I've just finished editing a project for a DVD shot in DV with my S270, and also using footage shot a few years ago on my FX1e, also in DV, and I was surprised how much sharper the S270 footage is.

Out of curiosity, how does the S270/Z7 SD image quality compare to soemthing like a DSR570 or other high end DVCAM cameras?

Matt

The lens is much better.

While it isn't a S270, I have always felt like my Z7 has a terrific image when compared to many other camcorders, even ones costing much more. But I could be prejudiced. I know I have received a lot of compliments on image quality from other shooters and various editors who have a lot of experience with EX-1's for example. "Deadliest Catch" uses Z7's and they have praised the camcorders picture quality, as well.

Actually, the Z7 & S270 are the same camera but in different configurations. They both share the same image block, and the lenses are exactly the same except for the placement of the hand grip, which needs to be farther back on the Z7 to maintain proper balance.

There could be a slight improvement in image quality in the S270 due to the fact that's it's a shoulder mount camera. The image stabilization system in the lens will produce a slightly softer image in the Z7 because of the great movement produced by being a hand held camera.

If your shooting an a tripod you should always turn the image stabilization off.

As for why the DV image looks so much better than a stand alone DV camera, it's an HD imager that is simply down converting an HD image on the fly while recording to tape. Sorry to say that even the image from a $2,500 A1U HD camera would blow away the image of a $60,000 DigiBeta SD image today.