Sony first announced back in June 2020 that the Sony ZV-1 vlogging camera would soon be able to act as a USB webcam. Just two months later, they delivered, adding support for not only the ZV-1 but 34 other Sony cameras as well. Now, though, a new firmware update lets you use the ZV-1 as a USB webcam without any other software at all.
The new update means all one has to do is connect their ZV-1 camera to a computer’s USB port and it gets detected as a video capture device just like any other webcam, allowing you to use it natively in applications like OBS, Skype, Zoom or… well, anything that uses a webcam, really. Taht means you won’t need to use Imaging Edge Webcam software anymore.
The firmware update does nothing to the camera except add the USB webcam function and “Improves the overall stability and performance of the camera”. Beyond that, they’re not too specific about that last bit.
About the USB webcam feature, however, Sony says that as well as connecting over USB to a PC or Mac, it also allows connection directly to Sony Xperia smartphones. At least, it allows you to connect to Xperia 1 II and Xperia 5 II smartphones that have been updated to Android 11 – the release date for which varies between regions. There’s no word yet on compatibility with other Android smartphones.
You can download the firmware update from the Sony website, where they have complete instructions on how to install it. Updater software is available for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 as well as macOS 10.13-10.15 – but no support for Big Sur.