Sony ZV-E1 vs Leica S2

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Sony ZV-E1 and the Leica S2, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Sony ZV-E1 was introduced in March 2023 and Leica S2 was introduced in September 2008. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony ZV-E1 over Leica S2.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Leica S2 over Sony ZV-E1.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Sony ZV-E1 and Leica S2 have 3.0" screens with 1,037k dot and 460k dot resolutions respectively. Sony ZV-E1 has a Fully Articulated screen which makes it selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Leica S2 has a Fixed screen Sony ZV-E1 also features touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Optical (pentaprism) Viewfinder on Leica S2

Leica S2 has a built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder. It has a 96% coverage and 0.86x magnification. There is no built-in or optional viewfinder available on Sony ZV-E1.

Sony ZV-E1 features a 12.1 megapixel Full Frame BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.6 x 23.8 mm and a total area of 847.3 mm². Its native ISO range is 80 - 102,400 and expands to 40 - 409,600 in boosted mode. Leica S2 features a 38 megapixel Medium format CCD sensor with dimensions of 45 x 30 mm and a total area of 900 mm². Its native ISO range is 80 - 1,250.

Sony ZV-E1 has BSI-CMOS sensor, short for Backside Illuminated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor sensor. In traditional CMOS sensors, the wiring and circuitry are located on the front side of the sensor, which can block some of the incoming light. BSI technology flips this design by placing the photosensitive elements (pixels) on the backside of the sensor, allowing more light to reach the pixels. This significantly enhances light sensitivity and improves low-light performance. BSI-CMOS sensors are particularly effective in low-light conditions, as they can capture more light, resulting in brighter and less noisy images. This makes them well-suited for indoor and night photography. BSI-CMOS sensors deliver a higher SNR and reduced cross-talk.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Sony ZV-E1 is equipped with BIONZ XR processor and can take pictures up to 4240 x 2832 resolution. Leica S2 can take pictures up to 7500 x 5000 resolution.

Lens Mount

Sony ZV-E1 has Sony E lens mount and Leica S2 has Leica S lens mount. Due to Full Frame sensor in Sony ZV-E1 its crop factor is equal to 1x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length. Due to Medium format sensor in Leica S2 its crop factor is equal to 0.79x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 0.79.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Sony ZV-E1

Sony ZV-E1 has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) with 5 stops of compensation. This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi on Sony ZV-E1

Sony ZV-E1 has a built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5, 802.11ac/b/g/n, 2.4/5 GHz) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

Bluetooth on Sony ZV-E1

Sony ZV-E1 has a built-in Bluetooth which lets you to connect the camera to a smartphone or a dedicated remote control device. This allows you to remotely trigger the camera, adjust settings and controls remotely through a paired mobile app. While Wi-Fi is generally faster for transferring larger files, Bluetooth can be used for small, selective transfers, it can provide real-time information about your camera's battery status, memory card capacity, and other key settings directly on your paired smartphone or smartwatch.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in Bluetooth.

NFC on Sony ZV-E1

Sony ZV-E1 has Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which simplifies the process of pairing it with other NFC-enabled devices like smartphones or tablets. It allows to quickly transfer photos and videos or remotely control the camera from compatible device. NFC can also be used for authentication and security purposes. It can verify your identity before accessing certain features or transferring sensitive data. It can be used with NFC-enabled accessories as well, such as lenses, flashes and GPS devices.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB inputs for data transfer. Sony ZV-E1 has a Micro HDMI and Leica S2 has an HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Sony ZV-E1 comes with NP-FZ100 battery pack with battery life of 570 shots.

External Storage Slots

Sony ZV-E1 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slot. Leica S2 has a single card slot.

Shutter

Sony ZV-E1 has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Sony ZV-E1, and up to 1/4000 sec on Leica S2. Sony ZV-E1 can shoot continuously up to 10.0 fps. Leica S2 can shoot continuously up to 1.5 fps.

Focusing

Sony ZV-E1 has Fast Hybrid AF (Phase-detection / Contrast-detection) system with 759 focusing points and Leica S2 has . Sony ZV-E1 has detection range from +6 to +20 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Sony ZV-E1 ranges from +3 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Sony ZV-E1. You can also do exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony ZV-E1 and and manual exposure adjustment on Leica S2.

Flash

Cameras have no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected to both of them via Intelligent Hot Shoe to Sony ZV-E1 and via Hot Shoe or PC Terminal to Leica S2..

Sony ZV-E1 body has dimensions of 121 x 72 x 54 mm (4.76 x 2.83 x 2.13") and Leica S2 body has dimensions of 160 x 120 x 81 mm (6.3 x 4.72 x 3.19"). Sony ZV-E1 weighs 483 g (1.06 lb / 17.04 oz) and Leica S2 weighs 1410 g (3.11 lb / 49.74 oz).

Sony ZV-E1

Leica S2

121 mm

72 mm

160 mm

120 mm

72 mm

120 mm

54 mm

81 mm