Z5 or Z7 for weddings

[Lee Berger]

Arlen:
Perhaps my use of the term "true focus" is misleading. I am referring to mechanical vs. servo focus control The Z5 uses a servo controlled focus. When you turn the focus ring, it causes a motor or actuator to move the focus elements in the lens. That is why there is no beginning or end point on the focus ring. When you reach max close focus, or infinity it keeps on turning.

The Z7 focus ring is mechanically coupled to the focus elements. Twist the focus and gears turn to move the elements. It has end points from close focus to infinity. This direct focus control is more accurate and is what you will find on professional camera lenses. Having finite beginning and end points also assists in setting focus points such as in a rack or follow focus. You can actually mark the focus ring for the start and end of the focus move.

The servo focus on the Z5 is more typical of prosumer and consumer camcorders. You cannot mark focus points as there is no direct relationship between the focus ring and the focus of the lens. The focus ring is kind of like a volume control with no min/max stops.

The smooth iris I referred to is the iris control located where the Z7's lens meets the camera body. This arrangement is also typical of professional lenses. On the Z5 it's a knob on the side of the camera body.

When you adjust the Z7's iris you get smooth transitions between each f-stop. On the Z5 it kind of steps between f-stops with nothing in between. If you are shooting and manually adjusting the iris, as in a pan from bright area and dark area, the Z5's iris adjustments not that smooth. By the way the iris on both cameras are servo controls, but the Z7 is more precise and its location is where professionals expect it to be.

The iris control on more professional lenses is just like the mechanical focus that is directly linked to the lens iris, with stopping points at each end.

While the Z7's lens doesn't fully equal more professional lenses I've used in my career, it is much closer than the Z5. I'm not knocking the Z5, I've done a lot of shooting over the past four years with my V1 and you learn to adapt. However when I upgraded to the Z7, I felt much closer to the type of lens I was used to when shooting professional Betacam, DVCPro, and DVCam units. I hope this was helpful.

Lee

[Arlen Sahakian]

Thank you Lee that was helpful :)) but i think i will go with Z5 cause i already have Z7 and i can use the 20x zoom and little more wide sometimes

Thank you guys