This is my first post - thank you for this hugely informative forum. It helped me decide to buy the Z1.

I have a simple problem and I can't seem to find a solution in the vast amount of threads in the forum - please forgive me if this is due simply to my lack of forum experience. I would like to make VHS viewing copies straight from camera tapes for my director. I carefully put 30 sec of black on the front of each tape with the correct hour timecode before the shoot, and they all picked it up perfectly. I have shot in HDV and set the video output to give me letterbox from the composite output. It looks great, but I just can't see a way of making the tape's timecode appear in the output. It is on the LCD, but not in the output.

Curiously you can make the Data Code appear in the output using the controls under the LCD, but not the timecode. Found no controls in any menus either. Any ideas please?

Moved to the FX1 / Z1 forum. For Z1 owners, does the camera offer a "character record" option which will burn the data code directly into the video image? This is a common feature on some other camcorder makes and models.

Check the available decks for your flavor of HDV. Older Sony decks often have a "Character" output BNC. This is actually a TC window over your video. Exactly like what you are asking about. At worst, you may have to do a SD version on DVCam or Beta and use that Character output to go to VHS. You might be able to do that without actually recording on the DVCam or Beta, in EE.

If you are going to VHS, you won't be in HDV or HD anyway so this may be a good bet. Look for an older Sony DSR-20 if you need an inexpensive DVCam/MiniDV deck with Character output. They stopped maing them a year or more ago in favor of the DSR-25.

Sean McHenry

These are the settings. In menu set the conversions to HDV>DV to ON, set the LCD to V-out/LCD. Make sure you ONLY have the 1/8 multi video /audio cable connected( this is the composite and stereo audio cable to connect to the VHS deck) and you will get all the LCD info screen across the top of the screen over the top letterbox black. This works for my FX1 and I am guessing it will wokr for the Z1.

Ron Evans