I decided to collect some experience with filming in 4K and synchronise audio from my field recorder via timecode. In addition I looked for a camera with clean HDMI 4K video out. So I bought the extremely small but very capable Sony ZV-1.
It's advertised as a Vlogging camera, doesn't fullfill my demands for having a great photography experience, since it has neither an optical nor an electronic viewfinder, is too small for comfortable handling, has a IMO terrible menu system, 1" sensor. For better handling I added a Smallrigg cage with wooden grip. Looks really cool and now size- and weight wise is very similar to my old Canon Powershot G10.
As advertised the ZV-1 shows great for video capabilities. But I was surprised that it also delivers very good image quality - at least when using my raw converter Capture One Pro.
The sensor delivers
5.472 x 3.648 px (3:2). This is what the specs say and what Capture One Pro exactly delivers. Surprise: the previews of the ARW files show that there are a lot more pixels at the right and left side. In Capture One I can get these pixels when I change crop to "unconstrained". Result: I get
5978 x 3648 px ! That's significantly more and yields to an aspect ratio of around 16:9.76 - really cool.
I checked what I get using Affinity Photo and Raw Therapee.
Affinity Photo delivers
5496 x 3672 px and and Raw Therapee
5488 x 3664 px. So vertically slightly more than Capture One Pro but the additional "landscape pixels" seem not to be available.
I suspect Sony puts a little bit more sensor area at the right and left to optimise panning in video mode, keep crop in 4K relatively small and support a special panorama mode similar what some smartphones support. Seems to be unusual that raws converters can grab these additional pixels.
The ZV-1 can't do what I do with mein Pentax DSLRs and vice versa - so looks like a good and not too expensive addition. Thought that my findings might be interesting for some other Pentax users too.
The same image but different pixel dimensions and aspect ratio:
3:2 - standard size in Capture One Pro
Nearly 16:10 using "unconstrained" crop in Capture One Pro
Last edited by acoufap; 05-27-2021 at 01:25 PM.