Sony ZV-1 & Fujifilm x Half: Dear Sony…
Subtitle: A tale of two 1″ sensor cameras.
Short version of my letter to Sony:
Great Guts/Performance… That Costume/Interface Though…
These cameras have a few similarities.
- 1″ sensor.
- Touch screen.
- Face Detection.
- Decent resolution.
- Manual exposure.
- Manual focusing.
- Microphone port.
- Relatively bright apertures.
But when speaking about technical specs only the ZV-1 goes on to absolutely murder the x Half.
- Gyrospcopic stabilization.
- Allows for stabilizing video in post.
- IBIS.
- Tally light.
- Much better video specs.
- Articulating screen.
- Hot shoe.
- RAW support.
- 24 fps constant shooting where the x Half has 1 fps.
- Zoom lens is a perk for some.
- Built in ND filter.
- Eye AF tracking, including Animals.
The x half mounts a brief defense.
- Built in flash.
- Has an optical viewfinder where the ZV-1 has none.
- Great battery life.
- A perk of lower power needs than the X100VI it shares a battery with.
- Headphone port… for some reason even though video is not this camera’s deal.
- As of the writing of this post, the x Half costs less.
Based on technical specs alone, the Sony ZV-1 wins handily. For a sanity check, I took a ZV-1 on a test spin. And as usual, it performed flawlessly.
Unimpeachable AF performance.
Highlighted in this IG sequence.
And that ZEISS zoom lens on the ZV-1 is amazing.
To recap.
- Faster AF.
- Versatile zoom lens with a faster aperture at the wider end of the focal range.
- Arguably better IQ.
- Does better in low light by my experience. Especially if you are shooting in color.
It is a camera you can point in a general direction and fire away, and you will very likely come away with a great pic.
Great for product photography.
A perfect camera for silent and stealthy street photography.
So much so that I have compared it favorably to an APS-C instathreadface darling.
So, of course, the camera I prefer to use would be…
<ahem> The Fujiflm x Half.
Hold on. Hold on. I know this does not make sense, but please pat attention to the exact question asked.
Which camera do I “prefer to use”, not which is the better camera.
And the better camera does not necessarily make for the camera I want to use. Or more specifically, the camera that I enjoy using more.
So what gives?
I go back to what I said in the opening.
Great Guts/Performance… That Costume/Interface Though…
Fujifilm nails the experience part.
This is where some might expect a step-by-step walk of why I prefer using the x Half. But, here is the thing…
I struggle to explain in it anything that remotely resembles coherent sentences. So…
If I just need the pic, and that is what matters most?
Sony ZV-1.
If I am out and about casually shooting, and I do not mind missing a pic here or there?
Fujifilm x Half.
Does this make sense?
No. But if you are expecting things to make sense… photography might not be the best hobby because on paper it can be argued that a camera phone cleans the floor with the x Half.
So that is where I close.
Advice.
Pfft. I have none to give, other than this.
Try a camera out before you dismiss it based on specs alone.
You may be surprised.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 