I have ordered a Z7 and am travelling abroad in a few weeks - hoping the cam will arrive in time! As I'm going via cheap airline (EasyJet) their hand luggage sizes are smaller than most, so I have been checking out luggage which fits their carry on size perfectly. I have found an explorer case (5117) for which the length and width appear ok for the cam, but I'm worried about the depth of the case which gives an internal depth of just 173mm - including inside the lid. The specs for the Z7 say 176mm width - from side-side when being held normally - now I'm not sure if the advertised dimensions include squashy parts such as the hand strap, or if this dimension is the hard components of the camera, so not sure if I would get away with this case. Its the largest one I can get which fits within the carry on luggage limits so if it doesn't fit them i'm screwed!

Can someone please advise what the actual width of the cam is from side-side? Also what length without the mic fitted?

Thanks in advance, Paul

Hi Paul,

just measured mine and the width with handstrap is 15 cm. Lenght without microphone is 28 cm. Hope that helps.

Luc

Hi Paul,

just measured mine and the width with handstrap is 15 cm. Lenght without microphone is 28 cm. Hope that helps.

Luc

Luc,
You are a star - thanks ever so much. The Explorer 5117 should just about do!

Thanks again, Paul A

Just thought I'd post a pic of the finished Explorer 5117 case with the Z7 gear fitted - found a space for my Canon HV30 also - and all within EasyJet hand luggage allowance. Must say though that I had to remove a lot of foam from the base and lid to fit the width of the Z7 in and so there is not a lot of padding left between the mic holder and the inside base of the case, and on the top side between the LCD hinge/edge and the inside of the case's lid. This is hand luggage though so won't be getting the treatment of the baggage handlers, so does the job perfectly!

Did the same for my Canon stills gear - 2nd pic attached! 2nd person required of course to carry this one on - at least I won't be lonely!

Thanks all for your input.

Paul A

That really looks neat, Paul. Amazing how you managed to get the HV30 in as well! I have the same combination: Z7 & HV30 (the latter being my 'Merlin steadycam-camera')

That really looks neat, Paul. Amazing how you managed to get the HV30 in as well! I have the same combination: Z7 & HV30 (the latter being my 'Merlin steadycam-camera')

Steady cam - that sounds nice, but on the HV30 only is best I imagine - I think on the Z7 you'd need to be taking steroids to be able to take the weight! The anti-shake on the HV30 I find to produce some nasty lurching side-effects, so guessing steady cam is the way to go. I imagine mine will take the sideline now I have the Z7 - simply there as a backup in case of issues with the big boy!

Can I ask Luc - how are you getting the footage off the memory recorder onto hard drive? The reason I ask is for when the clips are over 20ish minutes when the file size reaches 4GB and a second file is recorded by the unit. I found that by simply butting these end to end on the time line is no use as they are recorded with an overlap. I found that by using the import option in Vegas pulls them over, joining them in the process so you end up with one m2t file on the hard drive instead of several. Problem is, my laptop I'm about to go on location with does not have Vegas installed, so I would just be copying the card contents to the hard drive manually. So once they are on my hard drive, then how do I go about getting them joined up? Is there a sony utility which does this?

Thanks, Paul

Yep, the Z7 on the Merlin Steadycam doesn't work: too heavy. And as you point aut, the electronic stabilising system on the HV30 produces too many unwanted artefacts.

When I edit footage from my Z7, I use the 'log @ transfer'-function of Final Cut Pro. I downloaded the plug-in from Sony, that allows to combine the m2t-files seamlessly in FCP. You can find the plug-in here: Sony : Sony Recording Unit/FCP Plug-in : United Kingdom (http://www.sony.co.uk/biz/view/ShowContent.action?product=HVRDR60&site=biz_en_GB&category=HDVVTRs&contentId=1205247708665&sectiontype=Product&preserveContext=true) . Not sure if a comparable plug-in exists for PC, though.

When making a back-up on my hard disk, I just copy the files of the compact flash card in their raw form as you do, but I haven't tried importing them in FCP again, so I'm afraid I can't help you out with this.