Sony has just recently released its Sony ZV-E1 camera specially targeted for content creators. The reviews and craze for this new Sony camera have been very high with many camera enthusiasts and reviewers having a positive response. ZV-E1 is the top of the Sony ZV line featuring the first full-frame sensor and also the smallest from Sony.
Sony ZV-E1 is yet to arrive in Nepal but is expected to come within a year. So, here, we review its performance considering the Nepali content creators.
Specifications
| Body type | SLR-style mirrorless |
| Max resolution | 4240 X 2832 |
| Effective pixels | 12 MP |
| Sensor size | Full frame (35.6 x 23.8 mm) |
| Sensor type | BSI-CMOS |
| ISO | Auto, 80-102400 (expands to 40-409600) |
| Screen size | 3-inch |
| Format | MPEG-4, XAVC S, XAVC HS, XAVC S-I, H.264, H.265 |
| Storage type | UHS-II SD slot |
| Weight | 483 grams |
| USB | USB 3.2 Gen 2 |
| Dimensions | 121 x 72 x 54 mm |
| Price (expected) | Rs 345,000 (Without lens/only body) Rs 390,000 (With SEL 28-60mm zoom lens) |
Design, touch display, ports and battery
Sony ZV-E1 has a pretty similar design to the Sony A6000 series gadgets like A6100, A6400 and A6600. The camera is targeted at the creators like vloggers who make daily vlogs, food vlogs, travel vlogs and gaming too. It weighs 483 grams including the battery, which is pretty lightweight for a full-frame camera.
The design is compact with all the necessary buttons and functions along with a side-opening LCD screen which can be adjusted easily according to the user’s preference. The screen can be used to make selfie videos with accuracy, low-frame low and high-angle shots. The touch screen is also very responsive and has many functions such as increasing ISO from the screen and showing multiple options by sliding the screen’s right and left sides.
Sony ZV-E1 has a USB connection making it a perfect camera for streaming or recording gaming videos. The camera comes with an inbuilt 3-capsule microphone and has direction control for the audio where you can change the direction from the front, back or the whole camera.
The left side includes all the input and output ports such as a headphone jack, a mic jack, a USB-C port, micro HDMI and a single SD card slot. The battery in Sony ZV-E1 is an NP-FZ100, which is also the same as Sony FX3 and a7S III, allowing you to have a two-hour-long video.
12MP sensor, AI processing and BIONZ XR image processing
Sony ZV-E1 has a 12MP full-frame E-CMOS sensor, which is found in higher-end Sony cameras like a7S III and FX3. This provides the camera to record UHD 4K videos of up to 60P with 4:2:1 and 10-bit without needing to crop the video. The camera is set to get a free firmware update this June allowing the camera to record 4K at 120P and uplift the Full HD up to 240P in S&Q mode.
A dedicated AI processing unit for next-generation subject identification and tracking using human pose estimation is integrated into ZV-E1. Three new AI-based modes that enhance your camera’s stabilisation, autofocus, and auto-framing features are included with this unit.
While filming casual day-to-day situations, dynamic active mode activates internal 5-axis optical stabilisation and offers 30% more effective stabilisation for faster, unexpected movements. With the help of a framing stabiliser, which mixes AI recognition and stabilisation, you can decide where your tracked subject should be placed in the frame while still preserving fluid motion.
Sony ZV-E1 has a BIONZ XR image processing engine which has eight times more processing power boosting for high sensitivity, precise gradation rendering and colour reproduction, and low-noise performance.
Other features
Sony ZV-E1 has many features such as importing LUT files and recording in S-Log3 where you can achieve colour grading for easier editing during the post-production phase. It also has a cinematic feature by turning Cinematic Vlogs on, you can adjust cine-oriented settings from one intuitive menu to achieve a specific look in your vlogging content.
While the other options continue to be automated, you can change a few style factors like background defocus, brightness, colour, and creative look preset. When a new subject joins the picture, the multiple face recognition automatically modifies your bokeh and focus. The bokeh option next to the record button allows you to make more precise one-stop changes to your aperture.
Sony ZV-E1’s body without a lens is expected to cost around Rs 345,000 and with an SEL 28-60mm zoom lens, it should be around Rs 390,000 in Nepal.
