So Sony sent over this ZV-1M2. It's just a loaner and
this video isn't sponsored. I wasn't sure if I was
even gonna make a video as I have so little to
say about this camera, but I figured I'd share
some of my test results for those interested. I've already covered
the ZV-1 and the ZV-1F. And you probably already know almost everything you need to know if you've watched those videos. This is like the ZV-1F when it comes to the new
stuff like a USB-C port, the layout, the updated
menu system, et cetera. And it also has the new 1/4 20 placement that's away from the
card and battery door, which was a big issue
with the original ZV-1. It's also got the priority
displays for video that we've seen recently
in other Sony cameras and most of the latest
software bells and whistles like cinematic vlog mode
and a self-timer for video. It does not have any of the
new AI autofocusing stuff that we saw in the ZV-E1 though as it doesn't have that dedicated chip. What makes it a ZV-1 Mark II though is that it also has
the built-in ND filter, a multi-interface shoe, because
the 1F just has a cold shoe, and it's got a zoom lens again, unlike the fixed lens of the 1F. The focal length is better
though than the original ZV-1. Instead of a 24 to 70
full frame equivalent, we now have an 18 to 50, which is much more useful for vlogging, especially when you factor
in the added crops of 4K and active stabilization on this camera. For further reach you can have Sony's
Clear Image Zoom kick in after you reach the 50
millimeter equivalent for a greater zoom, but keep in mind, this is
the old Clear Image Zoom, so you will lose subject
detection and eye tracking if you use it. However, I'd say the biggest
weakness of this Mark II is that the new lens is not stabilized, where the ZV-1's lens was. I'm finding I can see
this present an issue in the vlog-style shots, and I'll show you an
example of that in a minute. But other than that, it's mostly the same
camera as those other two. It's the same sensor and processor, so we're getting the same codecs, bit rates, and frame rates. It's still only 8-bit. So no S-Cinetone even in
that cinematic vlog mode. You can shoot log, but I wouldn't expect stellar results compared to its bigger siblings. You're only gonna get 10 to 11
stops of usable dynamic range regardless of what picture
profile you choose. It has the same thermal
performance of the ZV-1 and 1F and roughly the same battery life. I was getting about 80
minutes of 4K24 recording on a full battery. And I didn't experience any
overheating when doing that in a 23 C or 74 Fahrenheit environment. But expect worse results in
hotter ambient temperatures. It also prompts you
upon your initial setup to enable the high heat
threshold to help with that. It does have the updated mic array with the intelligent direction switching like we saw on the ZV-E1 where you can use it to record audio from in front of the camera,
behind it, or all around. And it can take the Sony
microphones in the hot shoe, or connect via the 3.5
millimeter jack on the side. And of course, the rolling
shutter performance is the same. Only this time, I was
actually able to measure it as I didn't have my strobe
when I reviewed the ZV-1. Regardless of shooting mode, I measured high 15s to low 16s in milliseconds for read speed whether you shot in 1080p60 or 4K24. What's interesting about this is that 16 milliseconds isn't a terrible result. I'd say it's right at the passing mark. Anything worse is a problem, but you can get by with 16 milliseconds. Yet when I reviewed the ZV-1F, I found the walking footage
really hard to watch. So this new camera has actually helped me diagnose that issue. I think that these cameras
need a stabilized lens if you want pleasing
footage while vlogging. Now the ZV-1F's issue
specifically was compounded by having a poorly tuned
digital stabilization that was doing all kinds of wonky rolling stuff to the frame, and thankfully that seems
to be fixed on this ZV-1M2. In fact, I'd say the active stabilization is quite good on this camera
when shooting at the wider end, and it's not the rolling
shutter that's causing problems, but it's the motion blur that doesn't match the
movement of the frame. Here, let's do a vlog test
and I'll show you what I mean. Oh, and for reference for the vlog test, I'm gonna be using this Sony handle and I'll be holding it
probably at about this distance with a little bit of a bent elbow, so you can get a sense of
what the framing looks like. And I'm gonna be using
the built-in microphone with the included dead cat on top of it. Let's go do it. Okay, here we go. We got pretty much everything on auto, auto white balance, auto focus. The image deposition is set to active. It's the only mode. There is no standard
stabilization, just digital or not. That's on. We've got the ND enabled
and we're still at f/7.1 in order to manage the exposure out here on a bright sunny day. And I'm walking in and
out between shadows, but you're not really gonna get much of a shallow depth of field if you've got a set your camera at f/7.1 and you're shooting at 18 mil 'cause I'm at the widest
end of the lens here. For picture profile, I'm using the HLG with Rec. 709 color. I feel like that's a pretty good option to not make this 8-bit
codec have to do too much. You don't wanna be shooting
really wide color gamuts and trying to squish all
that in on this camera. And I feel like this one looks pretty good right at the camera. I'm using the built-in mic, like I said, we got the dead cat on top. There is a dog barking over there and birds all around me that I can hear, so we'll see how it sounds. I am noticing though, that it's actually
really hard to see things on the display out here when it's sunny, because this camera still
has that issue where when you switch to 4K the display gets dim and you can't use the sunny
weather setting on the camera. So that's kind of annoying
if you like to shoot 4K. And the 1080p is kind of mushy on this so, I would shoot 4K but can't see the screen. Anyway, the motion blur
issue that I'm talking about I don't know if you've seen it yet so far, but when we talk about rolling shutter, we normally talk about this. See if I move the camera back and forth, kind of you expect like
the trees behind me to you know, bend. They don't really do that. What happens instead is
everything gets smeared. And basically what I'm thinking, you can see if I do kind of like let's say do like really heavy kind of, I'm like, I don't walk like this, but if I kind of clump
around with the camera. What happens is everything in the frame is moving and getting motion blur, but then the frame itself is stabilized so you're seeing a stable
frame with like my eyes. If you try to just look at my eyes you'll see that you
can't really track them because they kind of
get blurry up and down. And if I do do some kind of
like weird movement like this then the whole frame kind of smears. So that's the issue. I think it's not having a stabilized lens. So you're feeding a really
unstabilized image to the sensor and then the sensor's just
digitally cropping it. So the question is, what happens if we crank the shutter? Instead of cranking the f-stop to 7.1, what if we crank the shutter instead? Then we can shoot wide open, get that shallow depth of field. And maybe for the type of content creators that are doing this, this vlog. But maybe that's the bigger question is, does anybody even do this anymore? But let's say is it okay
to just crank the shutter? Nobody cares anyway, let's do that now. 1/640 of a second shutter, f/1.8, and we're at base ISO now. So here we go. Let's try the same test again. So let's do a regular walk like this. Look at my eyes, see if they kind of look
like they're smearing. It's gonna have a different look now. It's gonna be a little bit
more lively and you know, frenetic with higher shutter speed, but maybe people don't care. I don't know, maybe this
is the right choice. You can always set it on aperture priority and just let the shutter speed be variable for you if you want to. Okay, now I'll do that
little whippy pan test. This probably be pretty gross but, it's not smearing as much is it? So that might be a way to deal with, 'cause I know when you
use Catalyst Browse, which is like post digital stabilization that it has that same
sort of motion blur issue. So the trick is the shoot had a bit of a higher shutter speed than you would normally shoot. And then you can add motion blur back, post stabilization if you wanted to. So how does this look, 1/640 of a second? I'm still seeing zebras up there so really I could probably go
down an extra 1/3 of a stop. Also, the built-in ND is not
the complete savior here. The fact that we're at 1/640 of a second I would say the ND is probably
about a three stop ND. So that's not gonna do
the trick on a sunny day. I almost wish there was two degrees. Maybe you could do like a
three stop and a six stop or something, but I might be asking too
much for this size of body. Anyway, the last thing I
wanted to talk to you about while we sort of observe if
this is any better looking is what what the hell is vlogging anyway? Do people still do this? Like I don't see it very often. Is this still a thing
where you're walking like should we even be testing cameras if they're any good for this? Is rolling shutter that important? I feel like Sony, you know, they're going
hard on this word vlog. And vlog can mean a
lot to a lot of people. But maybe these days they just
mean like content creation. And that content creation might just be shot on a tripod vertically for you know, short form content. And maybe that's just what
they're trying to say. They're just trying to say
content creator camera. And in that case, I mean if that's what
you're planning on doing, if you're planning on
shooting this on a tripod then it doesn't matter. You know, none of this stuff matters. It's all, it's gonna be fine. The screen brightness probably
isn't gonna be a big issue. Rolling shutter isn't gonna matter, stabilization isn't gonna matter. The focal length is less relevant. You don't have to hold it. Just put it on a tripod and again, get some good lights, get some good audio, problem solved I guess. So that's my question to you audience. Let me know in the comments. Do you vlog? Do you see, do you watch a lot of content of people doing this vlogging? What do you think this whole of vlog test and testing cameras for
their ability to be you know, whipped around is dead and we should move on instead
to different type of tests for whatever the content
creator is doing these days. Let me know what you think. At the end of the day, this is Sony's best
option in the ZV-1 line and it really does seem like
they listened to feedback on the ZV-1 to improve this camera. But it's also a pretty minor
release in a lot of ways. And I find it harder and harder to get excited about cameras like this when phones are becoming
better and better options for the type of content creation that Sony is likely targeting
with this product line. I often get asked about
cameras in this price range, and this new model doesn't
really change my advice. If you have a reasonably modern phone, I'd instead spend the
money on lights and audio. And if you already have that, I think you'd be much better off saving up for something like the FX30, which absolutely obliterates this camera and isn't a dead end when
it comes to an upgrade path like the ZV-1 series is. But some people really love the ZV-1 and found a perfect use case for it. And I'm not trying to
take that way from them. So if you've already considered all that and you've decided that this
kind of point-and-shoot body is what you need for the
content you're making, then you can get M2 confidently, because it's the best one they got. Alright... I'm done.
