Sony’s new ZV-E10 II camera is aimed at content creators and vloggers and promises significant improvements over its predecessor.
The Sony ZV-E10 launched in the summer of 2021 and proved to be an accessible camera that, ultimately, didn’t quite meet its potential. Nonetheless, it has been an extremely popular model for Sony and one of the best-selling interchangeable lens cameras on the market. Sony believes that its successor, the new Sony ZV-E10 II, addresses some of the original ZV-E10’s shortcomings, including its iffy battery life and lack of 4K/60p recording.
Driving many of the ZV-E10 II’s improvements is a new imaging pipeline, featuring a 26-megapixel Exmor R CMOS APS-C image sensor and Sony’s Bionz XR processor. The ZV-E10 instead sported a 24-megapixel chip and the older Bionz X processor. With the move to the new sensor and processor, which are also featured in the Sony a6700, the ZV-E10 II can shoot 4K/60p 10-bit 4:2:2 video with improved quality and better autofocus performance. Sony promises the same image quality as the a6700 and FX30, two capable APS-C cameras.
While there are many similarities between the new ZV-E10 II and last year’s a6700, there are also a handful of differences beyond their physical designs. While the a6700 can do 6K oversampled video, the ZV-E10 II has a small crop factor that reduces the resolution to 5.6K. The ZV-E10 II also can’t do 4K/120p video, although it can do Full HD at 120p. Further, the ZV-E10 II lacks the dedicated AI processing chip found in not just the a6700, but many of Sony’s recent cameras. This means the new vlogging camera can’t promise quite the same autofocus performance as some of its siblings.
Nonetheless, Sony does promise better autofocus than the ZV-E10. The company also promises a much richer suite of video modes and features. While the original ZV-E10 essentially topped out at 4K/30p and even did that with a crop, the ZV-E10 II can shoot 4K/30p without any crop and 4K/60p with a slight crop (1.1x). The new camera has a three-capsule mic, shoots 10-bit across all record modes, and includes S-Log and S-Cinetone profiles, and all these modes are easier to find thanks to Sony’s recently redesigned menu system.
Speaking of “easy,” Sony emphasizes ease of use with its ZV-series cameras, and the ZV-E10 II is no exception. To help budding content creators, the camera includes a dedicated Cinematic Vlog setting that makes it easier to get cinematic-looking footage. This setting includes a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and a locked 24p frame rate. The camera also has built-in buttons for background defocus (which seasoned shooters can do by manually controlling the aperture) and product showcase modes.
Other ways to dial in the perfect look in the camera include the Creative Look function. This has been in Sony cameras for a while now, since the a7S III, but often goes unnoticed. The ZV-E10 II includes 10 preset looks with eight adjustable parameters, and users can save an additional six custom looks. These now come with full names, like “Portrait” instead of “PT,” making the feature much more accessible.
Another improvement in user experience concerns vertical video recording. Since many people shoot vertical video — Sony says about 70% of what people shoot for social media is vertical — the ZV-E10 II also includes a new vertical information display. It has other improvements, including the move to the larger Z-series battery. This switch adds about 30 grams of weight to the camera, but increases video recording duration from 80 minutes to 130 minutes on a single charge.
“From the beginning, the goal of the Sony ZV line was to create cameras that produced high-quality results while being extremely easy to use. Today, the ZV line continues to uphold that standard, but we’re taking it a step further,” says Yang Cheng, Vice President, Imaging Solutions, Sony Electronics Inc. “Our aim with the advancements of the ZV-E10 II is to inspire creators to develop or recreate their own unique style through features like personalized Creative Looks and Cinematic Vlog Setting. We are continually evolving our technology to help creators of all skill levels bring their visions to life.”
Sample Images
Pricing and Availability
The Sony ZV-E10 II will be available later this month for $999 body only or $1,099 in a kit with the new Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS II power zoom lens.
Image credits: Sony