Sony RX100M7 vs Sony ZV-1 vs GoPro Hero 8 Black for Vlogging

As is pretty much always the case on the internet, the "Vs" in the title is a little bit misleading, especially when it comes to the GoPro. There are things I'm going to use the GoPro for that I wouldn't ever use the Sony for, and vice versa. Also, I don't know if I'm really a "Vlogger", but my videos do generally include at least some exposition in which I'm talking directly to a camera, so I'm gonna count it. 

Regardless, I bought a new camera! The Sony ZV-1:

The ZV-1 is supposed to be "For Vloggers". It has a flip out screen, allegedly better internal microphones, and an F1.8 lens in comparison to the RX100M7's F2.8 lens.

​Speaking of the RX100M7, that's my current camera for good video:

This was Sony's last attempt at a "Vlogger" camera, adding a mic jack and flip up screen to their already popular RX100 line. It's an excellent camera, but the screen that flips up instead of out is blocked by any external mic, and I wasn't super pleased with the low light performance, pretty much totally due to the F2.8 lens. Using an F2.8 lens that goes out to 200mm was a very strange choice for a vlogging camera. 

The last piece of the puzzle is the GoPro Hero 8 Black. 

Obviously a different camera with a different use case than either of the Sonys, the GoPro is actually pretty damn well suited to vlog style videos, especially if you pick up the MediaMod ( https://amzn.to/37mCXrB ) which adds two cold shoe mounts, an integrated shotgun mic, and a mic jack for external mics. 

It's small size and relatively rugged nature makes it easy to carry anywhere, and there are a literal mountain of accessories to mount it to anything you want in any manner you desire. It's very wide lens also makes it damn near impossible to NOT be in the shot if it's pointed in your general direction, so you don't even really need a screen to make sure you're totally in the shot. You just are. 

It's especially effective when I do car stuff. It can be stuck to the windshield to get good in-car footage, stuck to the back glass to show me installing stuff on the interior, stuck to the outside of the car to capture exhaust sounds, etc. Pretty damn handy.

Right now, I generally use the Hero 8 Black for "Vlog" style stuff and The Sony for the "good footage" that I talk over. I would like all of my footage to be good though, it sucks when I'm in a low light situation and the go pro's footage doesn't look great, but I also wanted something portable, so the ZV1 looked perfect. It's very similar to the RX100VII, but with a few features that make it better for video. 

Front: RX100VII, Rear: ZV-1

First, they addressed that dark F2.8 lens with a much brighter F1.8 lens. This basically means that more light reaches the sensor. This makes low light photos and videos look a lot better. Also the screen flips out to the side instead of straight up, so it's not in your way if you use a mic mounted to the top. Speaking of mounting things, there's now a hot shoe on the top in place of the viewfinder, and the built-in mics have received a pretty solid upgrade. It's very slightly thicker than the RX100, and it's also lighter thanks to a body built in part with composite material for better heat dissipation. 

ZV-1: 289g

RX100VII: 305g

I won't bother running down all the specs here, I'm pretty sure you get the idea, and if not you can check out any one of the numerous ZV-1 reviews out there. This one from DPreview is very good. I did, however, want to shoot some test footage and see how the ZV-1 stacks up against my existing camera equipment, so I'm stop typing and let the video do the talking. 

For the videos, I kept both Sony cameras in "Intelligent Auto" mode, just to level the playing field. I put the GoPro in auto mode except for with the high bitrate on to give it at least a fighting chance in terms of image quality. All footage is in 4k 24fps at the highest available bit rate, which on the Sony cameras is 100mb. 

Affiliate links:
RX100VII: amzn.to/2AyVV2b
GoPro Hero 8 Black: amzn.to/2MVaaks
GoPro Media Mod: amzn.to/2XWTLlO
Sony ZV-1: amzn.to/3d1e71w