Sony announces ZV-E10 II and E PZ 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS II lens

Sony has refreshed its blogger-friendly ZV-E10 camera, and also released a new 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 lens.

The ZV-E10 II gets a new sensor, the same 26MP BSI CMOS sensor as found in the a6700, and is able to deliver 4K video at up to 60 frames a second, thanks to a newer Bionz XR processor, rather than the 'X' of its predecessor. 

This is a significant improvement on the previous version which only captured at 30fps, many online reviews criticised that camera for its significant rolling shutter in 4K modes, so this is a welcome addition. It's also now capable of capturing 10-bit video.

According to Sony, all the camera's 4K modes are taken from oversampled 6K for modes up to 30p and 5.6K (with a 1.1x crop) for the 50 and 60p modes.

However, there's no in-body stabilisation in the camera, so digital stabilisation applies a further 1.33x crop, meaning the newly announced 16-50mm kit lens will only offer a 32mm equiv. field of view, at its widest, if you want to use the digital stabilisation.

Unfortunately the ZV-E10 II doesn't include Sony's 'AI processing unit' to enhance its autofocus, but does include some subject-recognition algorithms, along with the relatively new focus breathing compensation function that, with recognised Sony lenses, crops in to the narrowest field of view then progressively adjusts the crop and scaling to maintain consistent framing as the focus distance changes.

The ZV-E10 II also maintains many of the features of the original, such as Creative Looks, Product Showcase Setting, Background Defocus function and the vari-angle flip screen. It weighs 377g. 

The ZV-E10 II also uses Sony's larger NP-FZ100 battery, allowing it to record for much longer. 

In addition, Sony has also released a refreshed version of its compact, retractable power zoom, the E PZ 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS II lens. The version II will let you focus while zooming, but is otherwise little changed.

The new ZV-E10 II will be available in Australia from August 2024, and will set you back $1,849 AUD. The E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS II in black will be available from September for $599.