Important Vlogging Basics with the Sony ZV-E10 Digital Camera
Vlogging also known as video blogging, has become a valuable tool to share your personal experiences with people around the world. The introduction of the Sony ZV-E10, Sony’s latest vlogging camera, has established itself as one of the most powerful tools for vloggers who want crisp video and clear audio to influence their followers.
Designed for the vlogger, the Sony ZV-E10 Digital Camera is small and lightweight, which makes it perfect for a vlogging camera, but inside its small chassis exists a powerhouse of image capture for video and stills that won’t leave you wanting.
Mix high-quality image capture with ease of functionality, and a sweet flip-out view screen that enables you to focus on your subject matter and not get lost in the technical aspects of your camera, and you end up with the ZV-E10—built for vlogging.
Sony ZV-E10 Digital Camera - Vlogging Basics
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The Basics Of Vlogging
If you are new to vlogging and unsure of what vlogging entails to create successful content, here’s an important lesson to learn. Vlogging isn’t just talking directly into a webcam, it’s a personal video diary of your life and feelings that you’re sharing with friends and even people you’ve never met.
Sure it’s easy just to turn your video camera on and begin capturing your life and thoughts as a stream of consciousness, but that’s just the start, there is another side to vlogging that content creators tend to forget about, and that is editing.
Editing is extremely important in the “video blog” process because you want to make sure that the content you have created is coherent and creative.
Related Article: Sony ZV-E10 Comparison To The Best Vlogging Cameras Today
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Planning
If you want to be a flourishing content creator, the key to being successful is maintaining an active blog of any kind that’s being updated weekly with fresh content to expand and maintain your audience.
That’s why it’s important to have a decent amount of content waiting to be scheduled over a certain time frame because, as we all know, life happens and gets in the way of our plans. Something to keep in mind when planning scheduled content is to keep your content timely.
Having a scheduled vlogging plan, with timely content, will help you during the slow periods when there is nothing topical going on. The ability to deliver to your audience a new episode regularly will be your key to vlogging success.
Editing
The Sony ZV-E10 video records UHD 4K video as MP4 using the XAVC S codec with a data rate up to 100 Mb/s, and HD in AVCHD at up to 24 Mb/s, both of which should be easy for your NLE (non-linear editing) system to handle, so you won’t need any specific hardware to manage with your footage. It captures to SD cards—SDHC, SDHC, or Sony’s own Memory Stick Duo Hybrid cards.
In addition to high-resolution internal recording, uncompressed HDMI output also enables the use of an optional external recorder for clean 4K recording with 4:2:2 sampling.
Production Value
Another piece to the puzzle of being a successful vlogger is to ensure you have great video quality and clear audio. High-quality video and sound are the most important for those who will be creating longer content videos.
Have you ever watched a YouTube video with bad video quality or bad audio? How long did you tolerate it before switching to a new video?
Having horrible pictures or sound makes it very difficult to keep the attention of your viewers for several minutes. This is where the ZV-E10 and its 4K resolution, nifty shooting features, and sound recording options shine.
Plus, the image quality from Sony‘s ZV-E10 24MP is equal to that of the Sony Alpha 6100, that’s to say, extremely good. JPEGs display appealing colors and extremely good element retention, even at better ISO values. Raw overall performance is likewise pretty good, presenting an amazing degree of range for editing, though Raw documents are compressed in a ‘lossy’ style and excessive edits might also additionally flip up a few artifacts.
Also, the Sony ZV-E10 Digital Camera can also be used as a webcam through USB without needing extra hardware for product showcase vlogs.
If you want to see an example of what I am referring to with the Sony ZV-E10 Digital Camera, check out this test footage video below.
Lenses
Don’t want to be held back with a built-in lens? Professional-looking vlogs are easy with the ZV-E10, thanks to interchangeable lenses that capture the world however you choose to see it.
Compared to the Sony ZV-1 with its built-in 16-50 mm lens, the ZV-E10. Is more versatile in the way you want to shoot a photograph or video.
Below are some suggestions of lenses to add to a ZV-E10 mirrorless camera.
A wide-angle lens makes it easy to capture dynamic footage, spotlighting both you and your location when you’re taking selfies. Capture more of the city or the natural backdrop, and bring your viewers along with you in a shared experience.
A fixed-focal-length lens makes it easy to shoot a vlog that grabs the viewer’s attention. This type of lens creates a smooth, natural background blur that lets the subject stand out. It’s also useful when you want a brighter image in a dimly lit setting.
Unlike other types of lenses, a macro lens can get you closer to your subject, allowing you to capture the small details at a bigger size than normal lenses. Whether it’s an accessory you’re wearing or a meal you’re preparing, a macro lens can pull in very close to your subject and show off every glorious detail.
With a telephoto lens, you can shoot far-off objects, scenery, or action with clear detail, whether you’re vlogging while traveling or just shooting everyday life. Zooming in and out can also add an extra dynamic element to your story.
Sony’s E-Mount lens lineup can add an extra dimension to the vlogs you make with the ZV-E10. Sony offers more than 60 lenses that are ideally designed for Sony cameras, including lenses that are tailored to movie making. Select from a unique lineup of lenses, and explore your powers of self-expression.
Related Article: How to Film Yourself – 10+ Best Practical Vlogging Pro Tips
Audio
Built into the top of the Sony ZV-E10 vlogging camera is a modest microphone. This directional 3-capsule microphone is small enough to not get in the way but robust enough to offer a fair amount of rejection of background audio noise, so you can hear your on-camera subject clearly.
Plus, with many vlogging microphones available today, they often don’t include a windscreen, while this built-in microphone includes a windscreen to help prevent distracting audio artifacts caused by the wind rushing over the microphone.
Surprisingly, for a built-in camera microphone, this mic delivers excellent audio, and you can always use external mics using the built-in 3.5 mm mic jack.
4K Video Recording
Every great camera can record video in 4k, even the latest smartphones are now pushing 6K video, but with vlogging, most of your video blog posts will be streamed over the Internet and Wi-Fi, so 4K is more than enough for a content creator.
Plus, if you are looking to save space uploading to your streaming account, streaming at 1080p or lower resolution is still enough for quality vlogging videos just like streaming via a smartphone.
Just like the previous sony vlogging camera, the Sony ZV-1, the Sony ZV-E10 Digital Camera shoots in 4K UHD, as well as Full HD, and its Cmos sensor has more than enough resolution to shoot in 4K UHD. Plus it has an unlimited record time, so as long as you have enough battery power and space on your memory card, you don’t have to worry about recording time limits.
In terms of 4k vlogging camera competitors, the closest that can compare to the Sony ZV-E10 Digital camera in terms of features is the Canon EOS M50 II, and the Sony stands out for quite a few reasons.
But, the biggest reason the Sony ZV-E10 Digital camera stands out the most is the quality of its 4K footage is far superior because the M50 II crops its 4K footage heavily, plus the Sony has an edge in video autofocus as well.
Related Article: Best Microphones For Youtube Vlogging
Storytelling
Vlogging is visual storytelling, and to be creative in your visual storytelling, you need to switch up the way you film your videos. The filmmaking standard usually takes place at 24 (or 30) fps, but with vlogging, you need to create new environments for your audience to be drawn into, and this is where you need to change things up once in and awhile.
With so many distractions going on in life, it’s important to have as many creative storytelling tools readily available. With the Sony ZV-E10 Digital Camera, not only can you vlog in 4K 30fps, but you can shoot in HD at 120 fps.
Plus, if you want to slow down the action, even more, the Sony ZV-E10 Digital Camera has a high frame mode where you can shoot remarkably sharp images at 240, 480, and even up to 960 fps! This means if you normally shoot at 24 fps, you are slowing the action down 40 times.
Having the ability to change your frame rate on the fly, you can produce incredibly clean images, with motion that is almost agonizingly slow, and incredibly smooth.
Also, another great vlogging feature the ZV-E10 uses is the same exceptional autofocus system as Sony’s most recent a6000-series, with 425 PDAF points and 84% sensor coverage.
What this means is you will have a highly reliable face and eye detection functionality, which Sony has dubbed ‘Real-Time Tracking.’ The majority of Sony’s competitors, don’t offer these features that are well integrated into the AF user interface. For example, when your chosen AF point overlaps with a human subject, face/eye detection will kick in automatically – it will then disengage automatically when the AF point is moved away from a human face.
It’s a wondrous vlogging tool that is literally in the palm of your hand.
Background Defocus
Defocus mode is a feature that I love on my Apple iPhone, which is called portrait mode, but with the Sony ZV-E10 digital camera, this impressive feature does exactly what it says.
All you need to do in defocus mode is set up your shot, and with a simple press of a dedicated button, the camera will adjust to render the background out of focus (bokeh) while leaving your camera subject in focus.
It is a pretty neat trick, and can really add to the production value of your vlogging creations.
Related Article: 10 Best Screenwriting Software For Film (Free and Paid)
Accessories To Add To A Vlogging Kit
When it comes to vlogging, having Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity is a requirement for every vlogger because you need to be able to transfer your footage on the fly or set your camera on a tripod, so you don’t have to hold it while talking.
Of course, if you are the type of vlogger that creates content on the go, you will need a handle to hold the camera while you record yourself live. Sony offers a tripod accessory (sold separately) that offers a Bluetooth remote control that is built into a comfortable handle that also works as a tabletop tripod, and works perfectly with the Sony ZV-E10 Digital Camera.
The Sony Vlogger Accessory Kit, which I recommend buying, includes an SD card with the remote handle that creates the complete vlogging kit for every vlogger.
Summary
The basics mentioned above with the Sony ZV-E10 Digital Camera will have you ready to vlog today.
So, if you are looking buy the best vlogging camera today, the Sony ZV-E10 Mirrorless Camera (Black Body) with its 24MP APS-C mirrorless interchangeable lens camera is aimed at vloggers.
With features like an articulating selfie LCD screen with menu touch capability, 4K Autofocus(AF) video capture, headphone and microphone ports, and a variety of add-on accessories to aid in video stabilization capture, you will be able to boost your vlogging production value with this camera.
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About the author: Trent (IMDB | Youtube) has spent 10+ years working on an assortment of film and television projects. He writes about his experiences to help (and amuse) others. If he’s not working, he’s either traveling, reading or writing about travel/film, or planning travel/film projects.