I was digging through ancient forum topics from last year and I'm getting all this conflicting info about the Z1 can only shoot full screen decent 4:3 in regular DV mode? Can the FX1 not do this also?

Sure the FX1 can. I have done it many times. Compared to my Canon GL2, the picture is clearer and the color more accurate (less bleeding).

I have a Z1, but IIRC the difference is that it will let you shoot HDV and then downconvert to cropped 4:3 (edge crop menu function) whereas the FX1 can only downcovert to 16:9 DV.

When you talk about "cropping", is the 4:3 image full screen on a regular 4:3 TV (from DV mode)?
For one particular usage I would be shooting DV only so I'm not worried about shooting HDV and downconverting......just plain vanilla DV, but as long as the FX can create full screen 4:3 on a standard tv then I can use it.

The FX1 is able to record 4:3 DV. Cropping is only relevant if you record in HDV.

I never shoot in DV. I always shoot in HDV and then downconvert afterwards, as I think the downconverted HDV looks alot better than the original DV(if you dont mind the 16:9 matting).

For what it's worth, I shot some decent DV footage with an HD10U last year when I first got it. Of course, in DV mode, the HD10U is still seriously lacking in manual controls (can't control exposure and aperature at the same time, no black stretch, no zebra, etc.).