Sony HVR-Z1 Mini Dv Camcorder
When it comes to Sony, you can already feel comfortable with your money being spent. The quality the Z1 gives back is just what you would expect from. Great colours, sharp images, and, of course, the possibilty to film in HDV and SD modes on the same support (miniDV tapes).
It is incredibly light, and if you mount the small L battery, you will barely feel it in your hand, even though you can easily see that it definitely is a well-built camera. Zoom and focus rings are easy to access, as well as all the other buttons, which appear to be put in a very smart position, so that you can easily access them without looking away from the viewfinder or the lcd monitor, which, by the way, is in an excellent position for whatever type of point of view you''re recording.
It has a complete and yet easy-to-use upper panel with VCR and LCD buttons. The LCD resolution is actually great, and it has a smart function by which you can easily see what you are filming even in difficult lighting situations, i.e. strong sunlight directly on the monitor. Another great feature is the extended zoom function, which will digitally zoom in on your subject, so that you can check your focus and details. It will go automatically back to normal size as soon as you hit the record button. It has so many settings in the menu, that it is almost impossible to not find your perfect solution, yet the menu is not complicated at all.
The camera features CinemaTone, 3 different skintone settings, which try to emulate the 24p camera. With a little effort in postproduction, most of the times you do achieve progressive-like footage. Downsides of this camera are way fewer than upsides. Of course there are a few downsides you may want to consider. The very bad thing about this camera is that it records interlaced footage. This might be tricky as long as your intent is to make slow-motion footage. Although many postproduction software allows you to smooth your footage, it''s always recommended to shoot with a progressive camera. As said before, you can solve this with a bit of post production. If you were to buy this camera, you would do a great deal, it won''t let you down, and you''ll be always definitely happy with your footage. If you wanted to be just great, all you need to do is buy a 35mm adapter and some good lenses. Then you''d be doing Cinema!
