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sony zv1 or alternative?


stefanocps
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Hello, after trying to use gopro 9 indoor, for some b shot, i have realized that gopro cannot be used indoor at all. So i want to send back to amazon the gopro and buy something similar, in term of size, and fast use. So my first idea go to zv1, but i want to make sure that there are not better alternative around, better if at less price. Willing to buy 2nd hand!

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14 hours ago, stefanocps said:

Hello, after trying to use gopro 9 indoor, for some b shot, i have realized that gopro cannot be used indoor at all. So i want to send back to amazon the gopro and buy something similar, in term of size, and fast use. So my first idea go to zv1, but i want to make sure that there are not better alternative around, better if at less price. Willing to buy 2nd hand!

Can you say a bit more about what focal length / FOV you are looking for, and what you're trying to film?

A GoPro has a very wide-angle lens, is fixed focus, and a very small sensor, which gives a very deep depth of field.

To get significantly better low-light performance you will need to get a camera with a larger sensor, but that means that you will have shallower depth-of-field when you keep the aperture of the lens opened up which is needed for good low-light performance.

There might be a sweet-spot with an MFT camera and something like the TTartisan 7.5mm F2 lens, which should have relatively deep depth-of-field when wide-open and could be focused to be around 2m/12ft away, but it really depends on what you're shooting.  Having a fast and wide lens is a real challenge.

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I chose ZV1 over the latest GoPro having had a predecessor in each flavour, plus various other small compacts and action cameras.

It’s probably not surprising but for my needs, I have found the ZV1 to be the best compromise of quality of output vs size.

I’m not so keen on the stills it puts out, but then I am kind of spoiled with my full frame 24 and 47 mp cameras, so no real surprise there.

But the video quality is really good.

Not APSC or FF good because a 1” sensor isn’t going to match something from Fuji or Panasonic, but in isolation it’s ‘good enough’ and I do use it for client productions, namely full length wedding ceremonies and speeches.

I also prefer it because for my tastes, action cameras FOV is just too wide. I used to shoot my GoPro in the linear (is it called?) mode.

I do quite fancy the latest model GoPro fitted out from that company whose name I can’t remember but something to do with bones, who produce this miniature lens options…

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5 hours ago, kye said:

Can you say a bit more about what focal length / FOV you are looking for, and what you're trying to film?

A GoPro has a very wide-angle lens, is fixed focus, and a very small sensor, which gives a very deep depth of field.

To get significantly better low-light performance you will need to get a camera with a larger sensor, but that means that you will have shallower depth-of-field when you keep the aperture of the lens opened up which is needed for good low-light performance.

There might be a sweet-spot with an MFT camera and something like the TTartisan 7.5mm F2 lens, which should have relatively deep depth-of-field when wide-open and could be focused to be around 2m/12ft away, but it really depends on what you're shooting.  Having a fast and wide lens is a real challenge.

I want something quick to use, so no interchangeable lens first of all, I would use it in a various enviroment, sometimes as a B camera for kind like interview, something as a run and gun in the road...

I think best thing would be at least 1" sensor..i think there is no much better options in the market, there are some rare mft or evenmore rare aps c...

But NO INTERCHANGEABLE LENS!

so could be a range going to a videocam like ax700 (though is no so compact) to sony rx100..and all what is around ...but better in the price range of zv1 if possibile

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4 minutes ago, stefanocps said:

I want something quick to use, so no interchangeable lens first of all, I would use it in a various enviroment, sometimes as a B camera for kind like interview, something as a run and gun in the road...

I think best thing would be at least 1" sensor..and i think for these kind of objects this is waht there is in the market, there are some rare mft or evenmore rare aps c...

But NO INTERCHANGEABLE LENS!

I think the answer to your question is probably that there is no camera that meets your requirements.

Any camera that is "something similar, in term of size" to a GoPro will have a small sensor and therefore poor low-light performance.  If you want better low-light performance from a larger sensor then that means that the depth of field will be shallower, which means that you'll have to focus the lens, which I thought violated your "fast use" criteria.  

I don't really see the problem of having an interchangeable lens - you can simply install a lens and then never take it off.  Almost every camera with a significantly larger sensor will have an interchangeable lens.  Cameras with larger sensors that don't have interchangeable lenses will likely have zoom lenses with very large zoom ranges, making them physically much larger and giving shallower depth of field which makes them require focusing from shot to shot.

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3 hours ago, kye said:

I'm also a bit confused as to what "similar sized" means, because a GoPro and ZV don't seem that similar to me...

image.png.4b488b1b4ee58fc0faa6c3e05d7b7860.png

 

well don't take it litterally, similar in term of siz eit means a very compact machine. Of course gopro is as small as no compact camera can be...but there is also a in general a good  difference between a compact camera like zv1 and interchangeable lens ones. Also for what i understand a compact one can have a long range lens (which is something i would like to have) in the same size, while an interchangeable camera get bulkier to get a long range lens (and probably more expensive?)

Compact camera can have 1" sensor which i believe can be better than the gopro sensor..let me tell you, my samsung m51 shot inside better than gopro, for what i have seen

 

Anyway, as long as the camera can have a good range lens, and be enough compact in size , with lens or not..yes both they will do

Main thing is that should be fast to use!

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2 hours ago, stefanocps said:

well don't take it litterally, similar in term of siz eit means a very compact machine. Of course gopro is as small as no compact camera can be...but there is also a in general a good  difference between a compact camera like zv1 and interchangeable lens ones. Also for what i understand a compact one can have a long range lens (which is something i would like to have) in the same size, while an interchangeable camera get bulkier to get a long range lens (and probably more expensive?)

Compact camera can have 1" sensor which i believe can be better than the gopro sensor..let me tell you, my samsung m51 shot inside better than gopro, for what i have seen

 

Anyway, as long as the camera can have a good range lens, and be enough compact in size , with lens or not..yes both they will do

Main thing is that should be fast to use!

Here is the GX85 compared to the ZV-1

image.png.d74882ed7ea872424189d709525ff508.png

The camera is bigger but not by much, and the sensor is significantly larger.  If you put a small lens on it then it wouldn't be that big.  Here it is with the 12-32mm kit lens.

9.jpeg

Obviously the ZV-1 or a point-and-shoot would be smaller and easier to use, but you said you wanted better low-light and I'm not really sure how much better it would really be.

I appreciate having a camera that's fast to use, but in reality it's about how prepared you are, how familiar you are with the camera, and how good you are at planning and anticipating things rather than reacting.  I shoot travel with a GH5 using manual lenses and I can be holding the camera in my hand by my waist, see something, turn it on while bringing it up to my eye, manually focus while adjusting composition, and be recording in only a few seconds.  I've changed my process to actually hit record before I have focused the lens so that the first frame in focus will be in the file and usable in the edit.

If you're using this thing as a b-camera then I'm imagining:

  • You have another camera that you're setting up
  • At least one of these is on a tripod (you're not holding both at the same time I'm assuming)

Adding a few extra seconds to the process of hitting record on your second camera doesn't sound like it's really that big a deal?  A GoPro is fixed focus, auto-everything.  A GX85 with a manual lens could be set to a specific distance and taped in place, and the camera itself can be set to auto-everything.  Both would require you to turn them on and hit record.  Maybe the GoPro does it in one button press and maybe the GX85 requires you to turn the knob and then hit the record button, but I can't imagine that's somehow going to make any significant difference.

Sadly, most "what camera" questions don't have a good answer because there is no camera that meets peoples requirements, so it's about understanding what you're doing enough to understand which criteria matters least and must be sacrificed in order to have any options at all.  I could be wrong, but it seems like this might be the situation you're facing here.

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I have a Fuji XT3 and i am happy with its results. 

Now the thing is that gopro was a present as i like to have a camera to use in  a very quick mode, and i can carry in my pocket. This is the main difference, and that's why i compare zv1 to gopro. Gopro is in my pocket, switch on and record..just like, i think, i could do with a zv1(i say that for example)

So i want to be able to use it mainly in this mode, and when it is the occasion as a B camera,(but it is not mandatory)..as long as it give me acceptable result i woul use it as B camera. Gopro give me horrible results

I still have my Panasoni GH3 that can also be used for the B camera pourposes

The GX85, is not so bigger than ZV1 but i m sure it will not go so easily in my pocket and that make a big  difference. In a   point and shot, scenario,as, as you say, with a very good knoledge the 2 can compare, but still, i am almost sure that zv1 will be faster and more accurate results( starting from AF which is panasonic weakness).

Of course if i use it as B camera everything change...but i want a POINT and SHot Camera that ocasionally  can be used as B camera with acceptable results...not the opposite

Basically i would like to have a "Digital Diary", to have it with me whenever and start to film at anytime. With some chance to be used as B camera...

P.S.

I still have 1 week left to send back to amazon the gopro and have full refund to invest in another camera...and i feel i need to rush to make up my mind

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37 minutes ago, stefanocps said:

i still think that even a 1" would be a great improvement to the gopro sensor, though

Yeah but a M4/3 is even better, and a FF sensor is super better, where do you stop? I just sold my Sony RX0 II, my fingers are to big, but yeah it had a crazy good output and color science. So yeah even it is an improvement over a GoPro. There really isn't any great, small as heck solution when you get spoiled by a FF camera. Everything else is a compromise.

Heck even a Sigma FP is really not little by the time you add the viewfinder and the handle.

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49 minutes ago, webrunner5 said:

Yeah but a M4/3 is even better, and a FF sensor is super better, where do you stop? I just sold my Sony RX0 II, my fingers are to big, but yeah it had a crazy good output and color science. So yeah even it is an improvement over a GoPro. There really isn't any great, small as heck solution when you get spoiled by a FF camera. Everything else is a compromise.

Heck even a Sigma FP is really not little by the time you add the viewfinder and the handle.

well..this is quite nosense....the range wher ei want to move within don't go that further, because stating from m43 the object will become much biger

so the alternative s a 1" sensor, that give the possibility to have a compact size and more control on image..

so there is no need to go that around...i think i have focused a range didnt'i?

 

You said about the osmo..why?

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