This is the Sony ZV-E10.
An interchangeable lens APS-C mirrorless camera that allows you to shoot 4k video up to 30
frames per second, full HD at up to 120 frames per second.
You can take 24 megapixel photos, and you can even use it as a webcam.
All wrapped up in a package that will only cost you $699, or $799 if you wrap it up with
the 16 to 50mm kit lens.
There is so much on offer in this camera.
So, whether you're a vlogger, or a content creator, or someone who wants to get into
videography and photography for the first time, there are a number of features on this
camera that make it super easy to take great photos and videos that could make this the
ideal first camera for you.
Welcome to my Tech Gear.
Let's get into it!
So, Sony are marketing this as a vlogging camera so I figured I'd better go out and
about and do some vlogging.
So this is with the camera out-of-the-box, in the standard settings.
I haven't changed anything else.
The only thing I've turned on is ‘Steady Shot’ so as I walk it's going to smooth
the shot out and you're not going to see it being super jerky.
Other than that it is in ‘intelligent auto’ mode.
It is taking care of your aperture, your timing, your shutter speed, everything it is doing
and taking care of you so you can actually treat this camera as a point and shoot camera.
It is really easy to pick up and just start filming with, and that is really cool.
The lens here is a 16 to 50 mm lens.
So that will give you the equivalent of a 24 to 75 mm lens if you're looking at a full
frame camera, and for a beginner lens it's actually okay.
It's not going to be the best of the best but it also doesn't cost a fortune and it's
a great lens to start with.
So as great as the video is taken with this camera there is one negative, and that is
the rolling shutter, or the jelly effect, that you see on videos.
So when you roll your camera left and right you will see your image wobble, a little bit
like a jelly.
So it is a known issue of this camera, and actually a number of cameras in the market,
so if you're going to use a camera as an action camera and you're going to be moving the camera
around a lot then this probably isn't the best camera for you.
Actually, if you want an action camera then you might as well just go and get a GoPro
Hero 10.
That is a great camera that will allow you to shoot 4k at 120 frames per second, or you
can even shoot 5.3k at 60 frames per second.
So it's certainly worth considering if you're in the market for an action camera.
So for this though, I would just say don't move it around a lot!
As long as you realize the limitations of the camera then you're good to go.
The video modes in this camera range from full auto, which is what I showed at the beginning,
through to full manual, where you've got full control over aperture and shutter and everything
else.
So as you get more experienced you can then slowly move to those more manual modes.
This allows the camera to grow with you.
On the top of the camera we have the different modes, between photo, video, and ‘S & Q’.
So ‘S & Q’ is ‘Slow and Quick’, and allows you to take either 60 times quick motion
video, so you speed up which is great for time lapse video, or up to five times slow
mo.
All of this without the need for a PC, all whilst keeping crystal clear video quality.
So one thing that this camera does really well is allow you to get great shots with
very little effort.
So with a higher end camera you will see professional photographers mucking around with apertures
and shutter speed to get that blurred background.
On this camera it's just a single button.
There is a ‘background defocus’ button which, if I press this now,
now blurs my background with very little effort.
Just a single button.
It is doing all the work for you.
If I now press it again,
it's now cleared that so the background is now clear again.
Super easy to get great shots.
Probably the other most powerful feature of this camera is ‘Product Showcase’.
So this allows you to press a button and you get instant focus on whatever you're showing
in front of you.
So if I've got the lens cap here.
If I put that in front of me, it focuses on the lens cap.
If I now take it away, it focuses back on my face.
Now if you wanted to do this with a professional camera it takes a lot of effort and fiddling
around with and you need to know what you're doing but here it's super easy.
Again, there's my lens cap.
Focus on the lens cap.
Back to my face.
Super easy, just one press of a button.
This is where the camera really comes into its own because it is so easy to get these
great shots with so little effort because Sony have marketed this and aimed this at
the vlogger, and the content creator.
That someone that just wants to pick this up and just get great shots with little effort,
and it does this really really well.
So on the top of the camera we've got the hot shoe mount.
We've got the three capsule mic next to itm I'll do a sample of that in a minute.
We've got the on off switch and the video, photo, and S&Q mode I just mentioned.
Big red button, which you can't miss, is for recording video, whereas a button at the front
is for taking photos with the zoom lens rocker at the front as well.
The back of the camera sees a number of buttons pretty well laid out from the menu and the
function key down to a dial and then your play and your bin button as well.
One of the most important features of this camera is the articulating LCD screen.
So it can be facing backwards or forwards and you can see exactly what's going on no
matter which side of the camera you're on.
Another great feature of this screen is that when you are recording it will put a big red
box around the screen to show you that you're recording, as well as this red light at the
front which goes red when you're recording as well.
So, super easy to tell when you're recording.
Now, one downer of the LCD screen here is the touch screen, or rather the lack of.
So I can't use it to select menu options but I can use it to do touch-to-focus when I'm
using it to take videos or photos.
So as well as videos this camera will take photos up to 24 megapixels that allows you
to take some really good photos and still crop in without losing much detail.
And like the video mode, photo mode has a range of modes from full auto all the way
through to full manual so you can start off easy and work your way through the more experience
you get.
Out-of-the-box though, in auto mode, it takes good pictures.
So, continuous photo mode on a camera is really useful if you're trying to take photos of
a fast action sequence and just want to take lots of pictures to try and get that ideal
shot.
A lot of other cameras, they will buffer, which creates a problem when you try and take
a photo and it can't because your camera's slowed down.
This camera though does really well and I'll show you what I mean.
If I set this camera to photo mode, and continuous photo now…
So now we're just going to take
a shot...
...and now it starts to slow down.
You can hear it slowed down.
It started to buffer but it takes about 100 pictures before it actually starts to buffer
which is really really good, especially at this price.
Now, most of the audio in this video is captured using the Rode VideoMic NTG shotgun microphone,
plugged into my mobile phone.
However, now you are listening to the 3 capsule mic array built into the Sony ZV-E10, and
the audio is certainly more than passable.
Actually, the audio you heard in the beach footage shown earlier in this video was captured
using the in-built mic in the camera itself.
It was actually using the windsock that comes with the camera as well to help cut out that
wind noise, and it cuts out that wind noise, to a point.The windsock itself just plugs
into the cold shoe on the top of the camera.
It is super useful and the audio itself, as I said, is more than passible, and certainly
makes this camera a single pack-in-your-bag, take-anywhere, solution.
Now, the menu system in this camera uses Sony's old menu system, which is a little bit clunky
because there are pages and pages and pages and pages of menu options to choose from,
and getting through all can be a little bit clunky and a little bit slow.
Fortunately though there is a ‘my menu’ option at the top which you can set all of
your shortcuts to.
So for those things that you use the most often, you can put them there for easy access.
Also from the main screen itself you can actually use the function button to actually get to
the most used functions, and you can change what functions are here as well.
So again, shortcuts to get to the things that you use the most often.
Once you get used to it it's actually pretty easy to use.
Now a great extra feature of the camera is that you can also use it as a webcam.
So just plug a USB-C cable from your PC into the side of the camera, and there you go!
You can use that for your conference calls for crystal clear video.
External connectivity with this camera is really good.
We have a 3.5mm jack at the top for an external microphone if you want to upgrade your audio
from the microphone that's already built into the camera.
You've also got a USB-C port which you can use for charging and also as the webcam streaming
which I showed earlier.
There is a mini HDMI port if you want to connect it to an external monitor, and there is a
3.5mm jack at the bottom which you can use as a headphone jack if you want to listen
to your audio while you're recording.
Battery life on this camera is pretty good.
We get up to 125 minutes on a single charge, and charge the camera will using the USB-C
port that was on the side of the camera.
This does mean you have to use the camera as the charger.
So if you're planning on getting more than one battery I'd recommend getting an external
charger.
So at the end of the day, should you buy it?
Well, the rolling shutter thing was a little bit annoying, and the menu system is a little
bit clunky, but other than that it takes great video and great photos.
There's a lot of features in here that makes it super easy to create great videos and great
photos with not much effort.
It's a camera that you could grow with as you get more experienced as well.
For me personally, I'm going to use it as my camera for this channel going forwards,
so it probably gives you an idea whether I think it's worth buying or not!
I will place a purchase link to it in the description down below for you.
It's a camera that I can thoroughly recommend.
Thanks for watching.
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