Sony has announced a launch event for a "new compact camera" on its Alpha Twitter account – and rumors suggest it could be a promising ZV-1 compact aimed at YouTubers.
The event will take place on May 26 at 10am ET / 3pm BST, or midnight on 27 May AEST. Aside from that, there isn't a huge amount of info on the invite other than the silhouette of a compact with a side-flipping screen and what appears to be a microphone windshield.
But some apparent leaks from Nokishita and Sony Alpha Rumors might just have filled in the blanks, with the event looking highly likely to be for the new Sony ZV-1. Nokishita has been a consistently reliable source of camera rumors and its apparent press text leak describes the Sony ZV-1 as being a 1-inch compact camera that can shoot 4K video and is "designed for vloggers and content creators".
Apparently, it'll have a 24-70mm zoom lens (the same focal range as earlier RX100 cameras like the Sony RX100 Mark V), plus image stabilization and, as the silhouette in Sony's event announcement shows, a vari-angle screen.
If correct, Nokishita's leak suggests the ZV-1 will have a 3-capsule microphone and a 3.5mm input jack for those who want to add an external microphone.
- Read our guide to the best vlogging cameras you can buy right now
- These are the best compact cameras in the world
- Check out our in-depth DJI Mavic Air 2 review
Video star
The Nokishita leak followed what appeared to be the first leaked images of the camera from Sony Alpha Rumors (above).
These point towards a similar design to the Sony RX100 series, only with a few crucial tweaks – including a very large video recording button and that side-flipping screen, which is much more suitable for vlogging than the vertical flip-screen on the Sony RX100 VII.
All in all, this feature set would make the rumored ZV-1 a potentially excellent compact vlogging camera. We're already fans of the RX100 VII and features like Real-time Eye AF for video. But if the ZV-1 does indeed have the brighter 28-70mm f/1.8 to f/2.8 lens from the RX100 Mark V, as the rumors suggest, then it could be a fine combination for anyone looking to level up from their smartphone for vlogging.
That said, there's still a lot we don't know about the Sony ZV-1, including pricing, video codecs and whether or not it actually is the camera Sony is announcing on May 26 – so stay tuned to TechRadar for more official news.
- These are the best vlogging cameras you can buy right now
