Hi,

We are using 2 FX1s and recently bought a Z7. I discovered that in low light situations, the Z7 is softer than the FX1. Artificial sharpness is set to the default on both camcorders. Even going setting it higher on the Z7, the Z7 is softer. The 2 cameras have been on full manual, aperture 1.6 on both, gain on 18db on the FX1 and on 9db on the Z7 in order to match brightness of both images. If I go higher then F4, the Z7 seems to start becoming less soft than the FX1. I tried automatic lens flange adjustment, even in a big room, with just a wall and the focus chart on it in order to be sure no other objects in the field of view influence auto adjustment.

Also conerning manual adjustement, has someone already done it ? I tried it and for the Tele end, it is very simple but for the wide end, I don't see any difference ?

Bye,
David Arendt

If you have the Vortex video for the Z7U, there are some nice, crisp and noise free examples of night shooting. Check out the part of the video where "slow shutter" is both talked about with some examples shown -- this might be helpful. I've done night work also, and the Z7U can do a great job at producing really good night shots with practically no noise.

The use of gain as high as +9 was too high for me in shooting nights (with lots of darks). I used 0db and had great results. You will need to do a night test and try different settings to test for the right exposure. The three I needed to play with mostly were iris, shutter speed and gain. For gain I tried -3db, 0db and +3db. Since you are shooting at night it's hard to know where to expose unless you do a test and keep a record of your settings when viewing footage. I ended up keeping my iris open (somewhere around f.2) and used 0db gain and shot at 1/30th. For me to achive the best result so that night really LOOKED like night meant that I had to aviod overexposing -- I found the use of the histogram, etc. is difficult to get the perfect exposure that I was looking for in night exterior shots.

Also, the black gamma setting if you adjust too far from default (with a lot of blacks in your footage) might look a little milky or just not quite right. I keep mine at either the default or at -1.

Also, since you have the Z7U Vortex title, have another look at the picture profiles chapter. There is some good advice about using the profiles to the user's advantage. If you find a profile that you like, use it . . . and if it's not quite right, simply give it a tweak to get the result you want. Since a lot of the profiles handle blacks differently, you might try testing at night with the camera's on-board pic profile settings combined with exposer settings. Keep good notes and you should be good to go.

Good luck with the night work.

Ian

I will be shooting with the Z7u this coming week and I am interested in what the ISO rating would be for the Z7u especially in 24P. I've shot a great deal with the V1 and have that rated at 250.

I will be shooting with the Z7u this coming week and I am interested in what the ISO rating would be for the Z7u especially in 24P. I've shot a great deal with the V1 and have that rated at 250.

How do you measure this???

Hi Everyone,

I have a friend who has recorded a whole lot of footage on a Sony Z7 in 25P mode onto tape.

I was just wondering how you go about capturing this footage, as they no longer have access to the camera. We have tried capturing it using a number of the Sony VTR decks, but they all just flash a "Wrong Format" error.

Can you capture footage from the Z7 using a Z1P? As far as I'm aware, the 25P footage is recorded to a 1080i time-line anyway, so it should work? When you fast forward the footage on the Sony decks you can see the footage - so I know the deck SHOULD be able to read it. I presume there is just some kind of "meta data" on the tape that tells the deck that it's "progressive" even though its recorded as 1080i.

Do you have to use a Z7 to capture Z7 footage? Are there any workarounds?

Thanks for your time!

Chris!

I found the deck answer here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/sony-hvr-z7-hvr-s270/121221-sony-deck-plays-progressive-modes.html

But can anyone still confirm or deny that you can play back Z7 tapes on a Z1P?

Thanks!

Chris!

Hmm, when I compare my Z7 footage to my FX1, I see improved sharpness on the Z7 in all lighting conditions. It could depend on a variety of factors. I leave my sharpness setting to default, I shoot in 1080 60i, with 60fps, my gain level never gets higher than three, and I always use a picture profile similar to what Doug Jensen recommends on his Mastering the Z7 DVD. I use manual focus 95% of the time with peaking on high, so I know my focus is spot on. My results provide superb picture quality!

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/digital-video-industry-news/129342-sony-unveils-hdr-fx1000-hvr-z5j.html

Please direct any replies to the thread linked above (it's our discussion in the News forum). Thanks,

Can anyone point me towards any good comparisons of HDV captured and HDMI captured, with say a blackmagic intensity card, footage. Has anyone had experience of capturing from HDMI port and recommend this?

Cheers

anyone in the DC/MD/VA area with a sony z7u willing to digitize 1 63 min tape (music video footage of women on the beaches of st. thomas) for me?...the hdv/minidv tape was mailed to me from the director who shot the footage w/ a sony z7u ...i'm having a hard time finding a deck that can play the footage...getting message that i need to change to correct format...assuming it's because it was shot in 1080p and most decks only play back in 1080i...able to pay $125

thanks in advance!

please contact me at ralston@globaleyes.us or just respond to this post and i will contact you...
i'm located in alexandria, va

I've just started using the Z7U camera with Avid Liquid and Liquid unlike most NLE's and when using multicamera/multisync, will not see the file data as DV like the DVX100B DV that we use with this camera. Anyone else have this issue?

To clarify, when we digitize our DVX100B material and also material tape material from a Z7U with it set to DV and NOT HDV, the Z7's file is invisible when we try to muticam-sync the two 100B's and the Z7 . . that is, until we fuse all three clips (transcode) (since Liquid will only work in multicam when all the clips are of the identical format) Weird. We didn't have this same problem with an HVX200/200A or an XH-A1. Any ideas?

Thanks to anyone who might be able to help. BTW, we've also tried the CF unit with the same result but to date only as an AVI and haven't tried it as Raw DV setting.

hi. just some quick advice on best configuration when hooking up the receiver to the xlr input

also.. has anyone tried hooping up the transmitter into an edirol r-09 to record live dancing music


cheers

hi. just some quick advice on best configuration when hooking up the receiver to the xlr input

also.. has anyone tried hooping up the transmitter into an edirol r-09 to record live dancing music


cheers

The following works best for me (it might not be the best solution but it is how I am doing actually):

1. z7 xlr input switched to microphone
2. z7 xlr input wind and noise reduction off (I prefer recording the sound as pure as possible as the other things can be better done in post production)
3. g2 output gain on receiver to the lowest setting
4. z7 audio to manual and 10
5. g2 gain upped step by step until the levels are a bit higher than needed
6. z7 from now on, only change audio levels on comcorder

Also I generally record the sound from the on camcorder microphone to CH1 and from the G2 to CH2 as ambient sound can lot of times be of use.

I know there is a Sony Clip Browser that can be used with the AVID on a mac osx -- but I think it only works with the XDCAM EX... Is there a way to get the sony clip browser to work with the Z7U Flash Cards? Similar to the way that final cut pro's batch & transfer option works?

Anyone know?

Is there a way to take an RCA audio signal and use that as the input with the Z7U?

Thanks.

Hi Eugene,

Yes, 2 ways. If you feed the RCA signal into a small mixer unit, and take the output via XLR cable into the Z7 (set mic to LINE).

Alternatively you could get a RCA to XLR cable and correct directly.

Hi,

I want to shoot ice hockey on a Z7 and display on a large screen live(not recording) and provide a facility for 10 second instant playback of key goals etc. I plan to use the cache feature, and press Run/Stop twice immediately after a goal. I then need to switch from camera to playback and then press Play on the CF unit to playback 10seconds+ to the screen. After the clip is complete, I will need to flip back to Camera mode to resume live shooting. This appears a little cumbersome compared to the EX1 system which can playback the last scene recorded whilst still in the Camera mode- it flips back to live images at the end of playback.

Do any of you guys know of a workaround for the Z7? can I playback whilst in camera mode? can I assign a button to do this, or is it requiring the CF Unit to do the playback? (the Z7 can do this if it is playing back the last scene from tape).

I've got a broadcast monitor with a 75% or 100% switch for component input, if I am giving it a colour bar feed from a Z7 should it be set to 75% or 100%? Would this differ from a feed from Final Cut through a Blackmagic Intensity Pro component cable?

I found this: 75% for transmission, 100% for testing between equipment...? I'm still not sure which one...?

I am currently using ClipWrap to ingest footage (onto my Mac using FCP) from my Z7U's CF card. This hasn't been a problem until I got on a shoot the other day and recorded more than 1 continuous hour of footage. It would appear the filesystem on the CF recording unit is FAT32, because the files are split up into 4GB increments.

What are others doing to overcome this issue? My workflow goal is to not have to capture in realtime (one of the reasons I switched to solid state in the first place).

If I Clipwrap this footage, I end up with multiple files (about 21 mins in length each) which have a very undesirable "skip" between the end of one clip and the start of another.

Additionally, using Clipwrap, the frist two frames of any footage I ingest is garbled.

I am just looking to see what others are doing to overcome this particular issue.

TIA!

Hi
This utility/plugin may help.

Digital HD Video Camera Recorder - Memory Recording Unit (http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/ext/hdv/z7u_s270u_m35u/HVR-Z7U/unit_software.html)

Has anyone found an adjustment for the standard firewire output level on this camera. When a colleague was editing a mix of my camera and a Z1 he said my output was set lower so just want to standardise everything.

I have a question for those of you with HD TV's and what it comprises with the new Z7s. I have bought two of these cameras and they are awesome, however, I used to have two PD-170Ps and they had a definate TV safe area that you couldn't mistake as part of the picture was hidden in the LCD. On the Z7P, it shows the entire picture with no overscan hidden on the LCD. So for instance when you are composing shots, you can easily cut someone's head off by shooting too close to the top of the frame. Does the full scan area show on a widescreen HD TV, say if it were on DVD or Blu Ray? Has anyone tested the results to see if TV safe is a product of older TV's? Why would Sony build a camera with no TV safe area?

Hi There

you can add a safety zone in the menu. Basically a white line border on the LCD/viewfinder.

In the menu go to display set, then to marker. From there go to safety zone where you can select your safe area. After looking at a TV with the cam plugged in, 90% seems to the best setting.

Once you have done all this, the white border will appear in the viewfinder. Everything in it will be displayed on a TV set, everything outside it will not. A find it a fairly useful feature as when I view DVDs on my computer it shows everything that you would see in the viewfinder TV safe and otherwise. I should mention that my TV is a 16:9 SD set. Couldn't comment on HDTVs.

I'm also quite used to it as when I first started out all the broadcast cams I used had exactly the same way of doing things.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Jon

I don't care if the image looks flat in camera, I'm just looking for the cameras highest dynamic range, best knee settings, blacks etc.

Are x.v colour, ITU-r 709 any use?

I recently tried using the cache recording feature on the Z7 and it works just fine on the camera memory unit, recording up to 14 seconds and then saving to memory card once I hit the record button on the camera (which is simultaneously recording tape). When I play back the file on the recording unit, I see one file, seamless, looks great.

When I download the files to my PC from the Sony memory unit, I use the official Sony Recording Unit Utility software. I use this software because I edit with Adobe Premiere Pro and the Sony software stitches together all the files that are longer than 4G (about 21 minutes) so they are seamless. Great feature for longer format recording. I assumed this software also stitched together all the little cache files as well (to the respective file that followed), especially after they played back seamless on the memory unit. Turns out I was wrong.

When I put the cache files on my timeline (which didn't get stitched) adjacent to the file that follows, there is a big jump cut (loss of more than just a few frames), so I can't even use the cache files even if I wanted to. Let me know if there is a way for me to use the cache method on the Z7 and stitch these files, just the way I do with the much longer files mentioned above. Thanks.

Is it possible to send the time and date info through the component or composite out on the Z7 without the REC/STDBY indicator also being sent?
I want to record live to an external DVD recorder and have the date and time on my image, with no other data.

Has anyone used this lens with a z5 or z7? Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm f/1.8 Telephoto Lens SAL-135F18Z. If so could you respond with Pros and cons of this lens compaired tot he stock lens. I need to know the differences in lowlight, closeup, distance, and especially quality. Also is there any vignetting at full wide? THX for the help.

Sorry meant the Z7 or EX3 not the z5. My bad.

After more testing tonight, here is what I discovered:

1. Cache recording works fine (seamless video), if I just use the CF card to record. Meaning, don't use mini DV tape at all in transport mechanism.

2. Cache recording works fine (again, seamless video) when recording in DV format, using both CF card and mini DV tape in transport mechanism.

3. Cache recording does not work, if I record in HDV format with both CF card and mini DV tape in transport mechanism (results in 2 files that don't edit seamlessly).

I thought at first that perhaps my CF cards weren't fast enough, but then I tried using the Sony 8 gig, 306X speed card. The HDV files were still broken between the Cache file and the following adjacent file (the video file that went down on both tape and CF). Joining these 2 files in Premiere Pro results in missing frames between the files.

Has anyone else had success with seamless Cache recording, while also shooting on tape?

Is it possible to send the time and date info through the component or composite out on the Z7 without the REC/STDBY indicator also being sent?
I want to record live to an external DVD recorder and have the date and time on my image, with no other data.

If anyone is interested I found a way to do this. It works if you do not have a tape in the camera. You can record to the CF and output the date and time to composite. As soon as you put a tape in the camera the REC/STDBY indicator appears in the LCD and it is also sent to the composite out.

Don't know if anyone besides me will ever need to do this, maybe the legal deposition guys can use this info.

Can anyone confirm any changes to the current Z7 and S270 models (as of Dec 08). I have heard a few rumors that Sony was going to work on the rolling shutter issue on the S270. I have a few emails into Sony but havent received a response yet. I don't want to buy the camera and have to send it back and jump through all the hoops to get it working right.

All CMOS chip cameras (i.e.: Z7, EX1, RED) will have rolling shutter because of the lack of a global shutter. Its a question of how fast the chips refresh rates are that will determine of how much rolling shutter you will have.

I just recently got a Z7. I love this camera.

Up to this point, everything I have shot was on CF cards. The camera had never even had a tape in it. Until today. I met with a helicopter pilot at sunrise to shoot some footage. We get airborne on schedule and everything looked good until I pressed record and nothing happened. It showed a good cam link. Everything looked exactly as it should. In near panic mode, I tried to quickly check the menus, connections,battery, everything on the camera and MR1. But we were wasting time and fuel and the still photographer was sitting on the ground while I was up sight seeing. When I got down, I got the manual. Tried to check everything I could think of but no luck. I changed all of the ext., synchro. and relay settings. Nada. The only way I could get it to work was to put a tape in and put it on synchro record and then both would record. Since I have been back, I have been looking at the owners manual for both units and I still haven't been able to figure it out. HELP. Please. What did I do wrong?

Pilot error, of course. One of the settings on the MRC1 got changed. All is good. I am really getting to like this camera.

Hi all,
I just received a new Z7U and every time I remove the battery or disconnect the AC thingie the camera loses all stored information and asks me to reset the date. I know the camera has a rechargeable battery inside somewhere to retain these settings but my camera acts like the battery was never installed at the factory or was put in backwards or something. I read in the manual that you should leave the camera plugged into the AC wall outlet for 24 hours with the camera off, to charge the internal battery I did this for more than 24 hours yet the instant I disconnect power all settings are lost. I store the settings in one of the memmory spots and load it each time I turn on the camera but that is a pain.
So my question is. Does anyone know where this internal battery is located? I would rather fix it myself if possible because this is my main camera and I can't really go without it for more than a day or two. I already looked around and found no obvious place for the battery.

THaNKS

Who did you buy it from?

I would try to see if you can put a deposite down, get a new one sent to you, & send back the problem one.


Many hard drive makes do this. If you don't send back the problem device in 30days they charge you for the new one they sent out, but in the mean time you don't have to go with out.

Video on the Z7's interchangeable lens capabilities:
MacVideo - Camera Technology - Reviews - Interchangeable Lenses on the Sony HVR-Z7 (http://www.macvideo.tv/camera-technology/reviews/index.cfm?reviewId=109639)

Why they don't show clips from the wide-angle is beyond me.
I'm still waiting to see footage from the VCL308BWH.

-Bill

Why they don't show clips from the wide-angle is beyond me. I'm still waiting to see footage from the VCL308BWH.

-Bill

I was looking forward to that also. Since I have some decent Nikon lenses I guess I will have to spring for the Nikon adaptor. That was pretty cool looking. Thanks for the link.

Hey Guys

I am having issues my my uv filter from tiffan when i shoot towards where the sun is shining i am getting a reflection i think from the lens because its in the shape of a circle

which is the best UV clear filter to use

I used multi-coated B+W filters on my HVR-V1U's and they worked great. When I upgraded to the HVR-Z7U's I went with the Hoya HMC series (also multi-coated). Both brands work great. The Hoya is less expensive and does a great job too.

Hope this helps.

Ian

I haven't been much of a contributor to this forum, but I'm always curious to see different applications of the HVR-Z7u. I've not seen much in the arena of Sports/Biographical/Journalistic application, so I thought I'd share a recent project that I worked on:

YouTube - Arlovski 360: On the Road to Reckoning - Episode 7 (Arlovski vs. Fedor) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNNrCirkqXQ&fmt=22)

This video was exclusively shot with the Sony HVR-Z7u and HVL-LBP LED Light (most indoor shots). The camera was mostly shoulder mounted for run and gun, and the light had to be geled for indoor use in mixed lighting, which still ended up being a challenge. The only shots not from the HVR-Z7u were the HDNet Weigh-in shot (denoted by HDNet logo at bottom right), the actual fight footage (Showtime), and the closing sequence with the dog (Panasonic HVX-200 w/Letus-Canon 28mm F2.8).

Camera Settings:

1080p24
Full Manual
PP6

The previous episodes were all shot with a combination of the Panasonic HVX-200 w/Letus-Canon 28mm F2.8 along with the HVR-Z7u.

Hi I have hit a wee snag with my Z7E, I have followed my manual and my Vortex DVD and I can not setup the Shot Transition. I blame a wee bit on the fact I don't know what I am doing but my friend who owns a FX1 tried today and wouldn't kick in for him either....

Can someone provide me with an idiots guide and hopefully I can figure it out.

My Settings are as follows my

1) focus ring is in Mode A
2) Camera at full Auto and so is Iris?You can switch off Iris also?
3) S.Trans/F.Mark is set to Shot Transition.
4) Recording as 1080i50
5) Shot Transition settings only Change is 5.0 secs

I follow my DVD and manual BUT when I press, Store/Check/Exec Button nothing happens no red light?

If any one can shed some light on what I am doing wrong, as I have had some issues with the camera and my lack of experience and knowledge is being fully tested since my Z7E purchase.

James

Hi there, I have found out what was wrong with the Shot Transition on my Z7E only after going to BVE2009 at Earls court...I spoke to Rob France. As I could get Shot Transition to work on TWO Z7E's at the Show but not mine. He said to contact prime support which I have and once I am finished filming I will send my camera back to Sony for a third time.....

The question I forgot to ask was even if I have not properly setup Shot Transition or Focus Marking does the wee red light still come on or in what setup would the light not come on?? I only ask this as Sony keeping treating me as if I am stupid but with this fault and the Firewire problem I had(kept frying itself) Sony said because I had connected it wrongly to my computer, I had never even connected it to one......

So if someone could tell me as with mine not playing game.....

James

Anyone who has used clipwrap, do you know if the app needs the .IDX file to rewrap the .M2T?

I have a coule clips off the CF card where I don't have a .IDX file (long story), and I was wondering clipwrap can do its magic w/o those files.

Or am I just better off exporting the M2T files through MPEG StreamClip?

thanks

Hey guys, I'm shooting CF card only on my Z7 and for some reason the clip is 13:53 but I can only capture 11:23 of the clip. I'm losing the last 3 mins of the clip, my Log and Transfer window tells me the media is 13:53 in duration. I also used clipwrap and I have the same results. I'm using FCPS 2 on both macbook pro and mac pro.

Hey I got it to work. Check this out, I had to use the MR unit to capture and not the Verbatim Card reader. So I don't know if its the card reader or not but it worked fine from the Camera MR unit.

Kevin,

I tried sending you an email thru dv info, not sure if they are going through.

I am about to purchase a Z7U and saw your post about the time/date. I am a legal videographer. I just wanted to confirm, if you do not have a tape in the camera. You can record the timedate to CF, out fire wire and out composite?

Thank you for your time.

Robert


If anyone is interested I found a way to do this. It works if you do not have a tape in the camera. You can record to the CF and output the date and time to composite. As soon as you put a tape in the camera the REC/STDBY indicator appears in the LCD and it is also sent to the composite out.

Don't know if anyone besides me will ever need to do this, maybe the legal deposition guys can use this info.