As a filmmaker, I dreamed of the day that I could toss my standard def camera for a high Def one. I started pricing them about 5 years ago and one hundred grand was the best price I could find. It took a couple years until it had come down by half to fifty grand. Even then, I was never going to have the kind of a budget to own or even rent such a camera. Then, in late 2004, Sony broke the $10,000 barrier and released the FX1 and, in 2005, the Z1U, bringing the dream of owning an HD camera to regular people like you and me. Over the last year Panasonic, JVC and Canon have followed suit giving microfilmmakers everywhere broader options in cameras and more tools to tell stories at a much higher quality than they used to have. Since I owned a Sony PD-150, which I liked a lot, I naturally leaned toward the Sony HDV camera. I did my homework on all of them and in the end I decided to go with the Z1U. It has its ups and downs but over all it has lived up to the hype.

Hvr Z5u Review
Sony Z1u Specs

For an entry-level path into the HD world. Sony's response to this demand is the HVR-Z1U Digital HD Video Camera Recorder – a compact and cost-effective HD camcorder that builds on the market-acclaimed DVCAMTM recorders. The HVR-Z1U camcorder adopts the all-new,1/4-inch HD format – the HDV 1080i specification of the HDVTM format. FX9 enhanced V2.0 firmware to add 16-bit RAW output, Eye AF, Full-frame 4K 60p/50p recording, and more. The Sony HVR-Z1U professional camcorder shoots brilliant high definition 1080i pictures with jaw-dropping detail, color and clarity. The HDV system records onto highly affordable, widely-available DV cassettes, including Sony’s reference-quality DigitalMaster tape.

There are a lot of reviews available on the Z1U. As a shooter I found that those reviews glossed over a lot of things that effect me in the practical day-to-day use of this camera. In this review I have glossed over a few of the features that will make your jaw drop in awe in favor of giving you a perspective that has some practical value to the microfilmmaker. That way when you drop a few grand on getting this camera you at least know all sides of the picture.

With the HVR-Z1U, you should be using the Easy Setup HDV-1080i60.

Try removing the firewire hub and plugging the camera directly into the iMac (you may have to temporarily reset your capture scratch disk if you are using the external drive as your capture scratch location) and see if FCP sees the camera.

If that does not work, download Preference Manager from Digital Rebellion (free) :

Preference Manager will let you archive your current preferences before you trash them, so you can restore them later, if you choose.

Hvr Z5u Review

Use it to trash your preferences, then try to connect again.

Sony Z1u Specs

If that does not help, post back.

MtD

Mar 8, 2013 10:36 AM

Sony Hvr Z1u Drivers