Sony has unveiled another vlogging-focused camera in its ZV range, and this one's designed a little differently to the other two. 

It's called the ZV-1F and features a fixed, prime, ultrawide lens and is designed specifically for people who like to film themselves. The idea being that you can capture yourself and also get a lot of background in at the same time. 

You can zoom digitally if you want to, and still get 4K resolution while you move between focal lengths using a technology that Sony calls Clear Image Zoom, which essentially crops into the 20.1-megapixel CMOS sensor. 

It still features many of the tools that made the previous ZV models ideal for content creators. The background bokeh switch remains, allowing you to quickly switch on a natural depth effect with the flick of a button. 

You also get the product showcase setting which automatically and quickly focuses on an object if you hold it up to the camera, and switches back to your face when you remove it from the scene. 

For shooting while moving there's an active mode which electronically stabilises footage to keep it smooth while running/walking and - just like so many other Sony cameras - you get eye autofocusing that works on humans and animals. 

The camera has a proper flip-out screen too, and Sony has reimagined the user interface to make it more intuitive for people used to shooting with their smartphones. That means you can touch to zoom and control a lot of the settings without touching any buttons. 

It's designed with a more accessible price point in mind, to tempt smartphones users to switch to a 'proper' camera, and  - in so doing - has lost a few of the features of the more expensive models. 

Sony ZV-1F photo 2
Sony

That means you get just contrast autofocus, not phase detection. You also only get 4K shooting up to 30 frames-per-second (no 60fps here). It does have up to 5x slow motion and 60x speed hyperlapse in the S&Q settings though. 

Its body is pretty much the same size as the ZV-1, but it weights 40 grams less, and features a tally light to show when you're recording, which is joined by a red frame around the display when you press record. 

Once you're done, you can quickly transfer the footage over to your phone for sharing on social media using the Sony Imaging Edge Mobile Plus app. And the camera knows when it's in vertical or horizontal orientation, and rotates the footage to match. And - if you want to - you can use it as a webcam. Just plug it into your laptop, and use it as a higher quality camera for your Zoom and Teams calls. 

The Sony ZV-1F will be available to buy this month and will cost around €650 in Europe, making it the cheapest camera in Sony's ZV lineup. 

Sony ZV-1F