First Look: Sony’s New Vlogging Camera Made Me a Believer in Point and Shoot Cameras Again
The modern day smartphone effectively killed the point and shoot camera. You won’t find people carrying much of them anymore, especially how smartphones like the iPhone, Google’s Pixel, and Samsung’s flagship Galaxy line managed to bridge the gap that long divided the two product segments.
However, I recently got my hands on the new Sony ZV-1F vlogging camera, which Sony is pinning as the camera for YouTubers, Tiktokers, vloggers, and Gen Z. And you know what? It’s changing my perception about point and shoot cameras because it takes the AI magic of today’s smartphones and packages it into a portable point and shoot body. The results are quite remarkable and I can’t tell you how it’s the perfect starter camera.
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With its price point of $500, the Sony ZV-1F puts itself in a strategic position because you’re getting flagship smartphone photography paired with video features reserved for mirrorless cameras. It’ll be available in late October.
Rich Video Features For Content Creators
While it’s a pocket camera that can shoot photos and videos, I’m really stoked how the Sony ZV-1F caters to video shooters. Prior to this, the last pocket camera I enjoyed using was the Panasonic LX10, which I love for its flip up touchscreen that came in handy while vlogging or capturing self recordings. There’s also an optional shooting grip you can purchase that doubles as a vlogging stick, tripod, and remote to acces some of the camera’s functions.
Sony’s offering takes it to another level because it features a cold shoe, 3.5mm microphone jack, and microHDMI port. You don’t typically find these in cameras of this size, so it adds to its utility for being both a photographer and videographer’s camera. And yes, it even has a swiveling flip out touchscreen that is so handy when you’re trying to frame yourself in a video — whereas with smartphones, you would be forced to use the inferior front-facing camera.
Beyond the hardware, the Sony ZV-1F’s 20-megapixel 1-inch sensor can shoot in 4K at 30 frames per second with a bit rate of 100Mbps. There’s even a dedicated button to cycle through its shooting modes to get into its slow motion, which ups the frame rate to 120 FPS.
Background Blurring Magic
We’ve all seen the wonders of how portrait mode in many smartphones can offer that professional look with portrait shots. Not only are faces super sharp and detailed, but the background receives just enough blur to make it look like it was captured by a more substantial mirrorless camera.
Another thing I enjoyed using with the Sony ZV-1F is its Background Defocus features — where the subject in the shot remained in focus, while the background was blurred a bit. I was a bit surprised that Sony managed to achieve great results with the effect, because really, it did add just enough realistic bokeh to the background whenever I was recording myself or other people.
It also worked well when I enabled its Product Showcase Setting, which allowed it to focus on an object very close and really blurred out the background. Even more impressive was how it managed to keep focus on an object, so much so that I was confident in keeping it in auto-focus mode all the time. Now I wouldn’t do that with my Lumix.
Suitably Priced, Perfect For Beginners
Currently, I shoot with a Panasonic Lumix S5 full frame mirrorless camera, which costs thousands when you add a sharp lens to it. Knowing that the Sony ZV-1F is priced at $500 makes it an extremely attractive option as a beginner camera — or anyone looking to up their YouTube and Tiktok portfolio.
Thanks to its rich features and image quality, it gives me confidence to say again that point and shoot cameras are alive. This would totally be something I could use in confidence to cover a trade show if I were to pack light. Knowing that, it makes for an ideal vacationing camera as well.
I’ve said in the past that serious videographers should have two cameras: their smartphone and their A-roll mirrorless camera. Now you can add in one more because the Sony ZV-1F manages to plop itself squarely in between them, bringing the wholesome goodness that enthusiasts crave in a mirrorless camera and the portability of a smartphone.
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