We are going to be filming an event this summer with 2 Z1U's. I AM THINKING OF BUYING ONE MORE CAMEra and am looking at the A1U as there is one local.
How similiar are these cams. Is the A1U as easy to use as the Z1U?

Is the A1U as easy to use as the Z1U?

A colleague who doesn't frequent these fora swears by his Sony A1, especially as a locked off wide or glorified audio recorder when his Z1 is on a Merlin. He also treats it as a 'Deck with a view' for ingest.

I find the Sony A1 an absolute nightmare, but I'm a Manual junkie. If you're happy to let your Z1 do 'auto everything', the A1 will be fine. If you want to have the two cameras match, then my colleague would say that they do match really well. I'd say that you'll need to clamp both cameras down to manual everything, and use similar picture profiles, but yes - they will cut together so long as the A1 is the wide.

We use two Z1s and an A1 - but I hate the A1's menu-driven operation too - I find it very difficult to set the controls in a hurry.

Also, it's rubbish in low light compared to the Z1 (A1=7 lux, Z1=3 lux) - and the A1 doesn't take gain like the Z1 can either.

I decent light, they should cut together OK though.

I also use a Z1 and an A1. Pretty much endorse what has been said already. In good light, the A1 will give you excellent quality and matches well with the Z1. I also use the A1 as the WA camera.

One tip - do a white card clapper scene at the head of your take - so that you can get perfect colour balance in post if required. The CMOS of the A1 does give a slightly different look to the picture than the Z1 (hence the reason for using it as the wide), but it is not enough to be a major issue.

I'd have to say that overall I have been very happy with the results.

Well for simplicity I am leaning toward another z1U instead.
Thanks for the input.

If looks like your shopping for a lower price than the Z1 and the compatibilty of functions & cuts. Go for the FX1.