,
I get annoyed and distracted about what my current,
more expensive cameras can't do.
But let's try to wrap this video up
by just talking about this camera's value proposition.
I'd say that if the shortcomings
that come from this type of build don't bother you,
you're getting an incredible deal.
Bearing in mind that it doesn't
do nearly as well for heat management,
it feels a bit cheaper,
and it's limited in ports
and card slots compared to the FX3,
it's also simultaneously a much more feature rich version
of the FX3 with identical internal hardware
for significantly less money.
And considering I called the a7S III a technical masterpiece
back in 2020, I couldn't possibly
give this new camera that does all that
and more anything less than a very strong recommendation,
provided you're okay with its limitations.
But considering those use cases,
this camera's excellent rolling shutter performance,
the self-filming conveniences,
the shockingly good stabilization,
and the compact form factor
might just make it the best vlogging camera
that exists to date.
All right.
I'm done.
♪ Outro Music ♪