Professional quality HD is here for under $60K!!

Introduction:
With the release of the HVR-Z1, Sony has managed to bring professional level HD quality to the masses for under $60,000. This camera, complete with a host of professional features is sure to please everyone from ENG men to indie film producers. I'm not a professional ENG or Indie maker, but I am an avid photographer. I purchased the Z1 to record my first child as she grows. I originally purchased a cheapie JVC sub-$500 camcorder, but the quality was terrible, especially played back on my 50" Samsung DLP HDTV. I knew that I needed something better, and well... Sony has answered the call with the HVR-Z1U.

Features
This camera isn't a toy, and you'll immediately realize that once you pick it up. It's solidly constructed from a mix of alloy material and impact resistant plastic. It's extremely well constructed, with no creaking of the body when handled. It's most prominent feature has to be the Carl Zeiss T* lens. This is a beautiful lens with an effective range of 4.5 - 54mm. That's roughly 32.5 - 390mm when compared to the 35mm format. Low light performance is also stellar, rated at 3 lux at f1.6.

Other important features included with this camera include two balanced XLR inputs with phantom power, DVCAM recording compatibility, 3 true 16x9 CCD sensors, PAL and NTSC recording and playback, 3.5" 16x9 LCD screen, switchable color or black and white viewfinder, full manual control, hypergain, SMTPE time code options, 6 picture profiles, Cineframe 24, 25, and 30, and much much more. If I tried to cover every feature of this camera, we'd be here reading for hours.

Video and Audio quality:
The picture quality coming out of this camera is simply stunning. Connected directly to a 1080i capable set yields video that could rival Discovery HD footage. It's simply that good. The fact that you can control just about every aspect of this camera manually means you can get truly creative, and capture what your imagination actually envisions. Audio quality using the built-in microphone isn't too bad either - that is if you don't intend to record any spoken audio, just ambient noise (think sunrise earth). The built in mic is very sensitive, and prone to picking up everything, including camera handling. If audio is important to you as it is to me, use the XLR inputs and a good shotgun like the Audio Technica AT4073a, or better yet, have a dedicated audio guy using a boom mounted mic.

The camera also features several image modes like Cineframe 24. Unlike 24P, Cineframe 24 is an electronically achieved effect that kind of resembles 24P. Under a controlled environment where lighting and motion can be closely monitored, CF24 can provide a very close alternative to 24P. However, used as is would probably give you something completely unlike film. CF24 is also difficult to edit, and I suggest capturing in either 50i or 60i and downconverting to 24P in post processing.

Lowlight performance is also quite good, even at 3 lux. The camera features adjustable gain, including a hypergain function. Unlike the majority of Sony's other camcorders, there is no Infrared night mode. It's too bad, because this camcorder would have been great for certain ENG applications - war correspondence at night could be an example. And while the gain and hypergain functions are usable, they also increase image noise. The more sparingly the gain is used, the better.

Contrary to what other's have said, artifacts during fast pans haven't been an issue, at least with my unit. Like I said earlier, the video is incredibly detailed, well saturated, and color accurate. Perhaps others have experienced more artifacts and drop outs due to using cheap tapes. My mentality is this though - why spend 5K for a camcorder only to use the cheapest tapes possible. The same goes for lens filters. I'd suggest using Sony's DVM63HD or Sony's Digital Master DV tapes. Both are priced around $14 and $20 respectively. The tapes are expensive, but definitely worth it especially if the video matters to you.

Ergonomics
The camera connects either to your set, monitor, or computer through several connection options. You have a firewire input/output jack, a proprietary port of component connections, audio out, and composite (S-Video) out. Connecting to a computer is as easy as plugging in the firewire cable and using a compatible NLE such as Final Cut Pro 5 or iMovie HD for the Macintosh. Sony Vega 6 for the PC is also a great NLE.

The lens has a 72mm thread mount. I've got a B W 010 MRC UV on it to protect the front element from damage. The included lens hood is also a marvel of engineering, featuring built-in shutters. This means never lost lens caps again! The lens isn't detachable like JVC's new GY-HD100 or Canon's new XL-HD1, but that doesn't mean it's not as capable either. To me, a fixed lens means ease of use and no more back focus problems. The barrel has two rings; one for focus and the other for zoom. The operator has the ability to choose whether or not those rings are active through the setup menu or hard switches.

Almost all aspects of the camera can be controlled through the many buttons on the camera. There is a dedicated Iris knob for example, and is a nice change compared to other prosumer camcorders which force you to go into menus. There are also six programmable buttons on the side of the camera which you can assign yourself. Each audio channel also has seperate level controls located on the rear of the unit.

The top of the camera has a unique LCD design. In the storage position, it's closed in such a way that the screen is protected. Flip it up and you can swivel it to your liking. Under the LCD panel are more buttons. The VCR control buttons, LCD brightness and monitor volume are some of the buttons. The camera's carry handle also features it's own zoom rocker and start and stop button. The handle mounted zoom rocker is a nice touch, although I'd hoped that it was variable. In this case, it's only two speeds - fast or slow.

The tape transport mechanism is also a welcome change from most prosumer cameras. It opens from the top, which means you can leave the unit mounted on a tripod, and not have to worry about tape changes. Apart from that, there's nothing special about it.

The other side of the camera has the data and video ports. Directly behind the hand grip is the firewire port. On top of the firewire port housing are two cool blue LED's that light up. They show you whether you're in HDV or DV modes. The hand grip is large, and fairly comfortable. The Off/On/Start/Stop buttons are next to the thumb recess. On the top of the grip is a variable speed zoom rocker. Directly behind the rocker is a small Expanded Focus button. Pressing this while in standby mode enlarges the image either on the LCD or viewfinder and helps the operator to achieve fine focus. Beneath that is a rubber covered port which contains the LANC and headphone jacks.

In front of the hand grip is a small attached box. This box contains the two balanced XLR audio jacks as mentioned earlier. The phantom power switches are located on the front of the box. Above the XLR audio jacks behind a plastic door are the proprietary ports for component, audio and composite out.

This camcorder being a medium sized unit could also mean sore arms or wrists. I've found this to be the case after several hours of usage, as the camcorder isn't shoulder mountable without an expensive aftermarket option. I've heard though that other manufacturers are beginning to design and market their own shoulder mounts for significantly less than the Sony unit.

Finally, the camcorder comes with one battery and a seperate charger. Unlike the HDR-FX1, you can charge the battery off camera. The charger features an LCD screen showing time remaining to charge, battery status etc. The charger can also be connected directly to the camera for power. The included battery is a joke though, and should be replaced right away with Sony's NP-F970. The included battery only gives about 45 minutes of run time, while the 970 averages close to 380 minutes.

Conclusion:
The Sony HVR-Z1 represents a major milestone in consumer and prosumer oriented HD camcorders. The Sony Z1 is by all means a professional camcorder, but I'd liken it more to prosumer than consumer. This is because of it's lack of interchangeable lenses, and it's manual control still leaves something to be desired. However, it's shortcomings are greatly outweighed by this cameras performance and price. For under $5000, you could start shooting in HD with the ability to use XLR based audio. The consumer version, Sony's HDR-FX1 is even less expensive by at least a thousand dollars, but you lose some of the more important pro features - like XLR audio and PAL or NTSC recording capability. Overall, this is a fantastic camera for the price and is probably the best bang for your buck HD camcorder to date. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested.

Update: I forgot to mention earlier that Sony does NOT include a shotgun microphone as shown in all product photos. While the built-in mic is decent for scenery and ambient audio, you'd be better off purchasing a good shotgun microphone. Personally, I'd recommend the Audio Technica AT4073a. It's a little more expensive, but the audio quality is superb. It's a hot mic as well, moreso than the venerable Sennheiser ME66. But this is completely different review altogether. :)