I am a second career filmmaker who has a great love and respect for technology and its impact on every aspect of life.   I have seen huge advancements in film making in such a short space of time - how we capture the footage, edit the content and even how our audiences consume and view the results.

As a result, I am always keen to incorporate new kit into my workflow that not only improves technique but also makes the capture process easier and the creative results better. So, to be able to just carry one small camera and lens handheld offered great freedom without having to compromise on quality or creativity.

What was your first impression of the lens?

My workhorse lens has always been the FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM but I also own the FE 20mm f/1.8 G prime so having the extended ultra-wide focal length in one lens was a huge bonus. I don’t vlog so I used the additional angle of view for the big dramatic wedding shots on location.  It’s a very compact and comfortable size and weight to use both on the ZV-E1 but also on my Sony 7S III bodies. The dust and moisture resistant design is an important feature for me because living in Cornwall means I am often dealing with the elements and lens build quality is absolutely critical.

How did you find the performance?

I need to work quickly and responsively with my clients and don’t get to carefully plan shots or angles - much more working by instinct and going with the flow. There is never time to review what I am capturing so I am totally reliant on my kit to deliver beautiful and sharp content. Historically I would be changing lenses on the fly to make sure I had the combination of wide angled location shots as well as the flattering portrait type content too. So, from a workflow perspective a single lens was a huge benefit - I didn’t even need to carry a bag, gimbal, or monopod. This lens works beautifully in sync with the Sony bodies in terms of the focusing system and image stabilisation, so I was able to shoot with complete confidence and at times using just one hand!

Filming on location in variable conditions without a viewfinder on the Sony ZV-E1 meant that I often couldn’t see clearly what I was capturing - particularly when I had the camera above eye level or right down on the sand or at the water’s edge. I completely trust the combination of Sony cameras and lenses in conjunction with the autofocus system. This is such a massive leap forward in filming technique that I can’t stress enough!  My two most favourite autofocus features are Zone and Eye AF. I use Zone for all of the wider-angle shots in conjunction with the tracking feature and then the camera automatically picks up and tracks the subject’s eyes for the closer up work. This meant that I was able to film a huge variety of shots very quickly which gave me a lot of choice back in the studio for the edit.

Although I love and rely on the Sony autofocus system, I do sometimes use manual focusing and so the addition of a manual focus ring on the lens is much appreciated.  A top tip is to also set a custom button to AF/MF toggle.  If you then start a shot manually out of focus, press record and press the custom button the camera will smoothly pull the shot back into focus on your chosen subject.  Don’t forget you can control the speed and sensitivity of the transition by making adjustments in the menus.

How did you find the Sony ZV-E1 on location?

It was fantastic to be out in the field with such a compact and lightweight full frame camera body that offered such unbelievable features.  For both shoots I captured 4K footage shot at 50fps because I knew that I would want to zoom in and slow down a lot of the footage.  I also shot in 10-bit 4:2:2 so I could maximise the grading process in post-production.  Probably the most impressive features for me were those relating to in camera stabilisation - I barely stood still for the shoots and found myself scrambling over rocks and pools of water following the couple.  Being able to hold the camera and lens with just one hand was also incredibly liberating. I also love the addition of Multiple Face Recognition where the camera automatically adjusts the focus/depth of field to ensure that all the people in the frame are in focus - even smoothly adjusting when someone new enters the scene!