I just rented a Z1 to use for the weekend to see if it would be something that I should buy in the very near future. I'd like to be as sure as I can that I'm using good settings.

I will be outdoors mostly and it looks like it will be a mostly sunny weekend.

Any do's and/or dont's on the settings for this camera? Any recommendations on good settings? ...or should I just shoot in auto mode? The camera did not come with instructions.

I'm used to a Canon XL2 and the Z1 is new to me. Of course I will be reading as much as I can in the FX1/Z1 forum and doing several searches on settings... and looks like this thread is a great one to start with -

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=42973&highlight=z1+settings

[For anyone interested]
this Z1 rental was a result of a thread that I started here:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=51082

It's quite a long that began right after Canon announced the XL H1.

Thank you in advance for any help.

Don't go in auto mode - try playing around with the manual settings and see how comfortable you can get with them.

One feature you should consider turning on is AF ASSIST (autofocus assist). With this on, you can still manually focus when the camera is in auto focus mode. This gives you control when it keeps snapping in and out of focus.

Also, you can set the zoom speeds for the two handle zoom settings. H (high) and L (low) can each be given zoom speeds between 1 and 8, 8 being the fastest.

Another neat thing to try out is setting zoom presets with the zoom ring. Turn the zoom switch to ring and zoom all the way in. Switch back to rocker zoom and zoom out all the way. Without touching the zoom ring, switch it back to ring and the camera will do an extremely fast zoom (faster than using the rocker or ring normally).

If you have access to a hi-def TV, try hooking your camera up to it via the component out (not composite) and playing around with the picture settings. Shoot with as many combinations as possible in both DV and HDV and see how they turn out when you capture them to your computer. Remember that you can instantly call back a setting using the Shot Transition feature. This can be handy if you have some footage you shot earlier but you don't remember how you got it to look that way.

Here's a PDF version of the manual if you want it - http://www.pci-canada.com/Archive%20Files/Manuals/HVR-Z1U%20Ops%20Manual%20English.pdf

Good luck!

Thanks Mark!

PS - I did print the manual - fast draft quality :)

Any do's and/or dont's on the settings for this camera? Any recommendations on good settings?

I am doing the same, but with a JVC HD100 and a Z1 together.

Firstly, try out black stretch on the Picture Profiles - choose something nobody will use like PP6, set ALL the presets to their default settings, then enable black stretch and under expose by a half-stop.

It will look a little flat, but in your editing software you can pull down the mids leaving the extened range so you get a much more 'tweaked XL-2' look. Highlights don't burn out so much, shadows contain detail.

The camera settings and your editing/finishing software can work hand in hand to get much more out of an image. I'm learning this too - slowly. :D

I agree with the post above. It's a lot easier to expose the Z1U/FX1 for post work than it is to get the shot exactly right the first time. You have to be very familiar with the cameras to predict the output exactly as you shoot... otherwise you'll probably blow out the highlights and lose detail that can't be recovered.

-Steve