This is the Sony zv1 M2 and things are Getting a little bit complicated with This whole zv lineup so Z stands for Generation z v stands for video or Vlogger and then whatever comes after That just depends if there's an e then It's an e-mount it could be the zve10 Which I have here which is an aps-c Camera if it's the Zve1 well that's the new full frame Model anyway this is not a full frame Camera this is the replacement to the Very original zv1 and thereby they're Calling it the zv1 M2 or the zv1 Mark II Anyway let's check it out and see what Is new Sony sent this review unit to me A few weeks ago so I've had some time to Play with it already I don't have the Retail packaging but this camera is part Of Sony's plan to save the environment So the packaging is almost entirely Recycled and plant-based with no Plastics there's not much in terms of x Accessories you get the camera a Windscreen dead cat a tiny npbx1 battery Charging brick and a USBC cable yes USBC At last the camera is small light made Of mostly this textured plastic that Doesn't feel particularly high-end but This is an entry level camera so that is To be expected I suppose the thing about These small cameras that is the most Frustrating is that they have no grip Whatsoever so if you are trying to hold
On to it you have to do so by pinching The camera with your thumb and three Four fingers it works but it's about as Comfortable as using your phone One-handed while riding a unicycle Uphill I think this is part of the Reason why Sony created and sent me this Tripod grip which features all of the Important buttons that you'll need to Control your camera comfortably with one Hand now back to the camera it weighs Just 290 grams with the battery which is Impressively light and you have to Consider that it has a lens attached to It already a zoom lens this this one is A Zeiss vario sonar t-star that does f 1.8 to F4 and the zoom range is 6.9 Millimeters to 17.6 millimeter you might Be thinking that's perfect for my real Estate photography business but you'd be Wrong because this camera has a one inch Sensor and a crop factor of 2.7 meaning That the 6.9 millimeter lens on the wide End is really equivalent of an 18.6 Millimeter full frame lens which is Still wide much wider than the original Zv1 which had the equivalent of a 24 to 70 millimeter on it and that camera was Intended for vlogging which if you were Vlogging with it and you had active Stabilization turned on which also Cropped in by 10 or so your arm would Have to be I don't know seven feet long For you to really get a decent portrait
Shot otherwise it was just your face Covering up the entire frame like this So that is the first big news the old 24 To 70 equivalent has been replaced with A lens that is let's say 18 to 50 Millimeter equivalent and that alone is A huge update to the biggest complaint About the original zv1 has always been That it's not quite wide enough for Vlogging which is the point of the Camera well again Sony fixed it with the Mark II the sensor on this new camera is A one inch xmor RS which is a stacked CMOS sensor the camera does 4K 30 full HD up to 120p slow and quick motion it Has electronic stabilization with a Slight crop a built-in three-stop ND Filter and all of the newest autofocus Features minus the AI ones this includes Phase detection multiple face Recognition real-time tracking real-time Iaf for humans and animals there's a new Cinematic Vlog setting which you can set Up and it makes your footage look like This with no editing or post-production Whatsoever which is cool it adds black Bars to make the the video 2.35 to 1 it Changes the frame rate to 24 it changes The contrast into one of five choices The color tone into one of four choices And changes the autofocus transition Speed into one of three choices it might Be a little gimmicky but it can be used To tell a story in the middle of a vlog
And it is a fun feature this camera also Has creative looks s-log 3 gamma curves And S gamut 3. cine color for editing a Newer feature called face Priority auto Exposure which optimizes your exposure If you are in an area with changing Light conditions the microphone has also Been improved Now with an intelligent Three Direction setup you can choose to Turn the pickup to front rear all Directions or Auto which will change the Direction based on where the camera is Pointed and where the sound is coming From this is in my opinion the second Biggest update after the wider lens it Makes for an onboard camera mic that is Good enough in most situations this is a Camera that you don't really need to buy An external mic for there is a product Showcase button here and a background Defocus button which both are not new Features but useful features nonetheless For making product review videos for Sure big Improvement number three is the Menu system which now looks like the Menu system in all recent Sony releases If you have an fx30 for example you'll Be familiar this is a massive deal Because it allows for such ease of use You can swipe in from the sides or from The bottom and change settings with the Touch screen and in theory you never Have to get into the menu system Comparing this to the menu system on the
Zve E10 which is the old style it's a Night and day difference and then there Are some other small things to mention The new creators app a new self-timer Feature which starts recording in a few Seconds after you press the record Button and streaming support and again That USBC Port that I mentioned so all In all it is a well-featured camera that Answers many if not all of the Complaints that people had about the Original zv1 and undoubtedly this will Be better received than the Zv1f which was for some reason hated by Most people on the internet but anyway Let's see what this camera can do Outside in the real world and let's see How bad my vlogging attempts can be and This is really mostly my wife trying to Vlog for me so Let's take a look Ready set go We are headed to wake up [Music] Wake up and we're ready to go [Music] Stop number one is for coffee at the Cutest place I know we just had coffee But See papa [Music] We checked out the coffee shop and now We're gonna look at the cheese shop [Applause] [Music]
Thank you [Music] Thank you [Music] And now I'm going to switch from using This new zv1 M2 to my usual talking head Setup and there you go now I'm back and I can hold this camera and point at Things while I'm talking to you about it So this is a camera that in many ways is Tough to review I think that Sony has Done an excellent job of listening to Feedback from customers and improving on Their product and I think that if you're Out there and you're looking for a one Camera solution that fits into your back Pocket and you don't want to go out and Research lenses and you're okay with it Then this has all the features of bigger More expensive cameras in a much much Smaller more manageable size but there Are some inherent problems or I should Call them compromises when it comes to Buying a one-inch sensor camera when you Step down from an aps-c sensor down to a One inch sensor you cross a little bit Of a line and that performance Difference is pretty dress if you are Outside in bright light the one inch Sensor works great the colors are Wonderful the footage looks nice the Stabilization on this camera works great When you have it turned on but even if You don't it's okay because this camera
Records gyro data and you can use Catalyst browse to stabilize your video Clips which I did when you stabilize the Clips you can decide on a manual crop I Typically try to stay around a 10 crop If possible and this does affect the Image quality to me at least I noticed That the image does look higher Resolution when it's not stabilized and Also you get a wider field of view which Is nice even with the slight crop the 4K Video out of this camera looks great it Has the new Sony color science and I Especially like the built-in ND filter Which does come in handy on bright sunny Days there's even a setting where you Can put it in ND Auto and the camera Will enable and disable the ND as Necessary the lens is quite good as well Just for fun I compared it to another Walk around Zoom the Sigma 18 to 50 on My Sony zve10 and the results were well It looks worse than it is the problem Here is not that the lens is soft it's Just what you get with the smaller Sensor you can see that even in a Decently lit room the way the Sony zve10 And this new zv1 M2 behave in aperture Priority is very different the little Camera is shooting at 1600 ISO and the Result is a lot of grain not a lot of Clarity or contrast so this camera isn't Going to replace larger sensor cameras For photography and again this problem
Extends to low light dim light at night Which is where you'll see a big Difference between a little camera such As the new zv1 and a slightly larger Camera such as the zve10 and these are Both shot in aperture priority the Smaller sensor catches less light making The camera instantly drop to a minimum Of 1 over 25 shutter speed and the iso Skyrockets to 5000 meanwhile the zv E10 Is that double the shutter speed and About a 2000 ISO in the same scene and As things get darker there's a massive Difference and I'm not saying that the Solution or even the competitor to this New camera is the Sony zve10 because you Can see clearly here that with a small Walk around zoom lens this is not as Pocketable as this little camera and the Price of this camera is roughly double When you consider the lens and the body Of this new camera so It's not the same thing but it is Important to realize what the Shortcomings are of that smaller sensor And so comparing it to another model in The lineup makes a little bit of sense From that standpoint this little zv1 M2 Is a great camera to use it's very easy Light and compact so easy that my Four-year-old son probably had more fun Using it than even I did one of the Other complaints with the original zv1 Was that you couldn't open the battery
Cover which means you couldn't swap out Batteries or SD cards if you had it Mounted on a tripod with the zv1 M2 Sony Has moved the tripod mount over to allow You full access to the battery and SD Card the microphone on this camera Sounds great the tracking and the Autofocus is excellent as good as what I Have on my Sony fx30 there's a lot to Like in this little camera body the Battery on this camera is quite small so If you do pick up one of these I would Invest in three or four additional Batteries so that way you're not having To charge on the go every every couple Of hours and undoubtedly in many reviews Coming out today you'll hear things such As quote the perfect travel Vlog camera Quote the perfect pocket companion quote The perfect tiny B camera or quote the Perfect top-down camera and you have to Really consider some things before you Leap at the thought of picking one of These up I'll be the first to admit that Out of the tiny one-inch sensor camera Lineup That Sony has released this is by Far the best camera it's better than the Original Z1 better than the RX100 lineup In most ways and certainly better than The zv1f but the trouble that I have With that is unlike the zv1f which comes In at 499 dollars US you have to pay 899 dollars US for this new zv1 and That's almost double the price and so I
Have to be a little bit more critical of This camera because it has to live up to That price at 900 you are really close To the APC lineup I mean really you can Buy an APC camera body especially used For five six hundred dollars and a cheap Good lens even so at nine hundred Dollars I'm sure that Sony will sell a Ton of these because there are people Out there that are simply looking for a Good compact all-in-one video creation Camera with amazing autofocus good Colors a great little lens attached easy Controls great mic setup Etc and those Same people aren't necessarily the ones Who might want to invest in an Interchangeable lens camera and buy Lenses for it there's definitely a Convenience factor that you are paying For this tiny camera and really when you Compare this to Sony's older lineup the RX100 Mark 789 whatever it was Mark 8 probably those were priced at and Are still priced at thirteen hundred Dollars US so this coming in at nine Hundred dollars which is again in most Ways better than the RX line Kind of makes sense so there is some Value here with this new camera but I do Think that there is perhaps more value In the original zv1 which after today Should see a significant price drop Maybe picking up one of those cameras For a few hundred dollars is an idea
Certainly it's not as capable and not as Good as this new one but it's still a Very good camera that can keep up with The other one-inch sensor pocket cameras On the market but that is just my Opinion let me know what your thoughts Are down in the comment section below Are you excited about this release from Sony are you planning on picking one up Are you not excited about it are you Looking at something else are you happy With what you have always curious to Read your guys's comments um they're Awesome and there's a lot of helpful Comments down in the comments section All the time too thank you guys so much For watching thanks for all of your Likes all of your comments and your Support stay tuned for more have a nice Day bye
