The E1 is an incredibly small 16MP action cam with a MFT sensor and lens mount
posted Friday, July 17, 2015 at 6:25 PM EDT
Meet the E1, a ridiculously tiny 4K camera with a Micro Four Thirds sensor and lens mount. The E1 is the brainchild of Z Camera, a start-up looking to make an impact in the drone market with its pocket-sized camera that’s capable of shooting 4K video using the versatile Micro Four Thirds system.
The E1 features a 16-megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor, manufactured by Panasonic, which is capable of shooting both RAW and JPEG still image formats, and motion picture in the H.264 codec using a .MOV container in Cinema 4K at 24p and UltraHD 4K at 20p.
The sensor is capable of shooting video at up to ISO 102,400 and still photos up to ISO 6400. Content is stored onto MicroSD cards up to 128GB in capacity.
It weighs in at just under half a pound without a lens and currently only works with Panasonic Micro Four Thirds lenses. Support for Olympus, Leica and Sigma MFT lenses are just around the corner, according to Z Camera.
One of the reasons the E1 doesn’t tip the scales is due to its polycarbonate body. The decision to use polycarbonate means a sacrifice in ruggedness and durability, but in a statement to Shutterbug, Z Camera founder Jason Zhang said more ’durable housing options were being explored’.
The E1 will come with two rechargeable batteries, which can be swapped out in the field. The E1 is said to offer enough battery life to shoot 45 minutes of 4K video and 120 minutes when shooting 1080p video.
Although the camera does offer physical buttons for operation, you can also control it with the E1 application, which will be available for both iOS and Android. You’ll be able to control settings, live stream and manage recorded content with your smartphone through Bluetooth 4.0 or WiFi.
The camera was originally meant to be announced next week, according to Shutterbug, but a Kickstarter campaign that went live for one reason or another outed the camera in advance.
To further add confusion to the arrival of this camera, the capital needed to bring the E1 to life has already been funded. In fact, the E1 is already in production. This leaves us wondering the purpose of the $42,000 Kickstarter campaign, but whatever the reason is, it’s an opportunity to be one of the first people to get your hands on it.
If you’d like to pick up an E1, you can do so with a pledge of $500 on its Kickstarter Campaign. A pledge of $800 will get you the E1 camera bundled with a 14mm f/2.5 Panasonic lens.