Possible Bad Sony Z1, but I need a comparison to another Z1...PLEASE HELP!
 

Hello and thanks in advance if you can lend any assistance.

I just got the Sony Z1 and everything worked great until I tried to capture HDV content into my NLE system. Since so many things could be wrong (software, hardware, etc.), the first thing I need to do is narrow down the possibilities, beginning with the camera (especially since I only have two more days to return the camera to B&H if something IS wrong). here's my question:

when I navigate to the [IN/OUT REC] menu (in either camera or VCR mode) and scroll down to the VCR HDV/DV setting and pull up the submenu that lets you change from "Auto" to "HDV" to "DV", there is a message at the bottom of the screen that reads:

Changes NOT allowed.
Unplug i. Link cable.

this message is there regardless if the camera is connected via the iLink (IEEE1394) cable or not. B&H and Sony (surprise, surprise) couldn't/wouldn't tell me if this message was normal and always present regardless if the camera was plugged-in or not.

I get the same message in HDV->DV convert menu and thus far I have been unable to down-convert and capture DV from HDV.

Can anyone tell me if their Sony Z1/FX1 says the same thing whether or not its plugged in via the iLink cable??

Any help would be most welcome!

Thanks!

Andrew Stone

It is just a warning for you to unplug before you change, all of them do that.

It just says that. What you need to do is set it the way you want it, and then I always turn it off and then on again before capturing.

That's a relief!
 

Thanks...I appreciate the information. I didn't think it was the camera, but I wanted to make sure. now it's time to troubleshoot all the other stuff so I can capture HDV