Hey all,

Short case study:
VX2000, Ikegami (not sure what model, but it's a $15,000 camera) and Z1U

I thought I'd just give a heads up on using the Z1U for DV corporate video shoots. I've had a chance to use the Z1U in HDV mode like everyone else. However, I haven't had a chance until today to really see how the camera performs in a analog output DV enviornment. We had a MX20 mixer taking inputs from all three cameras.

I'm happy to say that the Z1U held its own to a 2 year old $15,000 Ikegami DV camera. We had a 3 camera shoot for a large corporation - last minute shoot where we need 3 cameras...the only thing we could do is mix and match available cameras.

The VX2000 had that "look"...the typical Sony look. The Ikegami was sharp and the Z1U was decent, but not as sharp as the Ikegami.

I ran the Z1U out via S-video to the mixer, so it wasn't the best output and that might have been the problem with softness. However, the Ikegami was componet out and wasn't that much better. The VX2000 was the worst of the 3, but not that far behind.

This probably isn't news to anyone, but I did a search on DVinfo and nothing under "Z1U" and "analog outputs" and nothing came up!

My first analog output shoot produced good results. If I were to pick the best camera for the job - the Ikegami wins, but for the price of $15,000 you can get three Z1U's for a three camera shoot! It's a no brainer.

Just thought I'd share..

Thanks for the report. I wonder how much the gap would have closed if you'd used component output from the Z1?

Why did you take component from one camera and S-Video from the other? Why didn't you just use component from both? I am pretty sure that when you use S-video all of the compression already took place. Using component however would have given you an uncompressed signal making the Z1 look much better.

The guy running the switcher could only take S-video from me because I was so far away from him. It was the only cable long enough, unfortunately.