- Typically a camera made for vlogging
is lighter, smaller, cheaper,
and made to be held out in front of you.
It should be quick to boot, easy to use,
and deliver high quality footage
that you can't get from a phone.
These are the two latest vlogging cameras
from Canon and Sony.
Sony's brand new Sony ZV-1 Mark II, and Canon's latest V10.
Each of these cameras is attempting to cater
to the creator community,
but they both capture a story in a wildly different way.
So, who does it better?
I'm Becca, welcome back to Full Frame.
(upbeat music fading)
(gentle music)
The first Sony ZV-1
is the company's bestselling ZV camera to date,
which is why the Mark II is a big deal.
It's a rare current Sony camera
that does not have interchangeable lenses.
That's fine for the set it and forget it folks
who aren't gonna change the lens anyway.
But it does mean that down the line
when you start to get bored of this system
there's no upgrading the optics.
In this iteration of the ZV-1,
Sony did change that lens though.
The Mark II has a wider 35 millimeter equivalent,
18 to 50 millimeter F 1.8 to 4 lens.
You can record at 4K up to 30 frames per second
or 10 EDP at 120 frames per second
via the 20.1 megapixel, one inch type CMOS sensor.
Unlike Canon, Sony has trickled down specs
from its more expensive cameras into this one.
You get the new touch controls, cinematic vlog setting,
and human and animal realtime eye auto focus
that we saw in the ZV-E1 plus the dummy proof settings
like the Bokeh switch for defocusing the background
or the product showcase setting for focusing
on an object being held out in front of your face.
Okay, but what if my face is also on the frame?
Nice.
Not to mention the ZV-1 Mark II continues
to have better auto focus
than the rest of the competition at this price point.
And it has a built-in 3-stop ND filter.
Ooh, damn, that boots and gets rolling, so fast.
This camera comes in both black and white,
but when I heard it was coming in all white
I knew I needed this model, especially when I heard
that the windscreen was gonna be white.
I mean, this is just the cutest little set
of hair I've ever seen on a camera.
Now, I was kind of concerned
that the camera would get dirty,
but in my three weeks of testing,
it's really not showing all that much wear.
Not anything that I couldn't, you know, just wipe off.
I did have to brush the windscreen though,
that got a little gnarly.
Although I primarily took video with this camera,
the photos are crisp, clear, and when paired
with the defocus button that opens the shutter to F 1.8,
they have a good amount of depth.
Overall, the Sony ZV-1 Mark II feels
like a modern well specked point and shoot camera
that is under a thousand dollars.
And although there is very little to upgrade on this camera
once you start to go tired of the system, which you might,
it has a lot of the same menu systems
and settings of higher-end Sony cameras.
So, if an upgrade does happen
you're gonna feel very comfortable moving up
to the higher-end systems.
I mean, grabbing entry level folks
and hoping to move them up the line of your camera systems
is basic marketing,
which is why this camera is so confusing to me.
(gentle music)
In 2013, Canon launched the PowerShot N
and our headline was this,
not only does the new Canon V10 resemble the PowerShot N,
but that headline could be for this camera
and pretty much any vlogging camera today.
The problem is this camera's not bridging a gap.
Now, before I held this camera in my hand,
I completely wrote it off.
It, you know, it looked like a flip ultra HD wannabe,
mixed with maybe a game boy.
And, well, now that I have in my hand,
there's a little bit more to the story than that.
Let's go see some chickens.
The V10 has a 20.9 megapixel, one inch type CMOS sensor
that can film 4K at 30 frames per second.
It has a fixed 19 millimeter lens
that provides a 97.5 degree field of view.
There's a built-in ND filter, and the ISO ranges
from 125 up to 6,400 in video mode
and all the way up to 12,800 in photo mode.
At just under half a pound or 211 grams,
the V10 is incredibly fun to use.
The problem is the footage is super hit or miss.
There are times when the contrast levels are great
and the shadows are deep black,
and then other times when the cameras simply
would not focus.
Am I even in focus?
Hello?
Or was way too jittery to use
even with the digital image stabilization unenhanced.
The bigger problem though,
I could not keep this lens smudge free.
Oh, my god, it's so dirty, the heck.
And then there are more annoying problems.
Like, in order to get to the video settings menu,
you have to be in the video mode,
or the fact that the screen has to be turned out
in order to get the kickstand back in.
All of these nuisances add up to solidify the fact
that this is a first gen product
that needs a lot of fine tuning.
They also make using the V10 feel like using a toy.
I mean, it's like super plasticy.
It's got a small screen with huge bezel
and it's incredibly limited in what it can do.
So, hot take, if the footage from the V10
was actually worse, or maybe it had like a vintage preset
that added a timestamp and like a videotape look,
I think that the feel of using this camera
would then better match the footage it output.
Sweet.
(chuckles)
And there might actually be an audience for that,
but I don't think that you could charge $430 for it.
And I really don't think Canon should spend the time
or money making a novelty camera.
The one thing the V10 does have going for it
in its current state is that in perfect light,
it takes crisp, clear, pretty good looking photos.
There is one thing that both of these cameras
have in common, though, a terrible app experience.
With many users citing dropped connection
or lack of being able to use the apps at all.
And of course, a 2.2 and 2.3 star rating on the app store.
I feel like a broken record,
but how is it possible that camera companies
such as Canon and Sony and even Nikon and Fuji cannot create
a solid app that has even a decent UI
that can take photos from a camera and move them to a phone?
I mean, this is exactly the reason creators
would much rather use their phone to create content.
They're not gonna take their images to a computer
and they're certainly not gonna post from a computer.
I mean, action cameras,
they have been creating solid app experiences for years
and it is time that camera companies,
especially if they're gonna make vlogging cameras
or cameras for creators, like, get with it.
Poof, that felt good to get off my chest.
But like, I've said that before in many videos,
so let's go.
App experience aside,
the ZV-1 Mark II and the V10 are a pretty perfect example
of you get what you pay for.
Both are certainly smaller, lighter, cheaper,
and absolutely made to be held out in front of you.
But for double the price, the ZV-1 Mark II
is more reliable, takes better video more of the time,
impacts more features that beginners will love.
Though I do hope Canon keeps working this form factor
and starts trickling down some specs
from their higher-end systems
into something this size because it's simply so fun to use.
A few years ago, I laughed at the vlogging product category.
It felt like a move from manufacturers
to get amateur videographers to buy something.
But now, as a creator myself, the ZV-1 Mark II
is actually a very viable tool,
especially when I need to be in front of the camera
and I don't have a lot of turnaround time.
So, I just need something that can, you know,
set all the settings for me.
But Canon, if you wanna get in on this very viable market,
you're gonna have to come up with something
a lot better than this.
Oh, but look at that view.
Oh, my God.
Oh, protect this at all cost, okay?
Come on.
What are we doing?
Look at this.
What are we doing?
(exhales deeply)
Stunning, it's stunning.
Look at that gorge.