Sony ZV-1 Hands On :: They Got It Right!!!

The new Sony ZV-1 is a compact camera with an emphasis on video, vlogging and content production. In many ways its similar to the RX100 lineup of cameras, the biggest physical differences being a fully articulating, flip screen and a newly designed, 3 capsule microphone. There are 2 new modes for quick settings, the "Bokeh" switch and the "Product Showcase Setting". Pressing the Bokeh switch will adjust automatic settings to accommodate full aperture and it will toggle between that and "clear" mode which will be stopped down. Product Showcase is a mode that will adjust the autofocus settings to sense something you might hold up in the frame (such as a product review) and move the focus accordingly.
You also get advanced video functions such as the neutral density filter, Picture Profiles (S-Log2, S-Log3, Cine1, Cine2, HLG, HLG1, HLG2 and HLG3), and Gamma Display Assist.
Also interesting is this is a very capable stills camera - pretty much up to date with all of the current Sony features. It is a dual-stacked, Sony Exmor-RS sensor so you get 24fps burst shooting as well as object tracking at 20 megapixels. You don't have the optical view finder of course or any control ring on the lens, but stills functionality is excellent as you would expect on this camera as well.
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On my channel you will find videos about photography, cinematography, post processing tutorials for Capture One, Lightroom and Photoshop, photo assignments that YOU can participate in, the Artist Series and more. The Artist Series is an ongoing set of videos I produce as documentaries on living photographers. I am extremely passionate about photography and video and my goal in making these videos is to share my passion and enthusiasm with you! Don’t forget to subscribe and make sure to hit the like button and share this video if you enjoyed it!
Ted Forbes
The Art of Photography
2830 S. Hulen, Studio 133
Fort Worth, TX 76109
US of A

[@RolandoMora]

Amazing video, i am suscribed right now!

[@nastynate838]

Have to check this beauty out! Hearing Ted say “ghetto” is hilarious !

[@shawn5210]

Screw vlogging, I’ve just ordered this to use as a travel ready b-roll beast. With better stabilization, faster lens and built in ND it’s better than the rx100 mk 7 IMO

[@vertigev]

Same!

[@PeakHumanLife]

I was thinkng the same, though having no 4k60 kinda bugs me. I have that on my Osmo Pocket so don't see much of a point upgrading to this one. So I guess you won't shoot 4k?

[@aquinoj99]

Peak Human Life I also ordered this but I also shoot in 4K 60 which I will do with either my iphone, osmo pocket or gopro. The ZV1 will be for standing still scenes with depth of field shots and 4K 30 will be just fine for those.

[@PeakHumanLife]

@@aquinoj99 Ok, fair, do please let me know how it goes for you cause I'm thinking of the same. Osmo Pocket for ACTION (Should I get OsmoAction..? Hmm :D ), and was thinking of this one for talking head bits and other chill stuff... But... still no money so plenty of time to decide :D. And I'm also considering Sony Xperia X1 II...

[@richardhebert1558]

I was thinking the same thing. I need a 4k compact videocam with decent stills, the ZV1 fits the bill at a great price!

[@ashishgurungchinesebro101]

Your reaction on naming the stand was hilarious. Haha

[@tpar83]

The RX100s are one of the few high quality pocketable cameras that we can bring to concerts and festivals without being bothered at the entrance by some random staff member. I can see myself using this, and I'm not someone who vlogs, hahaha.

[@inquisitvem6723]

so you're only going to get this for sports or concert events? would this be good for wedding videos professionally??

[@martysender5539]

hey Tony. I'm Marty Sender, music vids on Marty Sender You tube. I shoot with gh5, but I gotta admit this Sony would be GREAT to use in music venue. you post your stuff?

[@messagedeleted1922]

In Canada taking street photos with dslrs and even phones causes people to smirk. Small pocket cameras don't seem to catch notice as much.

[@PerfumeGuru]

Fabulous description sir 👍

[@user-er4nu6ne8u]

Hee

[@RezaMolavi]

I love your new intro. great work as usual

[@torzellsyoutubechannel6885]

Nice! Ordered mine yesterday. Can't wait to get it.

[@bagpuss998]

Brilliant I forgot I was watching a review , great stuff 👍

[@TwoOneSe7en]

That RX100 looks like a hot mess compared to the ZV1. They’ve really improved the colors for sure.

[@messagedeleted1922]

Warmer skin tones, better dynamic range, the sound is way way better

[@capnrob97]

Loading my Kiev 88 up with film while I watch a video of these new fangled digital cameras. :)

[@OrganDanai]

Not very interested in new gear. Any chance of returning to some of the old masters soon? I feel that you really shine as a teacher.

[@da009999]

Thank you for risking your life to tell us about this low-light wonder of a camera.

[@mclemente]

Hi Ted, thanks for the hands-on video. When you do the full review, maybe dedicate a short section into look at the possibility of using the ZV-1 as a live-streaming\webcam option.

[@RolandoMora]

Which camera were you using at the beginning?

[@AutomundoTvJorgeKoechlin]

Would you know by any chance of a camera video that can switch on the fly from the back to the front cameras' Thanks

[@long_vacation_tour]

Thanks for the review.

[@tonymurphy9112]

Awesome little camera 📸👌

[@inboxnews]

Bought mine. Great review!

[@BINOJ8341]

awesome camera I think. and your presentation is clear

[@DavidSkok1]

Great review! Thanks. The one thing I noticed was far nicer skin colors on the ZV-1 compared to the RX100 Mk V. Perhaps they addressed that complaint as well?

[@aviatorman8]

Excellent review as usual. Thanks for putting it together. Sony seems to have incorporated changes we’ve asked for. Cheers from Seattle, WA!

[@VWbobby94]

Great vid! Was looking for a vlogging camera. Will pick it up

[@encrowdgang2284]

Great video, I was wondering was you shooting in 4K and if so what settings? I just bought the camera a week ago and trying to get familiar with the camera.

[@maheshg212]

Hey Ted, your hair looks great by the way, like those curls coming on the sides. When you switched to RX100 at the end, your voice, the skin tone and exposure were not good at all. so there is definite improvement in those departments. I never cared for the super tiny EVF having to squint.

[@carlosnieto8241]

I see a big difference in color rendition between the ZV1 and the RX100. This small camera is really cool.

[@jaypunzalan6999]

I cant wait for sony xperia 1 ii camera review

[@leone1201]

Thank you for low light testing.

[@JustinPulitzerTrades]

Nice review. Please show some examples of still pics in both outdoors & indoors user. Thank!

[@N.Eutered]

Hey Ted 👋 I think the thumbnail is broken, can't find the lens flare, are you okay? 😷 Stay healthy and keep up the good work ❤

[@Leaf682]

In your full review can you include a few sample shots of how it performs with still photos as well?

[@RecisDempayos]

Hearing you try to say the tripod/remote name was hilarious! 😂😸 So I was wondering, you can't change the aperture? Even in "photography" mode?

[@michaelbruchas6663]

The original RX100 is back - on sale - at B&H. Bought one. Like it. Replaced my broken Leica D Lux 3. Not as spiffy as the later models, but a very good camera.

[@alichakra]

Sony is killing it this last week

[@ChrisProuse]

Great video Ted! Cool little camera - looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts on it!

[@davisparkhurst6637]

Nice work Ted

[@FridaandLuna]

Oh man! I want this camera!!

[@RussianSevereWeatherVideos]

Why hello there, I've rarely been here this early. Lovely hair, chesthair and low-light performance! Cheers from a locked-down Russia.

[@steveschnetzler5471]

Nice review on a un-nice day. Surprised it did not come with a longer tripod thing so you could get a more wide angle shot holding it out..

[@MunirRahool]

Neat package. I think they will have to get the Lens ring back. Sony started with great EIS (in smartphone cameras) but I feel they did not focus on it much anymore, not in these compact cameras nor in smartphones. Not sure how good it is in new Xperia Mark-IIs. But they need to.

[@kaniphish]

Everything is done right to get a great video camera in such a small form factor. But ironically you cant use it without a seperate Gimbal if you want smooth footage. Still a step in the right direction and props to Sony for listening.

[@philliprhodes2299]

What’s the title of the sound track? Love your work! Any news on the RX10 V?

[@KevinRedder]

I have the RX100 V. Seeing how ZV-1 handles highlights makes me want to get it because the RX100 V always have blown out highlights.

[@gonewiththekale]

Very intriguing. In your full review, I’d love to see a comparison with the G7X, even though that Canon is years old from what you have today, but I’m interested in seeing the video quality (which happened to be quite noticeable with the two Sony cameras you used here).

[@mehmet24a]

g7 has really bad autofocus.. not worth to compare :(

[@DanielBengtsson]

Yes, please do a full review. :-)

[@vidthreenorth4007]

You wondered why Sony didn't do the ZV-1 sooner. Actually, the a5000 and the a5100 covered a lot of the "easy video content creator" functionality of the ZV-1 -- as far as they knew. I was looking into those cameras and how the vloggers responded to them just before the ZV-1 was announced. As far as I could tell, the a5100 actually did get some reasonable usage as a vlogging camera. But the ZV-1 has more current thinking.

[@whitekiki]

do we have to do vlog with that? :)) its awesome i guess for other video areas. enough for daily photo use and maybe creative daily things?

[@michcalder88]

What gimbal did you use, please? I'm going to buy this camera but a bit unsure about the Sony grip.

[@robertlucas9867]

Great video. My only two issues is I don’t have the money for it and I don’t know if it will work for low light stage when I can afford it.

[@damasovi_travels1244]

hey Art man! I would like to see how it does pictures! I love every part of the video making process but I would like to see the handling going from video to pictures and back to video, I do not see any dials to go over from one to the other, and since it is a SOny, I am guessing the same horrible menus... Thanks!

[@LarryLeone]

Ted - I really miss your film photography videos. :-/.you get back to doing I hope a few one day

[@dubaigeek1988]

Nicely done

[@tarekmahmudbhuiyan7368]

Awaiting your Xperia 1 Mark II full review.

[@trekOCLVone]

That is one nice camera !

[@jorgemartinez123]

NICE review! Keep your style, Ted. By the way, I agree with you. Something is better than nothing... Why is there being instead of nothing though...?

[@mikealexis]

Nice explanation...can this camera stream directly to Facebook or KZbin?

[@TAWTAW]

Is this good for recording videos at home, like challenges for youtube. Also is it better than the M50 for vlogging

[@BelieveJay]

Im patiently waiting to get this in the mail 😊

[@thomasusheriii971]

lucky!

[@thomasusheriii971]

I have a canon SX740HS.

[@jrod8574]

This looks great!🤔🤔

[@xray111xxx]

For me so close. Now if the smartshoe takes the XLR kit I am very impressed. Small form factor, flippy screen, same BSI CMOS sensor. Now I just have to wait till it gets on the used market and hopefully I am able to integrate the XLR Kit with this camera, and use the Mics I want. Yeah it will go in a cage. 5 minutes for 4K UHD video. A big so what? I shoot in in 1080p anyway so 4K is fun but my workflow is in 1080p anyway. So time is on my side with a new option. I can wait.

[@mikefretwell842]

How well does the microphone perform when the camera is facing away from the operator, say when you taking a video of a building and you are talking about it from behind the camera.

[@brianeliel5756]

Love your review ..... my only question is blogging with a gimbal on an iPhone 11 what would the difference be?

[@JoeShowCheek]

I have simialr question, though with the new up and coming Xperia x1 II

[@FridaandLuna]

The product showcase feature looks kinda cool and I like the hot shoe dead cat and audio. Sucks it doesn’t have manual focus but I can probably live without.

[@DimasNahak]

Can we turn on the product show case at the same time we turn on camera stabiliser?

[@mrz1342]

1. The only problem I have is the quality of images in low light conditions even when I keep below iso 400 which is limited me a lot (!) still I can notice lots of noise and I am not able to fix it on raw in post sadly. Do you think I should carrying an off camera small flash with me for low light shooting? Use a magic software to remove noises? Or any other advise perhaps ? 2. On the other side, the noisy photos, sometimes look good as street and documentary, or even as traveling photography images. A little grain is giving images a kind of characteristic film photography which could be unique for this purposes. 3.On the other side noises are not recognizable when photos are publishing in social media pages and viewing by cellphones or tablets sizes. For professional work, currently I am using Sony a1 with 50 mp and gfx 102 mp. That’s why sometimes I think I shouldn’t compare zv1 (as a versatile and highly compact pocket camera for daily usage when I am walking, shopping, hacking, etc.) to the other my main cameras; and of course maybe it’s better to change my expectation rather than change the camera! What do you think?

[@DennisRosenberg]

Eco Rage S discontinued. Do you have another suggested gimbal for a camera this size?

[@LukeOrwin]

Yes I was going to ask what it was like in low light.

[@phoebenguyen6565]

When I record a video, the flipped out LCD screen automatically flips the display as I rotate it. Do you happen to know how I can adjust that? Sometimes the display is the opposite of what I want.

[@edruttledge342]

I think this camera may be a hot with the Millenials looking to expand from the smartphone. Plus, it may fill a gap in the Zoom Era if can serve as zoomcam w/o having to use a capture card (like my Canon M6Mk2).

[@bloodwinewithfruit]

What kind of gimbal did you use ?

[@Bachconcertos]

I got the Sony ZV-1 and it arrived today - problem is I never used a camera before and I have no idea how to set the menu - I just want to start out using it indoors by sitting at a desk or table with my white fireplace behind me - and I want to be able to film in the day and evening - I have lights which I also have to learn how to use - I want to film at 1080. Can you help me out of how I can set the menu for this simple set up? I feel totally lost. Thank you.

[@realMDizzy]

Surprisingly the audio didn't change much on that loading dock but I'm sure different conditions have different results.

[@circuitsandcigars1278]

The background defocus reminds me of the Nikon 105mm DC lense. I miss it

[@TheLooville]

Very helpful review of an interesting camera but it appears that I would need to spend additional money on a gimble as the IBIS is not up to the job for walking around? It just rather defeats the object of having a small format vlogging camera when I need to add additional gear (EVO Rage S 319 dollars). total price around 1000 dollars plus the blue tooth add on 200 dollars - I could buy a Panasonic GH5 with a lens for that or a G9 - and when you add in the size of the gimble and the handle - weight for weight they are probably the same.

[@MikeStevens]

"That's the post office" - holy... I don't think I've ever seen a more nondescript building, haha. Great review tho, thank you!

[@kikomsr]

i like!!!

[@rowelle]

Which gimble are you using with this?

[@DeusExAstra]

That looks like a neat little vlogging camera. Small, light weight, good auto-focus, cheap. Too bad it doesnt have a wider focal length.

[@thedondeluxe6941]

Today on my subscriptions list: 9(!) videos in a row about the Sony ZV-1! I guess you can't fault their timing in sending them out, at least😂

[@PeakHumanLife]

I would love to see comparison between this and Xperia X1 II (Mark 2) - and maybe even some lenses with that - compared to this. And as you have both then... Please? :D

[@deepaksrinivasmondal]

THIS!

[@voin3858]

That might be my next point n shoot... I will be checking the price. I still use my Canon PowerShot SX150 ( time to upgrade.? )

[@yomango35]

I have the Sony RX 100 VI , should I buy this one or no need to???? What do you think regarding specs ? is it better , worse or the same ???

[@amberleaf7]

Thank you for pronouncing bokeh correctly. All the “bokah”-saying amateurs are driving me bananas.. Perhaps do not shoot your next review on a busy street? You forgot to try the beauty filter! I think its low version was on automatically.

[@MohamedShaarawy]

I bought this one and i feel that i cheated on my g5x mark 1 after 4 years but honestly the unlimited recording time, mic input, and built in mic much better on the zv1

[@lenguise8645]

For your full review 1. timecode over hdmi, because sounddevices mixpre 3,6,10, i and ii have hdmi tc lock 2. 24 frame per second photo burst mode 3. Does 4K mode have same maximum screen brightness as 1080p mode

[@Parrothed5150]

What gimbal are you using with that?

[@achimd.8135]

How about the display issue when wearing polarized sunglasses?

[@KBfromLV]

Not into blogging some video but how does it work for photographers

[@linorajan8429]

Which one have good picture quality and sharp image. Zv1 or RX 100 vii

[@nemistis]

Ted, big fan of your videos thank you for the content but if I may have just one remark: you are a man of style, you love art, you have a good taste in photography and music as well, so why would you use a (imho) untasteful generic vlog music as you can se on any other generic vlog?

[@danielheinley2514]

What are the picture profile capabilities

[@jafaah4269]

I love casio compact, but it is out of production now.. looking at this sony

[@DiscoverThailand]

They got it right? How do you wanna vlog with a 24 mm lens? Especially when it crops in 4k and crops again when you activate stabilization. So it is more like a 30mm and not even 24 mm. It might be interesting for KZbinrs who make their Videos at home, but for walking around and do vlogging it is not wide enough!

[@SophiePloeg]

spec says there is manual focus?

[@monarksinghyede]

pls consider the stills capability in your review.

[@DanielBengtsson]

How many stops are the ND-filter at?

[@philliprhodes2299]

Can I ask what is the soundtrack? 🙏🙏🙏

[@colorist_tommy4247]

can you do "I am Legend" walk in the busiest part of town :)

[@frankfeng2701]

Key features: Internal ND, large sensor, great AF , flip-out screen Key features missing: 4k60p, ultra wide angle lens, touch-friendly user interface, wireless connectivity.

[@PeterKoperdan]

You only need to wait a few years. The future will catch up with your wishes.

[@ricardobertuldo9744]

make your own camera

[@mehmet24a]

ultra wide angle is must.. you can get add-on lens from ulanzi

[@KuyaJDL]

i am planning to buy 1...i'm also considering Canon g7x mark iii. right now im stuck on my fujifilm gear. I need to sell some of it.