Sony Z7 / S270 various topics

Dennis St. John · October 31st, 2008, 08:51 AM

I am currently using ClipWrap to ingest footage (onto my Mac using FCP) from my Z7U's CF card. This hasn't been a problem until I got on a shoot the other day and recorded more than 1 continuous hour of footage. It would appear the filesystem on the CF recording unit is FAT32, because the files are split up into 4GB increments.

What are others doing to overcome this issue? My workflow goal is to not have to capture in realtime (one of the reasons I switched to solid state in the first place).

If I Clipwrap this footage, I end up with multiple files (about 21 mins in length each) which have a very undesirable "skip" between the end of one clip and the start of another.

Additionally, using Clipwrap, the frist two frames of any footage I ingest is garbled.

I am just looking to see what others are doing to overcome this particular issue.

TIA!

William J. Wirth · October 31st, 2008, 09:51 AM

Hi
This utility/plugin may help.

Digital HD Video Camera Recorder - Memory Recording Unit

Barry Wilkinson · November 11th, 2008, 07:51 AM

Has anyone found an adjustment for the standard firewire output level on this camera. When a colleague was editing a mix of my camera and a Z1 he said my output was set lower so just want to standardise everything.

Jamie Kehoe · November 18th, 2008, 10:53 PM

I have a question for those of you with HD TV's and what it comprises with the new Z7s. I have bought two of these cameras and they are awesome, however, I used to have two PD-170Ps and they had a definate TV safe area that you couldn't mistake as part of the picture was hidden in the LCD. On the Z7P, it shows the entire picture with no overscan hidden on the LCD. So for instance when you are composing shots, you can easily cut someone's head off by shooting too close to the top of the frame. Does the full scan area show on a widescreen HD TV, say if it were on DVD or Blu Ray? Has anyone tested the results to see if TV safe is a product of older TV's? Why would Sony build a camera with no TV safe area?

Jon Robertson · November 19th, 2008, 05:07 AM

Hi There

you can add a safety zone in the menu. Basically a white line border on the LCD/viewfinder.

In the menu go to display set, then to marker. From there go to safety zone where you can select your safe area. After looking at a TV with the cam plugged in, 90% seems to the best setting.

Once you have done all this, the white border will appear in the viewfinder. Everything in it will be displayed on a TV set, everything outside it will not. A find it a fairly useful feature as when I view DVDs on my computer it shows everything that you would see in the viewfinder TV safe and otherwise. I should mention that my TV is a 16:9 SD set. Couldn't comment on HDTVs.

I'm also quite used to it as when I first started out all the broadcast cams I used had exactly the same way of doing things.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Jon

Jon Oneill · November 20th, 2008, 10:02 AM

I don't care if the image looks flat in camera, I'm just looking for the cameras highest dynamic range, best knee settings, blacks etc.

Are x.v colour, ITU-r 709 any use?

Stephen Gradin · November 21st, 2008, 03:06 PM

I recently tried using the cache recording feature on the Z7 and it works just fine on the camera memory unit, recording up to 14 seconds and then saving to memory card once I hit the record button on the camera (which is simultaneously recording tape). When I play back the file on the recording unit, I see one file, seamless, looks great.

When I download the files to my PC from the Sony memory unit, I use the official Sony Recording Unit Utility software. I use this software because I edit with Adobe Premiere Pro and the Sony software stitches together all the files that are longer than 4G (about 21 minutes) so they are seamless. Great feature for longer format recording. I assumed this software also stitched together all the little cache files as well (to the respective file that followed), especially after they played back seamless on the memory unit. Turns out I was wrong.

When I put the cache files on my timeline (which didn't get stitched) adjacent to the file that follows, there is a big jump cut (loss of more than just a few frames), so I can't even use the cache files even if I wanted to. Let me know if there is a way for me to use the cache method on the Z7 and stitch these files, just the way I do with the much longer files mentioned above. Thanks.

Kevin Walsh · November 22nd, 2008, 03:52 PM

Is it possible to send the time and date info through the component or composite out on the Z7 without the REC/STDBY indicator also being sent?
I want to record live to an external DVD recorder and have the date and time on my image, with no other data.

John M. McCloskey · November 25th, 2008, 09:04 AM

Has anyone used this lens with a z5 or z7? Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm f/1.8 Telephoto Lens SAL-135F18Z. If so could you respond with Pros and cons of this lens compaired tot he stock lens. I need to know the differences in lowlight, closeup, distance, and especially quality. Also is there any vignetting at full wide? THX for the help.

John M. McCloskey · November 25th, 2008, 09:10 AM

Sorry meant the Z7 or EX3 not the z5. My bad.

Stephen Gradin · December 1st, 2008, 10:05 PM

After more testing tonight, here is what I discovered:

1. Cache recording works fine (seamless video), if I just use the CF card to record. Meaning, don't use mini DV tape at all in transport mechanism.

2. Cache recording works fine (again, seamless video) when recording in DV format, using both CF card and mini DV tape in transport mechanism.

3. Cache recording does not work, if I record in HDV format with both CF card and mini DV tape in transport mechanism (results in 2 files that don't edit seamlessly).

I thought at first that perhaps my CF cards weren't fast enough, but then I tried using the Sony 8 gig, 306X speed card. The HDV files were still broken between the Cache file and the following adjacent file (the video file that went down on both tape and CF). Joining these 2 files in Premiere Pro results in missing frames between the files.

Has anyone else had success with seamless Cache recording, while also shooting on tape?

Kevin Walsh · December 9th, 2008, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Walsh

Is it possible to send the time and date info through the component or composite out on the Z7 without the REC/STDBY indicator also being sent?
I want to record live to an external DVD recorder and have the date and time on my image, with no other data.

If anyone is interested I found a way to do this. It works if you do not have a tape in the camera. You can record to the CF and output the date and time to composite. As soon as you put a tape in the camera the REC/STDBY indicator appears in the LCD and it is also sent to the composite out.

Don't know if anyone besides me will ever need to do this, maybe the legal deposition guys can use this info.

Ryan McBride · December 12th, 2008, 01:24 PM

Can anyone confirm any changes to the current Z7 and S270 models (as of Dec 08). I have heard a few rumors that Sony was going to work on the rolling shutter issue on the S270. I have a few emails into Sony but havent received a response yet. I don't want to buy the camera and have to send it back and jump through all the hoops to get it working right.

Ryan Valle · December 12th, 2008, 06:29 PM

All CMOS chip cameras (i.e.: Z7, EX1, RED) will have rolling shutter because of the lack of a global shutter. Its a question of how fast the chips refresh rates are that will determine of how much rolling shutter you will have.

Greg Laves · January 14th, 2009, 04:47 PM

I just recently got a Z7. I love this camera.

Up to this point, everything I have shot was on CF cards. The camera had never even had a tape in it. Until today. I met with a helicopter pilot at sunrise to shoot some footage. We get airborne on schedule and everything looked good until I pressed record and nothing happened. It showed a good cam link. Everything looked exactly as it should. In near panic mode, I tried to quickly check the menus, connections,battery, everything on the camera and MR1. But we were wasting time and fuel and the still photographer was sitting on the ground while I was up sight seeing. When I got down, I got the manual. Tried to check everything I could think of but no luck. I changed all of the ext., synchro. and relay settings. Nada. The only way I could get it to work was to put a tape in and put it on synchro record and then both would record. Since I have been back, I have been looking at the owners manual for both units and I still haven't been able to figure it out. HELP. Please. What did I do wrong?

October 31st, 2008, 08:51 AM	#121
Dennis St. John Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Parker, CO Posts: 27	Capture Problems I am currently using ClipWrap to ingest footage (onto my Mac using FCP) from my Z7U's CF card. This hasn't been a problem until I got on a shoot the other day and recorded more than 1 continuous hour of footage. It would appear the filesystem on the CF recording unit is FAT32, because the files are split up into 4GB increments. What are others doing to overcome this issue? My workflow goal is to not have to capture in realtime (one of the reasons I switched to solid state in the first place). If I Clipwrap this footage, I end up with multiple files (about 21 mins in length each) which have a very undesirable "skip" between the end of one clip and the start of another. Additionally, using Clipwrap, the frist two frames of any footage I ingest is garbled. I am just looking to see what others are doing to overcome this particular issue. TIA!

October 31st, 2008, 09:51 AM	#122
William J. Wirth New Boot Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Thornton Colorado Posts: 9	ru_util.exe Hi This utility/plugin may help. Digital HD Video Camera Recorder - Memory Recording Unit Last edited by William J. Wirth; October 31st, 2008 at 11:16 AM.

November 11th, 2008, 07:51 AM	#123
Barry Wilkinson Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Grange over Sands UK Posts: 99	Audio output level HVRS 270 Has anyone found an adjustment for the standard firewire output level on this camera. When a colleague was editing a mix of my camera and a Z1 he said my output was set lower so just want to standardise everything. __________________ Cameraman BBC and ITV since 1966

November 18th, 2008, 10:53 PM	#124
Jamie Kehoe Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 28	TV Safe Area I have a question for those of you with HD TV's and what it comprises with the new Z7s. I have bought two of these cameras and they are awesome, however, I used to have two PD-170Ps and they had a definate TV safe area that you couldn't mistake as part of the picture was hidden in the LCD. On the Z7P, it shows the entire picture with no overscan hidden on the LCD. So for instance when you are composing shots, you can easily cut someone's head off by shooting too close to the top of the frame. Does the full scan area show on a widescreen HD TV, say if it were on DVD or Blu Ray? Has anyone tested the results to see if TV safe is a product of older TV's? Why would Sony build a camera with no TV safe area?

November 19th, 2008, 05:07 AM	#125
Jon Robertson Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Edinburgh Scotland Posts: 58	Hi There you can add a safety zone in the menu. Basically a white line border on the LCD/viewfinder. In the menu go to display set, then to marker. From there go to safety zone where you can select your safe area. After looking at a TV with the cam plugged in, 90% seems to the best setting. Once you have done all this, the white border will appear in the viewfinder. Everything in it will be displayed on a TV set, everything outside it will not. A find it a fairly useful feature as when I view DVDs on my computer it shows everything that you would see in the viewfinder TV safe and otherwise. I should mention that my TV is a 16:9 SD set. Couldn't comment on HDTVs. I'm also quite used to it as when I first started out all the broadcast cams I used had exactly the same way of doing things. Hope this helps. Cheers Jon Last edited by Jon Robertson; November 19th, 2008 at 05:08 AM. Reason: missing info

November 20th, 2008, 10:02 AM	#126
Jon Oneill Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Nottingham UK Posts: 37	Which colour / gamma settings give the best image for, colour correction? I don't care if the image looks flat in camera, I'm just looking for the cameras highest dynamic range, best knee settings, blacks etc. Are x.v colour, ITU-r 709 any use?

November 21st, 2008, 03:06 PM	#127
Stephen Gradin Contributor Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Nottingham, MD Posts: 66	Cache Recording w/Z7U I recently tried using the cache recording feature on the Z7 and it works just fine on the camera memory unit, recording up to 14 seconds and then saving to memory card once I hit the record button on the camera (which is simultaneously recording tape). When I play back the file on the recording unit, I see one file, seamless, looks great. When I download the files to my PC from the Sony memory unit, I use the official Sony Recording Unit Utility software. I use this software because I edit with Adobe Premiere Pro and the Sony software stitches together all the files that are longer than 4G (about 21 minutes) so they are seamless. Great feature for longer format recording. I assumed this software also stitched together all the little cache files as well (to the respective file that followed), especially after they played back seamless on the memory unit. Turns out I was wrong. When I put the cache files on my timeline (which didn't get stitched) adjacent to the file that follows, there is a big jump cut (loss of more than just a few frames), so I can't even use the cache files even if I wanted to. Let me know if there is a way for me to use the cache method on the Z7 and stitch these files, just the way I do with the much longer files mentioned above. Thanks. __________________ Stephen Gradin Dockside Video Productions

November 22nd, 2008, 03:52 PM	#128
Kevin Walsh Major Player Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Phoenixville, PA Posts: 225	Time and date through outputs on Z7 Is it possible to send the time and date info through the component or composite out on the Z7 without the REC/STDBY indicator also being sent? I want to record live to an external DVD recorder and have the date and time on my image, with no other data.

November 25th, 2008, 09:04 AM	#129
John M. McCloskey Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: West Point, MS Posts: 313	lens options for Z5 Has anyone used this lens with a z5 or z7? Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm f/1.8 Telephoto Lens SAL-135F18Z. If so could you respond with Pros and cons of this lens compaired tot he stock lens. I need to know the differences in lowlight, closeup, distance, and especially quality. Also is there any vignetting at full wide? THX for the help.

November 25th, 2008, 09:10 AM	#130
John M. McCloskey Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: West Point, MS Posts: 313	Sorry meant the Z7 or EX3 not the z5. My bad.

December 1st, 2008, 10:05 PM	#131
Stephen Gradin Contributor Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Nottingham, MD Posts: 66	After more testing tonight, here is what I discovered: 1. Cache recording works fine (seamless video), if I just use the CF card to record. Meaning, don't use mini DV tape at all in transport mechanism. 2. Cache recording works fine (again, seamless video) when recording in DV format, using both CF card and mini DV tape in transport mechanism. 3. Cache recording does not work, if I record in HDV format with both CF card and mini DV tape in transport mechanism (results in 2 files that don't edit seamlessly). I thought at first that perhaps my CF cards weren't fast enough, but then I tried using the Sony 8 gig, 306X speed card. The HDV files were still broken between the Cache file and the following adjacent file (the video file that went down on both tape and CF). Joining these 2 files in Premiere Pro results in missing frames between the files. Has anyone else had success with seamless Cache recording, while also shooting on tape? __________________ Stephen Gradin Dockside Video Productions

December 12th, 2008, 01:24 PM	#133
Ryan McBride Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Seattle WA Posts: 28	Rolling Shutter Fix? Can anyone confirm any changes to the current Z7 and S270 models (as of Dec 08). I have heard a few rumors that Sony was going to work on the rolling shutter issue on the S270. I have a few emails into Sony but havent received a response yet. I don't want to buy the camera and have to send it back and jump through all the hoops to get it working right.

December 12th, 2008, 06:29 PM	#134
Ryan Valle Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: North Hills, CA Posts: 40	All CMOS chip cameras (i.e.: Z7, EX1, RED) will have rolling shutter because of the lack of a global shutter. Its a question of how fast the chips refresh rates are that will determine of how much rolling shutter you will have.

January 14th, 2009, 04:47 PM	#135
Greg Laves Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Corpus Christi, TX Posts: 640	Help needed. What am I doing wrong? I just recently got a Z7. I love this camera. Up to this point, everything I have shot was on CF cards. The camera had never even had a tape in it. Until today. I met with a helicopter pilot at sunrise to shoot some footage. We get airborne on schedule and everything looked good until I pressed record and nothing happened. It showed a good cam link. Everything looked exactly as it should. In near panic mode, I tried to quickly check the menus, connections,battery, everything on the camera and MR1. But we were wasting time and fuel and the still photographer was sitting on the ground while I was up sight seeing. When I got down, I got the manual. Tried to check everything I could think of but no luck. I changed all of the ext., synchro. and relay settings. Nada. The only way I could get it to work was to put a tape in and put it on synchro record and then both would record. Since I have been back, I have been looking at the owners manual for both units and I still haven't been able to figure it out. HELP. Please. What did I do wrong?