Sony New Camera Launch - 29th March 2023

[newfoundmass]

35 minutes ago, ntblowz said:

And micro hdmi .. suddenly on Sony that is not a flaw.

Canon users really have a victim complex. Of course it is a flaw. As is the plasticky body, the single card slot, the insane crop needed to get usable stabilization, the overheating, etc. The difference is that Sony has more credibility with people because they haven't spent the last decade dicking people around while Canon has, so people are a lot less fervid in their criticism.

If you want to criticize Sony then their firmware upgrades are a great place to start. It's ridiculous that they don't push some of these upgrades that are available on cheaper cameras to their more expensive ones, given the hardware is capable of it. Not everything on the ZV-E1 can be carried over to older cameras, but a lot of it can be and SHOULD BE if Sony values their customers. 

Finally, can't understand the complaint of the sensor. 12 megapixels isn't a flaw because it has a purpose: better low light. If you don't need those low light capabilities or just want more megapixels then you should get the A7IV. 

[Marcio Kabke Pinheiro]

About being overpriced, I think that a even better example is the S5 II, which have a (good) EVF, internal cooling, 24mp (better oversampling), waveforms, a mechanical shutter...for $2000.

In the group that I am that people bought ZV-E10s in troves, everybody liked the camera, but...the only ones thinking of getting one are the FX3 users, as a second body.

ZV-E10 is $700. With the $1300 difference, they could buy lenses (Viltrox is VERY popular in that group too). And to upgrade from the ZV-E10 to ZV-E1, the user will have probably to upgrade it's lenses too. ZV-E10 users are not the target of this one.

[newfoundmass]

I think there are better cameras out there for what this camera is marketed for, but for those who've spent the last several years watching YouTubers gush about the A7Siii or the FX3 but couldn't afford one, I think this will be popular with them. I think we forget that the "famous" YouTubers are but a small fraction of those trying to create successful YouTube channels. There are millions of people on there trying to become the next big YouTuber but with limited resources. This is a camera that will probably appeal to them. They were probably ready to whip their credit cards out the second every reviewer said "it's like a A7Siii but for half the price."

[ntblowz]

Interesting is if you use it for external HDMI it can still overheat

I guess it is really for vlogging camera.

[IronFilm]

11 hours ago, Django said:

“cinematic mode” (built in black bars feature)

2699€

Bet it will have built in 9:16 & 4:5 & 1:1 ratios for easy social sharing. (last week I was working on a high end film shot on a 5:4 ratio!!)

[IronFilm]

8 hours ago, Django said:

FX30 has active cooling so no overheating to start with. Much better form factor and higher quality build, full HDMI, RAW out, Cine EI mode, top handle with XLR unit, dual card slots. Supersampled 4K so sharper image. APS-C sensor though so much worst low light.

They threw a bunch of stuff inside the ZE1 but with the massive overheating its all kind of useless for any type of serious work or simply again hot locations. 

The FX30 has timecode too! And has a different UI that is better suited for filmmaking, than one for photography. 

btw, I wouldn't call it "so much worse" though for low light. I'd still happily use the FX30 in low light conditions. 

[MrSMW]

I thought of a use for it, as a gimbal cam.

Then I remembered the ZV-E10 exists at 1/4 of the price.

This new boy, the Sony Narcissist or whatever it is called, really is a turd of a camera.

At sub 1k cost, OK, maybe I would give it a pass, but at what they are asking?! 😵‍💫

[Kisaha]

14 hours ago, Django said:

How is a ZE1 priced at 2699€ a better deal than an R8 at 1799€ ?

R8 may not have all those gimmicky AI functions but at least it doesn't overheat. Plus it has a EVF and front curtain shutter. Seems like much better value to me..

 

Z battery and IBIS plus all the gimmicks, (huge) PLUS LENSES suitable for the task. 

Marketed as an A7SmkIII lite..

R6mkII still 3.200€

R8 is 1.939€

A7SmkIII 3.999€

A7c is 1.999€

I am still waiting for the official local pricing, but it seems to me as perfectly fine for the targeted group, plus there are many more options up and down.

[Django]

6 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Bet it will have built in 9:16 & 4:5 & 1:1 ratios for easy social sharing. (last week I was working on a high end film shot on a 5:4 ratio!!)

All I've heard is it has 2:35:1 in "cinematic" mode. There is a surprising lack of vertical options imo. I would have thought that would have been top features but it seems this is first and foremost a YouTube VLOG camera. Big missed opportunity imo to not cater to the massive social media / TikTok market..

6 hours ago, IronFilm said:

The FX30 has timecode too! And has a different UI that is better suited for filmmaking, than one for photography. 

btw, I wouldn't call it "so much worse" though for low light. I'd still happily use the FX30 in low light conditions. 

The ZE1 UI isn't aimed at photography though, its a videography oriented tool. It has the FX zoom rocker and the same quick video menu. On the physical side its super dumbed-down to the maximum with a shallow/deep DoF button and subject detection button for AF. Just about everything else is gestures and touch via the display.

The FX30 low light is definitely much worse than the A7S3/FX3/ZVE1. That doesn't mean its terrible but its far from great (even by APS-C/S35 standards). Tons of noise in the shadows, especially at high frame rates.

1 hour ago, MrSMW said:

This new boy, the Sony Narcissist or whatever it is called, really is a turd of a camera.

At sub 1k cost, OK, maybe I would give it a pass, but at what they are asking?! 😵‍💫

I think you're being a little hard on it. We are not the target market.

The price is steep but they did stick the A7S3 sensor in it, A7RV AF, FX3 features etc.

Plus all those AI tools. Actually a lot of high-end specs.. on a tiny consumer body. 

While that's rather impressive and unexpected, the problem is of course thermal management.

I even suspect Sony deliberately removed 4K120p at launch so no reviewer would slam the camera for overheating under 10 minutes.

I don't hate this camera, in fact its kind of a greatest hits of Sony Alpha video specs but the body and thermal management suck. And that makes the package at its price not viable to me. But I suspect the intended market will shoot 8-bit codecs to extend overheating.

23 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

Z battery and IBIS plus all the gimmicks, (huge) PLUS LENSES suitable for the task. 

Marketed as an A7SmkIII lite..

R6mkII still 3.200€

R8 is 1.939€

A7SmkIII 3.999€

A7c is 1.999€

I am still waiting for the official local pricing, but it seems to me as perfectly fine for the targeted group, plus there are many more options up and down.

Your country has severe taxes! The ZVE-1 is 2699€ in mainland EU so expect 3000€ in your country. Do you still find that a good deal for a Sony camera with no EVF, single card slot, and that overheats in 30mn in 4K24p when recording XAVC-I ?

[IronFilm]

31 minutes ago, Django said:

While that's rather impressive and unexpected, the problem is of course thermal management.

I even suspect Sony deliberately removed 4K120p at launch so no reviewer would slam the camera for overheating under 10 minutes.

ohhhh.... I like a good conspiracy theory! And this one has some legs. Let's see how quick the firmware update comes out. 

[Django]

Probably the most honest review, he got the camera to overheat on his couch while just menu diving and it overheat in FIVE minutes in 4K60p while shooting outdoors in non summer Florida:

 

18 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

ohhhh.... I like a good conspiracy theory! And this one has some legs. Let's see how quick the firmware update comes out. 

Its expected in June so well after all the reviews will be out. 

[Django]

Some of the AI tracking features are actually very interesting, like the auto framing lock on center. I could see some really good use for that for product shooting. But as Dan mentions in his above review, all these AI features crop heavily in the cam so its a bewilderment why they chose the A7S3 sensor which does 1:1 4K and seriously degrades the IQ when punching in. These AI features would have been so much more useful on an oversampled 4K sensor. 

I can't help but feel that this ZV camera would have made much more sense as an APS-C one with the 6K oversampled FX30 sensor at half the price ($1100 / 1350€) and hence with little to no overheating. I don't even think most Vloggers and content creators care that much about FF. Its really an odd decision.

[zerocool22]

Would love to see a shootout of this vs the panasonic s5 ii. I mainly bought the s5ii for vlogging (Af). Due to circumstances i havent shot anything in a while. So this camera might be even more interesting then the s5 ii. But I have not seen any review video yet though.

[newfoundmass]

Some of the AI features ARE decent, but overall it's just a re-release of a 3 year old camera that is meant to appeal to those on a budget. It'll do great, I'm sure, but it's not much more than an attempt to squeeze a little more juice out of an old sensor and processor.

I couldn't possibly rely on this camera in the summer even at the temps Gerald tested it at because that doesn't account for how warm it really feels with humidity, in direct sunlight, or in a venue filled with hundreds of people with no AC, etc. And I live/work in Vermont! But it's not meant for users like me.

I will say, I'm not a fan of companies releasing cameras that have these kind of reliability flaws, even if they are honest about them. To me it feels like a step backwards, especially for Sony. I thought they'd moved on from releasing cameras that overheated. That you need to pay a premium to get a camera that won't overheat will never sit right with me. If you pay $2200 for a camera it should be usable in all but the most extreme conditions.

[SRV1981]

To what degree are folks creating travel videos, vlogs, and YT content filming for greater than 30-45 minutes at a single clip?  I'd imagine that is very small segment and within that segment they do it sparingly.  

 

 

[Andrew Reid]

17 hours ago, ntblowz said:

Interesting is if you use it for external HDMI it can still overheat

I guess it is really for vlogging camera.

Where's the chart from? Is it Gerald?

[Django]

If you're using higher bitrate codecs and/or you are in warm conditions, the camera won't last you 30-45mn. Again Dan Watson got it to overheat in under 5 minutes! Gerald Undone got run time cut in half with just 2 degrees Celsius difference. 

This camera is all paper specs. i.e. the biggest sensor, the most advanced AF, AI etc.. in the smallest body. That's a recipe for disaster and I think it's going to backfire big time, especially with summer creeping up. 

The camera is ok for TikTok / social media short clips in cool environments. We're talking 15 to 60 second clips. Or you gotta step down to longGOP / 8-bit / FHD for longer form content. (Sony has a chart where they specify 8-bit for the run time!)

[Evgeniy85]

Do people expect to film 2 hour interviews with it? 

[SRV1981]

1 hour ago, Django said:

If you're using higher bitrate codecs and/or you are in warm conditions, the camera won't last you 30-45mn. Again Dan Watson got it to overheat in under 5 minutes! Gerald Undone got run time cut in half with just 2 degrees Celsius difference. 

This camera is all paper specs. i.e. the biggest sensor, the most advanced AF, AI etc.. in the smallest body. That's a recipe for disaster and I think it's going to backfire big time, especially with summer creeping up. 

The camera is ok for TikTok / social media short clips in cool environments. We're talking 15 to 60 second clips. Or you gotta step down to longGOP / 8-bit / FHD for longer form content. (Sony has a chart where they specify 8-bit for the run time!)

This camera doesn't seem to be marketed toward folks using extensive color correction or 30-45 minute runtimes for single clips.  Most content creators on YT, etc., probably record 30s to 5 minutes on most clips.

[PannySVHS]

Glad we can discuss any camera and launch we want on this forum. Glad I can also just read comments without having to comment. I don´t find this release to be for the better of this world. Same with 8k TVs and smartphones, production and streaming, all for which our planet is being wasted for.