Your new vlogging camera?

In this day and age, almost everything takes place online and vlogging, Tiktok and Instagram have become indispensable.
But to stand out from the crowd, many influencers and content creators still need the right tool.
This is where the new Sony ZV 1F comes in. Find out why the camera might be just right for you in this post.

The predecessor, the ZV-1

If you are now asking yourself, wait a minute, ZV1, there was already one and it looked exactly the same, then you are almost right. in 2020, Sony launched the ZV-1. It was meant to be a compact photo and vlogging camera, and it's also very popular in those very areas.

Now comes the ZV-1F. Here, Sony sees the target group among vloggers. Since it's not quite that simple, we'll show you the differences between the two models and when you should prefer one or the other.

Fixed lens

The new ZV-1F carries the F here in the place for the built-in fixed focal length. Unlike the original ZV1, there is only one focal length. With the old model, it was possible to zoom from 24 to 70mm. Now we are left with only a fixed focal length of 20mm with the option to digitally zoom in.

But we also gain 2 significant advantages:

Even though 4mm doesn't sound like much, in terms of imagery with wide-angle lenses, it's more than you'd expect, and it can easily make the difference between getting one more person in the picture.

Additionally, it keeps the system light and manageable.

Disadvantages

Sony wanted to make this camera as simple as possible to get started. The approach was "let's cut out everything unnecessary and use a menu that lets people go straight into creative work without spending your life in sub-menus".
While this sounds positive at first, it also brings disadvantages.

Compared to the ZV-1, the following features are missing:

1. the mechanical shutter in the photo area
2. the RAW file format (for photo +amp; video)
3. a manual focus ring (manual focus is done via the menu here)
4. ND filter

You notice here: many features for photo fly out of the menus, this becomes especially noticeable when you then consider that continuous autofocus is also missing in the photo area and only AF-S mode works here. AF-C only works in video. But there is an animal-eye autofocus for photos, which is missing in video.
Furthermore, it has to be mentioned that the ZV-1F lacks the audio interface shoe for connecting an external microphone. Accordingly, this is only possible with an extra cable.

Advantages

For this, as with the ZV-1, we also have buttons for very quick and easy operation, we mean 2 in particular here. The first one is located on top of the camera. This one switches between 2 modes: "Defocus" and "Clear". Here the camera quickly switches between a completely open and completely closed aperture.
The other is the product mode. When this is activated, the face autofocus turns off and focuses on things that are pointed at the camera. So if you often introduce something new to your viewers, you'll really appreciate this mode.

So if we were to sum it up from the differences: If you like to take photos on the side, then you'd better check out the ZV-1. If your focus is more on video, then the ZV-1F might be for you if you don't mind the fixed focal length.

What we also liked was the image stabilizer that Sony has installed. Together with the wide-angle optics, this is a good combination for documenting everyday life.
Last but not least, we would like to give a positive note for connectivity and transfer. The new mobile app should make it easy to quickly transfer clips for social media. Unfortunately, this is not yet released at the time of recording, but from the ideas it looks very solid.
In addition, we now finally gain USB-C for the small body and can very conveniently charge the camera, transfer data or use it as a direct webcam on the go without installing any additional software. So it is also perfect for Zoom meetings or livestreams.

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