Sony HVR-Z1U Review:

Sony HVR-Z1U adheres to the HDV Consortiums specifications for 1080i recording on popular DV mini cassettes. Sony HVR-Z1U represents the widest array of professional features within a new standard of miniaturization. The HDV video standard will provide about double the resolution of the old standard DV formats. The design of the Sony HVR-Z1U is aimed directly at the filmmaker, the most modern event video producers and even widescreen news shooters. Because Sony HVR-Z1U records in high definition and standard definition modes it can be used in a variety of production scenarios that may change from client to client or evolve over time. Sony HVR-Z1U is NTSC and PAL system compatible as well.

Sony HVR-Z1U Build-in HDV 1080i
The HDV 1080i specification features 1080 effective interlaced scanning lines and 1,440 horizontal pixels. Interlaced pictures, which have been common to TV broadcasts from the beginning, alternately display odd and even numbered lines between each screen refresh. The Sony HVR-Z1U can also record at the HDV 720p specification, which features 720 effective progressive scanning lines and 1,280 horizontal pixels. Progressive scanning fills both odd and even numbered lines with each refresh, providing a flicker-free picture.The Sony HVR-Z1U can convert material from 1080i down to 480i and 576i, and output these digital video signals through its i.LINK interface or as analog signals through component, composite, or S-video connectors. When down-converting these signals, the aspect ratio displayed can be converted from 16:9 to 4:3, and display modes can be selected from squeeze, letterbox or edge crop.

Sony HVR-Z1U’s Audio
The Sony HVR-Z1U adopts the MPEG-2 compression format, which uses 8-bit digital component recording with a sampling rate of 4:2:0. The camera uses MPEG-1 Audio Layer II audio compression format, allowing for two-channel recording with a sampling frequency of 48 kHz/16-bit. Sony HVR-Z1U features a built-in stereo microphone, as well as two XLR audio input connectors for use with professional-grade microphones or external audio sources. Each input level for CH1 and CH2 can be independently adjusted using two audio level dials on the camera body and viewed with an audio level meter on the LCD monitor.

Sony HVR-Z1U’s 3CCD camera system
Originally, camcorders used one CCD–the imaging device that turns light into electronic information–and let the image processing unit decipher the color information from the data. Like today’s broadcast video cameras, however, the Sony HVR-Z1U uses a prism to divide incoming light into three beams and uses specially tuned 1/3-inch CCDs to create red, blue, and green composite images, which are assembled into a final image. The result is a more film-like vibrancy and more accurate color representation.

Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 12x zoom lens
The Sony HVR-Z1U is equipped with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* high definition lens with a 12x zoom function. It has the same optical coating as is used on all of the Carl Zeiss prime lenses, which produces sharp, high-contrast images with virtually no chromatic aberration. This Sony HVR-Z1U lens is designed with a wide viewing angle, and a 35-mm equivalent focal length ranging from 32.5 mm to 390 mm in 16:9 mode, and from 40 mm to 480 mm in 4:3 mode.

In order to facilitate zoom control and recording operation during low-angle shooting, an additional zoom lever and a rec start/stop button have been added to the carrying handle. There’s also a motorized zoom ring, equipped with stops and barrel marking, located on the lens body. Turning this zoom ring allows for fine adjustments in zoom position settings. Furthermore, the supplied wireless Remote Commander unit can be used for external control.

Large, 16:9 widescreen color viewfinder and LCD monitor
View your subject through the built-in viewfinder, the swing-out LCD display, or both. The Sony HVR-Z1U features a 0.44-inch type color LCD viewfinder and a 3.5-inch color LCD monitor, both in a 16:9 aspect ratio. You’ll save battery time by using just one, but you may want to use one for adjusting focus and the other for monitoring audio levels. When eschewing auto focus for the fine-tuning manual focus, you can double the magnification at the center of the screen, making it easier to confirm focus settings during manual focusing. Also, the Sony HVR-Z1U’s “peaking” function can provide sharp outlines on the monitor to help with manual focus.

Optical Super SteadyShot system
Sony HVR-Z1U’s optical Super SteadyShot System helps remove the slight hand jitter and vibration that is often the bane of video production. Sensors inside the camera detect horizontal and vertical movements and the camera can counteract those movements by adjusting the lens mechanism on the fly. This is superior to digital anti-shake systems that counteract image shake by trimming off edges of the frame.

The Hollywood look
The Sony HVR-Z1U has features that can make your videos look more like they were shot on film. Cinematone Gamma allows operators to quickly setup and load a gamma curve with similar contrast characteristics to a film gamma curve. The Cineframe feature allows movement to be reproduced at 24 frames per second–the speed of film–as opposed to video’s 30 frames per second standard. The Color Extraction function can retain up to two desired colors of monitored pictures in the screen by designating color hue, saturation and range, while making the other colors black and white. The Color Revision function can change the hue of only the colors designated by Color Extraction, while retaining the hue of the other colors, thus making it possible to change the color of something you’ve already shot.

No new tape stock
The Sony HVR-Z1U is compatible with conventional DV tape stock, but Sony recommends the use of DigitalMaster PHDVM-63DM tape, with its dual layer of magnetic material, which delivers higher RF output, lower noise, 95% fewer errors and 60% fewer dropouts compared to regular DV tape.

Sony HVR-Z1U Features

• High-definition video camera records in 1080i, 720p, and 720i specification with analog down-converting
• 16:9 widescreen recording; 4:3 conversion capable
• Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 12x optical zoom Lens; optical Super SteadyShot System dampens hand jitter and vibration
• 3CCD camera system; records to conventional DV tape stock
• Powered by NP-F570 InfoLithium rechargeable battery pack

Sony HVR-Z1U Specifications

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