Your new vlogging camera?

Nowadays, 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 into play. Find out why this camera might be just right for you in this article.

The predecessor, the ZV-1

If you're now asking yourself, wait a minute, ZV1, it already existed and it looked exactly the same, then you're almost right. sony launched the ZV-1 in 2020. It was intended as a compact photo and vlogging camera and is very popular in precisely these areas.

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

Fixed Lens

The new ZV-1F has the F here in the place for the built-in fixed focal length. This is because, 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 only have a fixed focal length of 20mm with the option to zoom in digitally.

But we also gain 2 significant advantages:

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

It also keeps the system light and easy to handle.

Disadvantages

Sony wanted to make this camera as simple as possible for beginners. The approach was "Let's cut out everything unnecessary and use a menu that lets people go straight into creative work without spending their lives in submenus".
What sounds positive at first, however, also has disadvantages.

In comparison with the ZV-1, the following features are missing:

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

You can see here that many features for photos are missing from the menus, which is particularly noticeable when you consider that continuous autofocus is also missing in the photo area and only AF-S mode works here. AF-C only works in video. However, there is an animal eye autofocus for the photos, which in turn is missing in the video.
It should also 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

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

So if we were to summarize the differences: If you like to take photos on the side, then you're better off looking at the ZV-1. If your focus is more on video, then the ZV-1F could be something 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 lens, this is a good combination for documenting everyday life.
Finally, we would like to give a positive note for the connection and transfer. With the new cell phone app, it should be possible to quickly transfer the clips for social media. Unfortunately, this has not yet been released at the time of recording, but it looks very solid from the ideas.
In addition, we now finally have USB-C for the small body and can conveniently charge the camera, transfer data or use it as a direct webcam on the go without installing any additional software. So also perfect for Zoom meetings or livestreams.

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