sony zv-e1, 1 year review.
sony zv-e1 - a.k.a The POCKET ROCKET of cameras!
Using the Sony ZV-E1 for personal, passion & business use over the course of a year has been fantastic. As most already know, the ZV-E1 shares the same Full Frame sensor and internals as the A7Siii, FX3 & FX6, capable of shooting S-LOG 3, 4K120, Dual base ISO are just some of the amazing internals it shares. Which is just crazy considering the size of the ZV-E1. But what has been like to use on a daily basis for all things video?
Sony ZV-E1 body with smallrig cage. We run smallrig cages on all our equipment, not only are they built to attach extra equipment onto and create a ‘rigged out’ camera but it’s a nice piece of mind knowing it has extra protection at all times.
First purchased as a secondary back up camera and B-cam for interviews, but quickly turned into a heavy competitor for A-cam. The ZV-E1 packs a very heavy punch being so small and versatile. With standard Sony FE mount for all Sony & Third party lenses you’re spoiled for choice. Here at North Street, we tend to use either our Tamaron 17-28 F/2.8 or one of our Samyung Prime lens predominately when used as a B-cam. But for shorter and more fast paced work the ZV-E1 comes out first as being paired onto a gimbal its a super light set up and won’t burn you out as quickly as other mirrorless/video cameras. Also the ZV-E1 comes out first when setting up for interview, being so small and the same internals as its brothers, it makes getting the scene set much quicker. Especially, when we are on a bigger shoots with 1 or more camera operators, who ever is on the ZV-E1 can get the room tone set with kelvins adjust lighting and find the best angles for A-cam.
Again, I can’t reiterate how small and powerful the ZV-E1 is! But there is one downside to consider if you’re in the market to buy one… overheating. Yes, this correct the ZV-E1 has on a couple occasions overheated. But this has only ever happened with long filming times (+45 mins, shooting 4K 24fps) it hasnt ever completely shut down from overheating but we did get the red flashing ‘Hot’ battery symbol on the back of the screen. But fear not! there is a solution. A fan! There are different third party fans you can buy online now, we use the SmallRig Cooling System for Sony 4815 and this have be great! No more over heating on the ZV-E1, the fan noise is super, super quite and its a good budget friendly option to resolve this issue. Just make sure you charge it before a shoot! Worse case is you could charge it via a V-Mount whilst on set.
Using the ZV-E1 for personal videos such as, hikes, beach days, fun social media content and YouTube is magnificent! Being able to pair this with a ‘pancake lens’ you can fit the thing in your pocket. Which for personal stuff we don’t want to lugging around a fully kitted out camera, when the ZV-E1 as bare bones form, is super compact. The built-in microphone is surprisingly good, in fact we are so impressed by in we use it as scratch audio on bigger shots and does offer and real last resort if all other audio fails. But with the personal videos you don’t need to worry about plugging a little shotgun mic in as the you can trust the audio is going to be good (Maybe with little adjustments in post, if you’re like us and can’t just leave things simple, hahaha)
Overall the ZV-E1 is a brilliant camera! Having the same Full Frame sensor and internals as the A7Siii, FX3 & FX6 it is just uncanny how versatile this like ‘pocket rocket’ is! As of writing this blog post, you can pick up a Sony ZV-E1 for £1500 (GBP) And a slight bit cheaper on used markets. That said the ZV-E1 is highly sought after at the moment, so a lot of companies and awaiting new stock, just bear that in mind. The Sony ZV-E1 will forever be in our camera cases and be used for a long foreseeable future.