I did not need a new camera.
I was using my Samsung Galaxy S9 for travel vlogging and Olympus Pen PL-7 Lite for in home reviews and they were working ok, but both were getting slightly long in the tooth and lacked some features that would make all of my videos better.
The Samsung Galaxy S9 is only two generations old at this point, yet a lot has changed in that time. It can’t record in 4k and lacks wide angle capabilities. I’ve been hand holding it and walking around filming with the front camera. It’s a pretty tight view and there’s no bokeh. Also, at the other end, there’s only 8x digital zoom. No optical! It worked, but was falling behind.
The Olympus, with a 14mm lens was serving as my in home/studio rig. Having a fixed focus lens is ok, but not ideal. It also doesn’t have a flip out screen, so I can never see how I’m framing myself. Outboard sound wasn’t an option either as it doesn’t have a mic input so I always had to figure out another way to record sound. The autofocus is super slow too. Not horrible if I don’t move around or care about products in focus though.
Finally, the color presets were pretty lame and I never felt like I could color correct well. That could just have been my lack of skills…
Enter the Sony ZV-1. It beats the cell phone censor at 1″.
It beats the cell phone bokeh. It is a bit wider angle than the phone.
It has optical zoom.
Pretty good so far.
When compared to the Olympus, the Sony has a great flip out screen that comes out sideways. It’s built in lens goes from 24mm-70mm which is versatile enough so I don’t need to worry about not having interchangeable lenses. It has a mic input so I can use a lav mic with it and not have to have a separate device record sound. It’s got super fast focusing and even a special “Product Showcase” mode which quickly focuses on objects placed in front of the lens. It has SLog and Hlog to make color matching with other devices easier as well.
Fantastic.
So, I took it out and about and put it through its paces. What did I find? Will I keep it as a single solution to replace my phone for Vlogging and my Olympus for product reviews?
Well, let’s go through each use case.
A phone is much more portable and always with me. There is no camera that I would be able to say that about. It won’t take any additional space in my bag because, like my wallet and keys, it’s always with me.
The battery life of the phone is much longer as well, making it much more reliable. Most modern phones have much more weather protection than the Sony ZV-1 as well.
As far as image stabilization, the phone wins by far.
The overall picture quality is far better with the Sony though with much sharper images and details. The true bokeh is amazing and the optical zoom is better than the digital zoom from my phone.
When compared to the Olympus, the Sony actually has just as much detail which is strange since the sensor is smaller.
I love the versatility of the built in lens which negates the need for me to take a bunch of lenses with me as with the Olympus. The flip out screen is much better on the Sony because it’s able to be swung out to the side.
So, given all this, I have to say, if I just wanted a packable travel camera, I would just get a better phone. The Samsung Galaxy S20 has both wide and telephoto lenses coupled to a great screen with great image stabilization. it would always be with me and I wouldn’t have to worry about missing a shot.
However, since I also wanted something with a flip out screen and mic input to replace my Olympus, I have decided to keep the Sony.
I will bring it with me on trips to use as a vlogging camera since the images it produces are just fantastic compared to my phone. I really like the videos it takes compared to the Olympus as well.
I feel like once I get the colors dialed in, the quality of all my videos is going to be improved.
Here’s some links in case you don’t know how to search (and they give me a tiny amount in return):
Sony ZV-1 https://amzn.to/2AsIH70
Pop Voice Lavalier Mic https://amzn.to/2Z252SB
#SonyZV-1 #PerfectTravelCamera #VloggingCamera #BestCameraVlog