Sony Alpha ZV-E1 Vlog Camera Kit

Recording Features

Overview: The Sony Alpha ZV-E1 (ILCZVE1L/W) Full-frame Interchangeable Lens Mirrorless Vlog Camera kit contains the ZV-E1 camera body and the FE28-60mm F4-5.6 zoom lens, along with a rechargeable battery, and shoulder strap. This camera takes your vlogging to the next level with features such as a wide lens selection, 4K movie shooting, and a 3-capsule directional microphone with a windscreen. The ZV-E1 has a 12.1 mega-pixel full-frame 35mm image sensor, and is compatible with Sony E-mount lenses. With the LA-EA5 Mount Adapter, the camera can also use Sony A-mount lenses.

3" Vari-angle LCD Screen: The ZV-E1 uses a 3" Vari-angle LCD touchscreen monitor with 1,036,800 dots. You can swing open the monitor up approximately 176° and rotate up to 180° and down by 90°. The bright LCD monitor features a touch-sensitive panel with convenient Touch Shutter, Touch Focus, and Touch Tracking functions. Sony's menu structure is more intuitive, making it easier to change camera settings. The brightness of the LCD monitor can be adjusted in 5 steps from -2 to +2, plus a Sunny Weather mode.

Display Options: The Display Setting (DISP) button lets you choose how much information appears in the viewfinder and LCD monitor. During shooting using the LCD monitor, the options are Display All Info, No Display Info, Histogram, and Digital Level Gauge. During playback, you can cycle between: Display Info, Histogram, and No Display Info.

Live View: The ZV-E1's Live View lets you use the LCD screen to frame your photos as you shoot. When the Live View display is set to "Setting Effect On", the LCD will provide an accurate preview of your photo, including the white balance, exposure compensation, creative style or picture effect. With the "Setting Effect Off", you can check the image composition without the effects of the exposure settings. In addition, the Exposure Effect setting lets you display the Live View with correction reflecting the exposure from the flash.

SteadyShot: The ZV-E1 is equipped with 5-axis in-body Image Stabilization to achieve up to 5 stops of anti-shake compensation. Using gyro sensors, the precision stabilization unit reduces image blur caused by camera shake from five different directions: vertical, horizontal, pitch, yaw, and roll. The newly-developed Dynamic Active Mode uses advanced electronic stabilization in addition to the in-body stabilization system for approximately 30% more effective compensation, compared to the Active mode of previous models.

Image Sensor: The ZV-E1 features an advanced 12.1-megapixel Exmor R full-frame 35mm CMOS image sensor (35.6 x 23.8mm) that is optimized for 4K. It has approximately 12.9-million total pixels and an aspect ratio of 3:2. The latest BIONZ XR processing engine has 8x more processing power than its predecessor, the ZV-E10, and supports 4K 60p recording and a future upgrade to 4K 120p. Its AI processing unit also provides subject recognition and tracking.

Internal Microphone: The Vlog camera is equipped with an intelligent 3-capsule internal microphone with variable directivity. In the menu, you can select the pickup direction of the microphone: Front, Rear, or All Directions. You can also select Auto, which automatically switches the direction of the sound pickup between front and all directions, according to the recognized subject and tracking status. If an external microphone is plugged into the 3.5mm input, the directivity settings become inactive.

Still Image Recording Formats: The ZV-E1 can shoot JPEG, HEIF, and RAW still images. Full-frame JPEG and HEIF images are recorded in Extra Fine, Fine, and Standard compression rates, and three sizes (L, M, S). RAW images are recorded in Compressed or Uncompressed formats in Large size only. RAW images must be transferred to a computer for processing, editing, and printing using the downloadable Imaging Edge software. You can choose from 3:2, 16:9, 4:3, or 1:1 aspect ratios. You can select the following image sizes:

Movie Recording Formats: The ZV-E1 offers 4K movie recording at up to 60 fps, and Full HD movies at 30p, 60p, 24p, and 120p. Audio recording formats include LPCM 2ch (48kHz, 16-bit/24-bit). When using a microphone (using the Multi Interface Shoe) that supports 4-channel LPCM, the camera also supports LPCM 4ch (48kHz, 24-bit) audio. Movie formats include:

• XAVC HS 4K: Records in 4K resolution (3840 x 2160), Long GOP compression:

• XAVC S 4K: Records in 4K resolution (3840 x 2160), Long GOP compression:

• XAVC S HD: Records in Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080), Long GOP compression:

• XAVC S-I: Records in 4K (3840 x 2160) or Full HD (1920 x 1080) as indicated, Intra compression

Future Upgrade: The camera will be upgradable from 4K/60p to 4K/120p 4:2:2 10-bit in June 2023 or later. A free license key must be downloaded from Sony's camera upgrade website and installed in the camera.

APS-C/Super 35mm Mode: In the menu, you can set the camera to record in APS-C-equivalent size for still images and in Super 35mm-equivalent size for movies. When set to On, the angle of view becomes approximately 1.5 times the focal length indicated on the lens.

Compatible Media: The ZV-E1 accepts SD, SDHC, and SDXC Memory Cards (UHS-I and UHS-II compatible), and microSD/SDHC/SDXC cards (with adapter). The required card types and speeds vary with the recording format you use:

Cinematic Vlog Setting: You can create scenes that look like feature movies with the Cinematic Vlog Setting. By choosing a Look, Mood, and AF transition speed, along with a frame rate of 24 fps and a widescreen Cinemascope aspect ratio (2.35:1), you can create movie-like footage that matches your desired scene and intent. "Look" options include S-Cinetone, Clean, Chic, Fresh, and Mono. "Mood" options are Gold, Ocean, Forest, and Auto. You can choose from Hi, Mid, or Lo AF transition speed. The Cinemascope aspect ratio records black bars at the top and bottom of the screen for effect, however, the recorded image remains 16:9.

Framing Stabilizer: The Framing Stabilizer is a tool that helps you keep the subject centered in the frame, even if your walking alongside the subject while filming. When Framing Stabilizer is enabled, you can choose to center the subject or manually lock the position of the subject where desired.

Fast Hybrid Focusing: The ZV-E1's new Fast Hybrid AF system features 759 phase-detection points for lightning fast auto focusing and superb real-time tracking capability.

Real-time Tracking: The camera's Real-time Tracking feature uses artificial intelligence to track moving subjects when shooting still images and movies. The camera maintains accurate focus while the shutter button is pressed halfway until you take the shot. Touch Tracking lets you select your subject by touching it on the touch-screen monitor. If the subject is a person, the AI detects and tracks the subject's eye and face in real time for sharp portraits. You can select the left or right eye in the menu. There's even an Eye AF Animal mode to track the eye of your pet.

Focus Modes: You can choose from the following Focus Modes:

• AF-S (Single-shot AF): The camera focuses and the focus is locked when you press the shutter button halfway down. Recommended for use with motionless subjects.
• AF-A (Automatic AF): Single-shot and Continuous AF are switched according to the movement of the subject. If the subject is motionless, the camera locks the focus. If the subject is in motion, the camera continues to focus.
• AF-C (Continuous AF): The camera continues to focus when you press and hold the shutter button halfway down. Recommended for use when the subject is in motion.
• DMF: After focusing automatically, you can make fine focusing adjustments manually (Direct Manual Focusing).
• Manual Focus: When it is difficult to get the proper focus in auto focus mode, you can adjust the focus manually. This mode allows you to set the distance of a subject by rotating the focusing ring to achieve a sharp focus.

Face Detection: The camera can detect human faces, and adjusts the focus, exposure, performs image processing and adjusts flash settings for best results. Faces can be registered, and priority given to those faces over others in the frame. Up to seven faces can be detected and/or registered.

Drive Modes: The camera offers the following shooting modes:

• Single Shooting: Default setting for standard picture taking.
• Continuous Shooting: You can take photos continuously while the shutter button is held down. In Hi+ Continuous Shooting mode, images are shot continuously at the maximum speed (at approximately 10 fps) while you press and hold down the shutter button. The Hi (8 fps), Mid (6 fps), and Lo (3 fps) Continuous shooting modes make it easier to track, because the subject is displayed in real time on the monitor/viewfinder during shooting. The maximum number of frames you can shoot continuously is 223 (at standard compression).
• Self-Timer: You can set the camera to four different self-timers. You can shoot single images after a delay of 10, 5, or 2 seconds. Self-timer (Continuous) lets you shoot 3 or 5 images continuously after a pre-selected delay of 10, 5, or 2 seconds. You can choose the best shot from the shots taken.
• Bracket Shooting: The camera is capable of shooting multiple images, each with a different setting. You can choose from the following Bracket options:
  • Continuous Bracket: Shoot 3 or 5 images, each with different degrees of exposure (shifted by plus or minus 0.3 EV). The images are taken as you press and hold the shutter button.
  • Single Bracket: Same as Continuous Bracket above, except that the shutter button is pressed for each image.
  • Focus Bracket: The camera shoots multiple images while shifting the focus position. Prior to shooting, you can set the step width within a range of 1 to 10, and the number of shots taken with one release, from 2 to 299, for each position.
  • WB Bracket: The camera records three images, each with different color tones, according to the selected settings of white balance, color temperature, and color filter. You can select Low (small changes in white balance) or High (large changes in white balance).
  • DRO Bracket: The camera records three images, each with different degree of D-Range Optimizer. You can select Low (small changes in DRO) or High (large changes in DRO).

Interval Shooting: You can automatically shoot a series of still images and create a time-lapse movie using the downloadable Imaging Edge Desktop software. After selecting Interval Shooting, you can set a start time (from when you press the shutter button) of between 1 second and 99 minutes 59 seconds. The interval between shots can be set between 1 and 60 seconds, and the number of shots set at 1 to 9,999 shots.

Shooting Modes: In the Shooting Mode menu, you can select from the following shooting modes:

• Intelligent Auto: This mode allows easy shooting with settings adjusted automatically.
• Program Auto: For shooting with the exposure adjusted automatically (both the shutter speed and the aperture value), while allowing you to adjust other settings manually.
• Aperture Priority: This mode allows you to shoot after adjusting the aperture value manually, letting the camera set the appropriate shutter speed. This mode gives you greater control over the depth of field.
• Shutter Priority: This mode allows you to shoot after adjusting the shutter speed manually, letting the camera set the appropriate aperture. With a high shutter speed, the moving subject appears as if it is frozen on the image. With a slow shutter speed, the moving subject appears as if it were flowing.
• Manual Exposure: This mode allows you to shoot after adjusting the exposure (shutter speed and aperture) manually.
• Memory Recall: You can register often-used camera settings (including Shooting Mode, Aperture, Shutter speed) in one of three memory positionsfor easy recall.
• Movies: You can record movies in 4K or Full HD in 16:9 aspect ratio. When selected, you can choose the desired movie settings, including Program Auto, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Manual Exposure.
• S&Q Motion: This mode lets you shoot slow-motion and quick-motion movies.

Scene Recognition: The Scene Recognition function lets the camera automatically recognize shooting conditions and set the appropriate settings. Recognizable scenes include: Portrait, Infant, Night Portrait, Night Scene, Backlight Portrait, Backlight, Landscape, Macro, Spotlight, Low Light, Night Scene with a tripod, and Tripod.

Product Showcase Setting: The camera offers an ideal setting for shooting product review videos. The Product Showcase Setting function shoots with optimal settings for product reviews and the camera will smoothly switch focus from your face to a product held in front of the lens, then back to your face when the product is moved away.

Aperture Drive Modes: While in Auto Focus, you can change the drive system of the aperture as needed. The settings include Standard, Focus Priority (for best auto-focusing performance), and Silent Priority (the sound of the aperture drive is quieter than in Standard).

Exposure Compensation: Exposure compensation is used to alter the camera's standard exposure setting. You can make the image look lighter (increased exposure) or darker (decreased exposure). The exposure compensation amount can be set up to +/-5.0 EV in 1/3-step or 1/2-step increments while shooting still images. When shooting movies, the exposure can be adjusted in a range of +/-2.0 EV.

Metering Mode: A 1200-zone evaluative sensing system provides multi-pattern measuring for superior exposure control accuracy in a wide range of lighting conditions. You can select the method for measuring the brightness of a subject from the following five methods: Multi, Center, Spot, Entire Screen Average, and Highlight.

White Balance: You can adjust the color tones according to the lighting conditions. You can choose from the following WB options: Auto WB, Auto: Ambience, Auto: White, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent (Warm White), Fluorescent (Cool White), Fluorescent (Day White), Fluorescent (Daylight), Flash, Underwater Auto, Color Temperature, Color Filter, and Custom (1, 2, 3).

Color Temperature/Color Filter: You can adjust the white balance further by selecting Color Temperature or Color Filter in the Custom White Balance option. With Color Temperature, the higher the number, the more reddish the image, and the lower the number, the more bluish the image. Color Filter achieves the effect of Color Compensation filters for photography. Based on the set color temperature as the standard, the color can be compensated to Green (G) or Magenta (M).

ISO Settings: ISO is a unit of measurement of sensitivity to light. The larger the number, the higher the sensitivity. The camera's ISO can be set automatically between ISO 80 and 12,800 with selectable lower and upper limits. Manually, it can be set between 80 and 102,400, depending upon the exposure mode. When the Expanded ISO range is turned on, sensitivity can be set as low as ISO 40, or as high as 409,600. For Movies, the sensitivity is set between ISO 80 and 102,400, with expansion up to ISO 409,600.

Multi-Interface Shoe: The ZV-E1 does not have a built-in flash, but is equipped with the Multi-Interface Shoe, allowing you to use an external flash, such as the HVL-F20M, HVL-F28RM, HVL-F46RM, or HVL-60RM2. The ECM-G1 Vlogger Shotgun Microphone and ECM-B10 stereo shotgun microphone are also compatible. The M-I Shoe's digital audio interface lets you capture exceptionally high sound quality. The optional XLR-K3M adapter kit lets you choose from three recording formats: 48kHz/16-bit 2-channel, 48kHz/24-bit 2-channel, or 48kHz/24-bit 4-channel.

Flash Features: When an optional external flash is attached, the camera offers several Flash Modes: Autoflash, Fill-flash, Slow Sync, and Rear Sync. You can adjust the amount of flash light in a range of -3.0 EV to +3.0 EV with the Flash Compensation feature.

Wi-Fi / Bluetooth

Wireless Overview: The Sony ZV-E1 lets you connect wirelessly with your mobile phone, tablet, or computer via Bluetooth (ver. 4.2) or Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4GHz/5GHz) through the Imaging Edge Mobile or Desktop apps.

Imaging Edge Mobile App: To interface with the Sony ZV-E1, your smartphone/tablet must have the Imaging Edge Mobile application. With the app, you can transfer still images and 4K videos from your camera, shoot remotely using your phone, add location information from your smartphone to your image files, and change and save camera settings using your phone. The app is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, and requires iOS 14.8 or later. It is also compatible with Android smartphones and tablets with the Android 8.0 and up operating environment.

USB Streaming: You can connect the camera to a computer or smartphone via USB for livestreaming or web-conferencing services with UVC/UAC support. You can set the output resolution to 4K (2160p) at 30p or 15p, Full HD (1080p) at 60p or 30p or HD (720p) at 30p. USB streaming at 4K or 1080p requires a computer that supports SuperSpeed USB 5 Gbps (USB 3.2) and a USB 3.0-compatible cable.

Playback Functions

Playback Screen: You can view your photos back as a single image on the LCD monitor, as an Index or as a Slide Show. During Image Index mode, you can view 9 (3 x 3) or 25 (5 x 5) images at once.

Auto Review: After an image is recorded, you can have the camera automatically display it on the LCD monitor for two, five or 10 seconds. You can also turn off auto review.

Image Rotation: Vertical shots can be rotated automatically so that they are displayed upright during playback. This can be done manually or automatically.

Slide Show: You can automatically play back still images continuously in a slide show. You can set the interval to 1, 3, 5, 10, or 30 seconds.

View Mode: There are three View Modes to choose from for playing back images and movies: Date View, Folder View (Still), and Movie View.

D-Range Optimizer: The camera allows you to correct the brightness and contrast of an image automatically, using the D-Range Optimizer (DRO) function. The DRO optimizes the gradations of a recorded image in each area of the image; you select the optimal level from Lv1 (weak) and Lv5 (strong).

Control for HDMI: When connecting the camera to a TV via HDMI, you can control the camera with the TV's remote control.

Protect Images: You can protect all images on your memory card or select only certain images to be protected from accidental erasure.

Connections

Microphone Jack: The 3.5mm microphone jack lets you connect an external microphone. If the external microphone has plug-in power, the power for the microphone is supplied by the camera through this jack. When an external mic is connected, the built-in microphone is turned off automatically.

Headphone Jack: You can connect headphones to the camera through this stereo 3.5mm headphone jack. This allows you to listen to audio as it's being recorded, or as the movie file is being played back.

Micro HDMI: The camera has a Micro HDMI (Type D) jack for connecting the camera to an HDMI-equipped TV or video recorder. HDMI resolution options include 2160p, 1080p, 1080i, and Auto.

USB-C: The ZV-E1 is equipped with a USB 3.2 USB-C port. SuperSpeed USB 3.2 enables blazing fast file transfers (up to 5 Gbps), compared to USB 2.0 (480 Mbps maximum). This extra speed is especially useful when you're performing PC-tethered shooting, allowing you to quickly review your images on your PC monitor without having to wait for the images to load.

Multi Interface Shoe: The top-mounted Multi Interface Shoe is a single-point connection for multiple Sony accessories, such as flash units, video lights, and microphones.

Battery Information

InfoLithium Battery: The ZV-E1 is powered by the supplied, high-capacity NP-FZ100 InfoLithium battery (7.2V, 2280mAh, 16.4Wh). The battery communicates data to the camera, so that the percentage of battery power remaining can be displayed. The battery life specs are as follows:

• Shooting Still Images: approximately 570 images
• Shooting Movies:
  • Typical Movie Shooting: approximately 95 minutes
  • Continuous Movie Shooting: approximately 140 minutes

Charging: The NP-FZ100 InfoLithium battery requires approximately 255 minutes (4 hours 15 minutes) to reach a full charge in the camera, using an AC adapter with a USB output of 5V / 1.5A, and a USB-C cable (not included).

Power Save: You can set different time intervals for the camera to switch to Power Save mode. You can set the interval to 10 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, or 30 minutes. Once the camera goes into Power Save mode, you can return to the shooting mode by pressing the shutter button halfway.

Included Lens

FE 28-60mm F4-5.6: Included with the Sony ZV-E1 is the FE 28-60mm F4-5.6 standard zoom lens.

Linear Motor: The Sony linear motor focuses quickly and quietly for both movies and still images. You can use the camera's Real-Time Tracking and Real-Time Eye AF features to lock onto and track your subjects.

Design: The FE 28-60mm lens is compact and lightweight with a moisture- and dust-resistant design, allowing you to use the lens outdoors as well as indoors.

Specifications:

• Focal Length: 28-60mm
• 35mm Equivalent Focal Length: 42-90mm
• Aperture: 7-blade circular
• Maxmium Aperture: f/4 (W), f/5.6 (T)
• Minimum Aperture: f/22 (W), f/32 (T)
• Angle of View: 75° - 40° (full frame); 54° - 27° (APS-C)
• Lens Construction: 8 elements in 7 groups (including 3 aspherical elements)
• Minimum Focus Distance: 11.88" to 17.76" (0.99-1.48 feet)
• Maximum Magnification: 0.16x
• Filter Diameter: 40.5mm
• Dimensions: Diameter: 2.625", Length: 2.13" (2.445" w/lens caps)
• Weight: 5.9 ounces

Software

Downloadable Software: The ZV-E1 does not include software in the box. Instead, Sony offers software for Windows- and Mac-compatible computers for importing still images and movies recorded with the camera to your computer.

Imaging Edge Desktop (Remote / Viewer / Edit): Imaging Edge desktop software lets you remotely operate the camera from your computer, either tethered with a USB cable or wirelessly via Wi-Fi. The software lets you make precise adjustments to the focus and composition, using the grid, guide, and overlay functions, and view images live on the large computer screen. You can also perform confirmation, selection, image-quality adjustment, and RAW development on your computer. It also supports Pixel Shift Multi Shooting to generate images with a higher resolution than is possible with regular shooting by combining four RAW images on your PC. The software is compatible with Windows 10 and Windows 11 on computers with Intel or AMD processors. It is also compatible with Mac computers with macOS 11, macOS 12, or macOS 13.

Catalyst Browse: Catalyst Browse is a free, simple viewing and logging tool that is available for both Windows and Mac OS. You can preview XAVC S and XAVC HS clips, view and edit media metadata, apply image stabilization using metadata, apply color calibration, and copy to the local hard drive. Catalyst Prepare paid software adds functions to Catalyst Browse for organizing clips using bins, performing basic timeline editing with storyboards, and more. Catalyst Browse is available for Windows 10 or Windows 11 64-bit operating systems, and macOS 10.15 (Catalina), 11 (Big Sur), or 12 (Monterey).