Sony’s II ZV-E10 vlog camera delivers a lot of features at a great price point. Now the camera has become even better value for money with a free upgrade that delivers 4K 120 frames per second (fps) recording. If your camera is set to a PAL region, you will get 4K 100 fps recording.
License upgrade
Interestingly, you don’t enable the new 4K 120 fps recording mode on the ZV-E10 II with a simple firmware update. Instead, Sony has released the feature via a license upgrade. To update your ZV-E10 II, you need to go to Sony’s Creators’ Cloud website. Once there, you can create a license for the 4K 120 fps mode. You then copy the license file to the root directory of a memory card and insert it into your camera. Follow the instructions on the screen of your ZV-E10 II and click OK when the license has been successfully loaded.
Slow motion
Once you have installed the upgrade license, you can record in 4K at 120 fps or 100 fps in regular movie recording mode. The new faster frame rates are also available in the camera’s S&Q (slow-motion/quick-motion) recording mode. Footage recorded at 120 fps in S&Q mode will play back in slow motion without any need for processing in post-production. In addition, the license adds 240 fps recording in Full HD to the S&Q mode.
Restrictions
There are some restrictions with the new recording options. 4K 120 fps recording is only available with Long GOP inter-frame compression. There’s also a crop of around 1.6x on your image when recording in the new high frame rate.
Additionally, proxy recording, Smart Zoom, Clear Image Zoom, Digital Zoom and Active SteadyShot are all restricted. These restrictions apply whether you use regular movie mode or S&Q mode.
What we think
The Sony ZV-E10 II has been a very popular camera with content creators and vloggers. It was already a big upgrade on the first generation model with the option for shooting 60 fps in 4K. Now with the free upgrade to 120 fps, the camera is sure to attract new fans. If you already own a ZV-E10 II, you should download the new license to update your camera now. For anyone considering buying the ZV-E10 II, it just became an even more attractive prospect.
Pricing and availability
The 4k 120 fps license for the Sony ZV-E10 II mirrorless camera is available free of charge from the Creators’ Cloud website.
