Canon ZR1000 or VariZoom Pro-L?....
A question for all you experienced boys out there. Which is the better product? Please help, I got a StealthZoom for xmas (not substantial enough) and am exchanging for one of the above (Canon about £150, VariZoom about £300).

I use a Vinten Pro5 head, mainly do sports as part of DVcam team of three. If that helps.

I use the ZR-1000 and am pleased with it. But if you are loking for something more"substantial" meaning rock hard and not plastic, the VariZoom may be more to your liking given that it is machined out of a block of metal. It also has a somewhat different control layout

UK sports - heard about your football (aka soccer) fans, you probably do need the all-metal gear <g>.

Firtsly, I do believe you're right Mr Palomaki, I am prone to letting cost get the better of me and I'm going for the Pro-L and having had a think about it I'm going for tough - over cheaper and with couple of extra gizmos.

Secondly, Please don't say 'soccer' to a true Englishman or I'll start calling baseball 'rounders'.

Many thanks.

> Please don't say 'soccer' to a true Englishman or I'll start calling baseball 'rounders'.

No offense - the aka was for the benefit of other yanks who may think of football as the being the highly evolved (and over padded/paid?) derivative form of rugby played over here.

I agree with Don that the Varizooms are much more durable.

At least Rugby is played the way American football should be...under the ugliest conditions possible.

Hate to break up this lovefest among you jocks, but I have an even better zoom control: Zoe-DV Lanc You can read my review at www.digitalprods.com/workshop/htm (You can see it in action at the "commercial" site where it is used on the Motown-style clip)

BTW, the company that manufactures the Zoe is Bebob Electronics. Could this be a natural for "Brightonbob?"

I was a fan of the Canon ZR1000 as a good value in the US, but for you its a no-brainer. Get the Zoe.

And here is the local contact for you, BBob: mvsvideo.co.uk Contact Steve, and tell him a Yank sent you. Oh yeah, the price is GB 198.50 w/VAT

Cheers
Wayne

The review is here http://www.digitalprods.com/zoe.htm The above link returns a 404 error. Nice review Wayne.

Jeff

Thank you Jeff for correcting my address error. I used to get lost a lot as a kid, also.

Wayne

Thanks as ever for all the help. In the end I went with the Pro-L as its more substantial casing made me feel easier. Also, the buttons on the Bebob (tempting though the name and price is!) looked a bit lightwieght.

I have posted a new question about DSM lights on here though if any of you can help on that (can't find any info or pics of their £60 top light with its own battery).

>>At least Rugby is played the way American football should be...under the ugliest conditions possible<<

Anybody see the Oakland-Kansas City game yesterday?

I respect your choice of the Varizoom over the Zoe, but I feel I must respond to your comment, "I went with the Pro-L as its more substantial casing made me feel easier." Regarding the construction of the Zoe, the distributor's press release notes, "Zoe DV-Lanc features a weather-resistant housing of virtually unbreakable 3mm polycarbonate."

You may be able to use your Pro-L to hammer nails, but for real world camera work, the Zoe is fantastic. Plus, the small size of the Zoe allows for quick mounting to shoulder braces and Steadicams.

But I wish you well with your choice.

Wayne

>>Anybody see the Oakland-Kansas City game yesterday?<<

Now that....was ugly! Good thing they didn't play in KC or that rain would have been ice!

Wayne,
I'd never heard of the ZOE controller before your post. It looks like a very interesting design. I like the idea of membrane buttons and its small size. The lateral rocker switch also looks interesting but, since its movement is not in the natural axis of precision movement for the thumb I'd have to try it to really judge its value.

I'd be tempted to try one...if I could just figure out where to buy one. 16x9's site apparently hawks it...but doesn't have it in its store. B&H never heard of it.

Nevertheless, your review indicates a prospective retail price of $410; that's just a bit out of the money for this product in my opinion, even considering the widening gap between the Euro and USD. I would imagine the street price must drop to at least what the VZ-PG-L controller sells for ($360), and probably lower since the Zoe does not appear have a valuable feature of the VZ: a separate zoom rate dial. With a bit of practice the VZ-PG-L's zoom rate dial does, indeed, enable you to nearly eliminate the dreaded start/stop "hiccup" (on the XL1s lens) that you note in your review.

Lastly, if the very obscure 16x9 remains the exclusive US distributor for this product it will never gain much market.

Thanks for posting a review of the Zoe on your site, Wayne. It will be interesting product to follow.

Hello Ken,

Thank you for your kind words. As I mentioned at the end of the review, I also thought the price was too high, and I contacted 16x9Inc in Burbank, CA and expressed the same thoughts. I know of one individual who claims to have purchased the Zoe through Abel Cine in North Hollywood, for approximately $350 which would put it on par with the Pro-L. (I will give them a call tomorrow and check this out as it is not on their site either) Also, as I mentioned, the Zoe can be purchased throurgh MVS Video in the UK, at a very good price of approx $275 plus shipping and customs, which will put it around $325. Contact Steve at www.mvsvideo.co.uk You will find it on their website.

As far as the "variable speed dial" of the Varizoom, you will find it is entirely unnecessary with the pressure sensitive rocker control on the Zoe.

I hope you will give the Zoe a try, Ken, as I find it to be the most professional like zoom controller on the market, and I have tried most of them including various models of the Varizoom, the Cool Zoom, and Studio One. This is where I chose to put my money, and I think you will feel the same after a test drive.

Wayne

That's an excellent review, Wayne... very well done; clear, concise writing. Thanks for sharing it with us. We all agree that the Zoe is priced somewhat high. No doubt it is a fine controller. My only complaint about it is that you can't "set and forget" a specific zoom speed. The VariZoom models (except Stealth) allow you to dial in a max speed which the controller won't exceed, so that you won't go any faster than intended. This is one feature that sets the VariZoom (as well as the cheap plastic Canon controller) apart from others. Not to knock the Zoe, but for event work which can't be rehearsed or re-shot, I need the ability to dial in a specific zoom speed and not worry about how much pressure I'm putting on the rocker. Thanks again Wayne,

Great news on the Zoe zoom controller. I spoke with Marianne at Abel Cine in North Hollywood, and she will sell the Zoe for $325.00. Still expensive, but this is a very fair price, and I know because I have shopped it here and in Europe. If you are interested in the Zoe, please call Marianne at 888-700-4416 , and tell her Wayne said to call.

In regards to Chris Hurd's comments, sorry Chris, but what you call an advantage, I call a liability. The Zoe works exactly as all professional controllers work: the more you turn the controller, the faster the lens zooms, less turn equals slower zoom. If you are a professional camera operator, you will have zero learning curve with the Zoe. If you are not a pro, it will take a bit longer. Check out the footage at http://www.digitalprods.com/temptations.htm
This was a multiple camera PD150 shoot, and I demoed the Zoe on my camera and this shoot convinced me it was the best of class.

I'll put it to rest now.

Wayne

Wayne, I have ruined more shots with the stupid variable zoom on the XL1s - the hiccup maker! The dial-in speed of the ZR1000 is the way to go - it is permanently attached to my tripod handle.

I absolutely agree with you, Randall. The ZR1000 is the best controller for the money. I bought one for my PD150, which has the same "hiccup" problem, because this is built into the preprogrammed, digital command, step increments, that these cameras use in their lens design. (The DVX100 uses an analogue control system and does not suffer the hiccup, however it does have other problems, such as the notorious "dead spot")

But the ZR1000 has problems with the manual control, which is the preferred method of operation, versus setting a predetermined speed. As I point out in my review of the Zoe, no professional zoom controls use predetermined speed controls, since shooting under these restrictions would be very counter-intuitive.

The problem I encountered with the ZR1000 occured during an interview I was shooting, and I noticed when I tried to manually zoom in on the subject, there was considerable lag time between my squeeze on the controller, and when the lens actually began to tighten. This problem only happened with a slow zoom; otherwise the ZR1000 worked quite well, and certainly as well as other brands I had tested that cost more money.

Why didn't I use the pre-set #1 speed on the ZR1000? What if after zooming in to a tight shot on the subject, after a bit of dialogue, I decided to pop back to a looser size? Would I have to re-set the dial to the faster speed, zoom back, and then re-set it again to the slower speed? Maybe I could have told the interviewer to wait while I zoomed back at the slow speed? It was after suffering in this situation that I determined to look for a "better mousetrap," while still holding on to my ZR1000.

I read an article on the Zoe in a European website, and it sounded very interesting, but it was not available in the U.S. On a lark, I contacted the head of Bebob Broadcast Engineering in Germany, gave him my credentials, and told him I was interested in "test driving" the Zoe, and that afterward I would write a review. He sent me a demo unit, and I paid the import duty on it. After giving the Zoe a thorough work out, I determined that it was the best controller I had ever used with my PD150, and the most like the controllers I was used to on higher end professional cameras.

While I was writing my review, Bebob secured an American distributor, 16x9Inc in Burbank, CA., who set a "list" price that I told them was way too high, in my opinion. Their response was, it was only the list price, and indeed, you can find the Zoe for $325.00, which is close to what I ended up paying for it, when I determined that I was not returning my demo unit to the manufacturer.

Thanks to DV Info Net for the opportunity to state my case, lest someone think that I have some tie to the manufacturer or the distributor.

And again, Randall, I think the ZR1000 is the best controller for the money, but the Zoe is better, as it should be for almost twice the price.

Wayne

The ZR1000 rocks, I love using it! It is made out of light weight plastic but I take care of it and it takes care of me!

I are interested in this thread as I are also thinking of purchasing a controller and would like to know if any one has had any experience with the Manfrotto Lanc Remote Control Cat. No:522c, it seems to come with the handle also and would suit my Manfrotto tripod?

Many Thanks
Barry