Hi, I'm new to this site and am also new to learning about HDV. I am planning a shoot and a friend of mine suggested we shoot on the SONY HVR- Z1U instead of shooting on 16mm. My question to him was that it was my understanding that Sony HD was incompatible with FCP (I have FCP HD) in order to edit. I based that on hearing that only the Panasonic HDV camera is compatible. Can someone please explain whether or not the Sony HVR-Z1U will be compatible for cutting w/ FCP? I'd appreciate the help.

Both you and your friend are incorrect. There are thousands of Z1 owners (myself included) that use the Z1 with Final Cut. On the day that the Z1 came out, there wasn't a 1080i solution in place for FCP, but that was true of every NLE except for Sony Vegas and Adobe Premiere. This issue has long ago been resolved.
You'll enjoy editing HDV on Apple, and you'll enjoy creating HDV with the Z1, I'm sure.

Douglass,

Thank you for the reply and the 1080i clarification. I'm off to start this new journey.

Actually, I understand what your friend was saying. If you're running FCP HD 4.5 then you cannot directly capture and edit from the Z1. FCP 4.5 can work directly with DVCPro however, which is what the new Panasonic camera will use (which won't hit the market for several more months though). But working with that format will also require fast disk arrays and lots of storage space.

If you want to use the Z1 with FCP 4.5 you'll need a third party add-on like Lumiere. However FCP 4.5 has been replaced with FCP 5, and this new version is fully compatible with the Sony Z1. If you're currently running 4.5 you can upgrade for $400.

http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/finalcutpro/