Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-07-18)

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk 41

E

versinceSony

introduceditsoriginal

RX100in2012,the

firmhastendedto

updateitspremiumenthusiast-

focusedcompactcameraannually.

Butwithsixvariantsnowonthe

marketatpricesrangingfrom

£330to£1,200,thisyearit’s

decidedtodosomethingdifferent.

WiththenewZV-1,it’srepackaged

technologyfromtheRX100line

intoadistinctlydifferentdesign

that’soptimisedforvloggerswho

areproducingvideosforYouTube.

Alongtheway,it’saddedanumber

ofnewfeaturesthathavebeen

specificallydesignedforthejob.So

whatdoesthismean,andisthe

ZV-1alsoaviableoptionfor

photographerswhopredominantly

shootstillimages?

Features

Atfirstglance,theZV-1lookslike

justanotherarun-of-the-mill

pocketcompactcamera.However,

asecondlookrevealssome

strikingnewdesignfeatures.On

thetopplatethere’sanunusually

largemicrophonegrille,beneath

whicharefoundthreecapsules

ratherthantwo,anapproach

similartothatusedbyhigh-end

audiorecorderstoachievehigher

qualitysound.Besideitisahot

shoethat’sprimarilyintendedto

takeanadd-onmicrophone,or

alternativelyafurrywindshieldfor

theintegratedmicthat’sincluded

AndyWestlakeexploresaunique

newcompactcamerathat’s

designedforvloggers

Sony ZV-1

Price £700

Sensor 20.1MP1insensor

Outputsize 6000 x 4000pixels

Focallengthmag 2.7x

Lens 25-70mmequivf/1.8-2.8

Shutterspeeds 30sec– 1/32,000sec

Sensitivity ISO125-12,800(extendable

to ISO64)

Exposuremodes PASM,Auto,Scene,Panorama,

Movie

Metering Multi,Centre,Spot,Average,

Highlight

Exposurecomp +/-3EVin 0.3EVsteps

Continuous

shooting

24fps

Screen 3infullyarticulated

touchscreen

Viewfinder None

AFpoints 315 phasedetection

Video 4K(3980x 2160),25fps

Externalmic 3.5mmstereo

Memorycard SD,SDHC,SDXC

Power NP-BX1Li ion

Batterylife 260 shots/ 45minvideo

Dimensions 105.5x 60x 43.5mm

Weight 294g

Data  le

The ZV-1 may be primarily

designed for video, but it

also offers fine image

quality when shooting stills

25mm equivalent,

1/640sec at f/5.6, ISO 125

CAMERA TEST Testbench

in the box. To make space for

these, the ZV-1 lacks either an

electronic viewfi nder or a fl ash.

Another signifi cant change is

found at the back, where Sony has

used a side-hinged fully

articulated screen instead of a

tilt-only unit. This allows an

external microphone to be

mounted on the hot shoe without

blocking the screen when it’s set

to face forwards for vlogging. It

adds little to the camera’s size: in

fact at 105.5 x 60 x 43.5mm, the

ZV-1 is just 4mm wider and

2.5mm thicker than the similarly

spec’d RX100 V. A 3.5mm stereo

mic input is provided, but there’s

no option to connect headphones

to monitor audio.

A couple of new vlogger-friendly

functions have been added. The

top-plate C1 button activates a

Background Defocus mode, which

toggles between shooting

with the aperture wide open