Sony ZV-E10 First Shots: Sony’s compact APS-C vlogger-friendly hybrid camera hits our testing lab
posted Tuesday, September 28, 2021 at 5:30 PM EDT
Click here to browse our Sony ZV-E10 First Shots
Back in the summer, Sony debuted its second "ZV" video-centric camera aimed at vloggers, the ZV-E10. The ZV-E10 follows up on the ZV-1, which is essentially an RX100-series camera with a more video-focused design and feature-set. Like its RX100 companions, the ZV-1 sports a fixed zoom lens and a 1-inch-type stacked CMOS sensor. This newer Sony ZV-E10, on the other hand, takes after Sony's popular A6XXX-series Alpha mirrorless cameras, offering interchangeable lens versatility as well as a larger 24.2MP APS-C Exmor CMOS image sensor. In many ways, the ZV-E10 is a Sony A6100 redesigned for video creators, with several video-oriented tweaks, such as a flip-out LCD, larger on-board microphone plus a digital audio interface in the hotshoe, as well as higher-end video formats, like S-Log3.
But, the Sony ZV-E10 is still a hybrid camera and offers a full complement of still photography features, much like its A6100/A6600 siblings. The 24MP APS-C sensor is paired with Sony's BIONZ X processing engine, and the camera offers an expansive native ISO range from ISO 100 up to 32000 -- and expandable down to ISO 50 and up to ISO 51,200. Additionally, the ZV-E10 offers a hybrid AF system with both phase-detection and contrast-detection, Real-Time Tracking AF for both people and non-human animal subjects and the user can select between left and right eyes for human subjects. The camera also shoots at up to 11 frames per second with full AF/AE for up to 115 images in a series.
As with most any camera that we get our hands on, the first step in our review process is a visit to the lab for First Shots. This standardized series of sample images offers a look at a camera's image quality performance across its full ISO range, giving you a chance to see noise characteristics as the ISO rises and how the image quality is impacted by increased ISO levels. As with most cameras, our Sony ZV-E10 First Shots series offers two series of sample images, one with the camera's default level of JPEG noise reduction processing applied (NR1D image files) and another set with noise reduction disabled (NR0 image files). As always, we also have the untouched corresponding RAW files available for download, as well.
To see how Sony's big-sensor vlogging hybrid camera performs from a pure image quality standpoint, browse through our ZV-E10 First Shots. If you'd to see how it compares side-by-side against almost every other camera we've lab-tested, use our handy Comparometer tool.
Stay tuned for more in our Sony ZV-E10 Review!