To elaborate,
As a general rule I've heard people say that you will produce low quality video if your shutter speed is lower/slower than your framerate, yeah?
So how does this come in to play with the Z5 when in Progressive Mode, being that its 25p but its actually 50i with both fields the same. Like the GH2 and GH1 and most other Canon camcorders I have.
Should I not use 25 shutter at all, and stick with 50 shutter, ( low light stuff makes it tough though)?
Is additional motion blur with 25 shutter the only casualty in quality?
The cam uses 25 shutter in full auto a lot, would I be right in presuming it wouldn't do this if it makes low quality video? ( I know full auto is the devil, it is good for a reference though :)
Any thoughts most appreciated.

Of course I'm in Pal land, same question applies for NTSC people, just substitute 30 shutter and 60i :)

In DV days (720x576i50) dropping to 1/25th sec from the default 1/50th did indeed lose you picture quality, and owners of cameras like the PD170 & GH2 avoided it. But I'm pretty sure that the 1440x180i50 of your Z5 isn't so afflicted, though I'd like to see your experimental results.

Easy to do - simply connect your Z5 to a big TV, point it at a newspaper and A/B the shutter speed between 1/50th and 1/25th. The might be a tiny difference that may well be deemed acceptable for the stop you gain, but in my latest wedding film I preferred the +6dB grain/gain setting to the motion blur of the slower shutter (NX5)

tom.

being that its 25p but its actually 50i with both fields the same.Only if you tell it to be. The Z5 does both true progressive and 25 (24, 30) p over 50 (60) i. Pages 83-84.