From the perspective of "Co-Creation," the "SESSIONS" series features dialogues that introduce the activities of Sony's diverse employees to create Kando, based on Sony's Purpose to "fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology." Through conversations between Sony employees and our various partners, this series gives a candid look at scenes from real Sony projects, demonstrating what kinds of "Co-Creation" are enabled by the combination of Sony's creativity and technology with the efforts of business partners and creators, and what kind of Kando these initiatives spread around the world.

In this Session installment, we focus on the Sony vlog camera, which is a camera geared toward capturing video and still to meet the creative needs of vloggers, and a wide range of users. We look at the genesis of the product, which is a go-to for creators of videos on sites like YouTube. You'll see a dialogue between the product planner, an employee in their 20s, and a video creator who actually uses the Sony vlog cameras on a daily basis to create videos.

What are vlog cameras?

Whereas blogs consist of pieces of writing shared online, vlogs-which are becoming increasingly widespread in recent years-take the form of short videos commonly posted to YouTube or through other social media platforms. Those who create and post vlogs are known as vloggers. Sony's high-performance vlog cameras are lightweight and highly portable, ready to be taken out and put to use in an instant. From the Product Showcase Set to the Soft Skin Effect and more, they come packed with a full range of features that offer support for the demands of vlog shooting. Sony currently offers the ZV-1 and ZV-E10 models.

PROFILE

Co-creation partner
Keisuke Takasawa
Digital Life Content Creator
Keisuke Takasawa YouTube channel

Vlog camera planning member
Eri Kitazawa
Product Planning Department 1,
Product Planning Division,
Imaging Products & Solutions Business Group,
Sony Corporation

Facilitating video expression with greater ease and creativity through co-creation between Sony and content creators

—— "With the rapidly growing number of people posting video content via YouTube and social media these past few years, I've made a point of tuning in to their wants and needs," says Eri Kitazawa, a product planning member for Sony vlog cameras. Now today, a widespread community of creators uses Sony vlog cameras to create video content and share it with the world. For this session, we welcome one of these creators, Keisuke Takasawa, who joins Eri Kitazawa for a discussion with us focused on Sony vlog cameras.

Motivation for the development of Sony's vlog cameras

Eri Kitazawa: Until joining Sony, I'd mainly been a smartphone user myself, to where I could scarcely recall shooting with an actual camera. So I had this vision of developing a camera that would be intuitive for a smartphone user to grasp. I was hoping to make a camera for the user interested in capturing great photo and video content, yet was still a little intimidated by the level of expertise that it might require. I wanted to just clear away that hurdle for them. And with that in mind, I was able to get the ball rolling on developing Sony's vlog cameras in a way that never lost sight of the user's perspective.

Keisuke Takasawa: My sense is that in this current era, there's been a shift of focus toward the subject matter featured more than the type of gear used to shoot it. And I feel like Sony's vlog camera just offered a perfect fit with that when it appeared on the scene.

Kitazawa: I get the impression of a fundamental distinction in user expectations between "video productions" per se and content intended for vlog posting. Whereas up until now, it would have been desirable for a shot to gradually come into focus and yield a great scene, for instance, now it might be preferable to have shots quickly focus on what you want to show. More than a demand for high-resolution imagery, there might be a greater desire to smooth the appearance of the skin, as the camera tends to be so close to the face when shooting selfies. That's my sense of the distinctions between those different modes of shooting.

Takasawa: It's true, I really can't help but worry how my skin's turning out when I shoot selfies! (Laughs)

Kitazawa: Especially when you're used to shooting them with a smartphone, where you can have filters applied on the spot, you have to be prepared for a surprise at how your own skin looks with camera shooting! (Laughs) For the vlog camera, I made sure the Soft Skin Effect would be included as a "must-have" feature.

Taking a Sony vlog camera in hand

—— The ZV-1 launched in June 2020. Takasawa seems to have felt that was "just the right time" for it to appear on the scene.

Takasawa: Vlogs were starting to become more widespread at the time but hadn't quite gotten to be ubiquitous. Then Sony chose this auspicious timing to come out with its vlog camera, which made shooting video content a quick and easy task. I just felt like it made a nice fit with the era and was likely to gain widespread acceptance.

The role of Sony Corporation

—— How is Sony able to create high-performance products as compact and lightweight as its vlog camera? There's a reason behind this, it seems.

Kitazawa: Sony produces all the componentry, from sensors to lenses, in-house. My sense is the fact that we produce the components in-house contributes to the vlog camera's compactness and lightweight. I've become involved in Sony's vlog camera development while still in my twenties, though not all our team members are so young. There are veterans of all different age ranges working on the design, for instance.

The potential unlocked by Sony's vlog cameras

—— Sony vlog cameras are used by quite a number of YouTubers, as Takasawa has shared. What sort of features and advantages tailored to content creators do Sony vlog cameras offer that makes them so appealing?

Kitazawa: I made a point of listening to what a wide range of different people had to say, not just here in Japan but in countries I flew to around the world, and I can conclude that the main advantage of our vlog camera is the way it comes packed with features that were based on input from vloggers. Take the Product Showcase Set, for instance, which makes products that you are reviewing snap into focus with the click of a button. This is a feature we included based on input from content creators.

Takasawa: To put it simply, I think it might have empowered a wider range of people to become YouTubers. With these features like the Product Showcase Set and the Soft Skin Effect, they can safely include their own face in video content to be posted and shared without having to worry much about settings or lighting conditions. I think when this camera came out, it expanded the range of users considerably.

Kitazawa: And that really, truly is what I aimed for in developing this camera. I hope more and more people will have the opportunity to pick our vlog camera up and enjoy what it has to offer.

A world where everyone is empowered to create

—— "Anyone with something they're interested in sharing can be a content creator. Sony's vlog cameras open up possibilities beyond recreational and professional use," says Takasawa.
"We hope to provide usability that enables people to enjoy unlocking their creative potential even more," Kitazawa enthuses.

Takasawa: I feel like up until now, uses for cameras fell into just two basic categories: recreational and professional. Using a camera, though, gives everyone the potential to create content of their own. Everyone has the option to share content through social media now, and beyond just hobby-type use, there are also more platforms where there's a potential for receiving compensation for such content. I think it's gotten easier to find justifications for using a camera now. In that sense, I personally feel like this is a nice era we're in right now with this expanded range of uses for cameras.

Kitazawa: Image quality on smartphones has gotten really good now, and I'm sure some people feel like that's enough for them. Still, I also feel that a growing number of people might be getting interested in proceeding to the next level as they shoot more photo and video content. I hope that by providing usability that allows intuitive use even by dedicated smartphone users, we might enable people to enjoy unlocking their creative potential even more!

Takasawa: With people making the jump from a smartphone to a camera as the gear they shoot with, I'd been under the impression that, in terms of image quality, a lot of people were drawn to DSLR cameras. For someone used to shooting with a smartphone, though, I wonder if a DSLR might present a pretty high bar to clear?

Kitazawa: I do feel like DSLR cameras might give an impression of being difficult to use for the average user. Taking into account their size and weight, they tend to be harder to pack around, and another common concern is the uncertainty about which lenses to buy. That makes a Sony vlog camera a popular option as a first camera, with its compact, pocketable size and zoom lens that eliminates the need to pick out lenses individually.

Takasawa: I feel like, in this present era where everyone has options to create their own original content to post and share, a whole range of different things is receiving due appreciation. That's true of the content being shared, as well as the potential for communication and so on, and I just think it's incredible to be in this age where a sort of overall perspective of one individual can get the appreciation it's due.

Personal visions of "Co-Creation"

—— Finally, we asked both participants to touch on their visions of "Co-Creation" with Sony vlog cameras.

Takasawa: I hope Sony will continue to come out with products tailored to the needs of our community of users, and I also feel committed to producing a wide range of new creative content on my end to be worthy of that. I'd love to assemble a group of other creators to go on a trip together with our new cameras after a new model has come out, or something like that. I just think it would be so fun to be able to create something new together through that sort of project or collaboration.

Kitazawa: We also hope to help more and more users take command of their creative potential by continuing to develop products on the technical side in order to live up to the feedback we receive, like desired features.