Z5 timecode

[James Strange]

Hi all, just got my new z5 with card recorder unit, not really had a chance to properly test it yet, but I did find one thing that I could not figure out,


This may seem like a totally weird question (hopefully with a very obvious answer)

How to I set the timecode on the Z5 to run like a normal consumer cam (FX1000, FX7, VX2000 etc)

w to I set the time code to simply run along from 00:00:00 all teh way up to 01:02:30 when the tape reaches the end, then when I put a new tape in, it goes back to 00:00:00 ?

I'm sure this is a simple problem, but I cannot for the life of me figure it out.

I tried all the options, but all I could get was for it to eaier alway be at 00:00:00 (even though I've recorded a full tape) or get it to record the current time as the timecode.

Any help would be much appreciated

Thanks

James

[Steve Renouf]

Originally Posted by James Strange

Hi all, just got my new z5 with card recorder unit, not really had a chance to properly test it yet, but I did find one thing that I could not figure out,


This may seem like a totally weird question (hopefully with a very obvious answer)

How to I set the timecode on the Z5 to run like a normal consumer cam (FX1000, FX7, VX2000 etc)

The simple answer is - you can't. These are not consumer cameras, so they don't work that way.

w to I set the time code to simply run along from 00:00:00 all teh way up to 01:02:30 when the tape reaches the end, then when I put a new tape in, it goes back to 00:00:00 ?

As it's designed to do. There is a way you can save the actual date and time - the actual process is described in the user manual under UB-DATE/TC-TIME at the bottom of page 87.

I'm sure this is a simple problem, but I cannot for the life of me figure it out.

I tried all the options, but all I could get was for it to eaier alway be at 00:00:00 (even though I've recorded a full tape) or get it to record the current time as the timecode.

Oh, did I misunderstand? I thought you wanted to record the current time as the timecode. (As it explains in the manual, you have to reset it each time before recording as it does drift over time).

Any help would be much appreciated

Thanks

James

Sorry if I've not helped very much, but I suspect what you are trying to achieve is not possible - as you seem to have tried what I was suggesting (being what I initially thought you were trying to achieve).

Steve

[James Strange]

Ok, i thought there would be a simple solution, and there was.

under the lcd screen, where the play, rewind buttons are, there is a button that says '
tc/u-bit'

This toggles the display on the cameras lcd from, you've guessed it, Time code (which is what I was looking for) and user bits (the date, or the user selected bits etc...)

Thanks for the suggestions though

James

[Greg Laves]

Steve, I did not entirely understand your response but the Z5 should have complete control over the time code. I know the Z7 does and I would guess that the Z5 has the same capability. For example, if you want tape #1 to start with time code 01:00:00:00, you can do it. And if you want tape #2 to start with 02:00:00:00, you can do that also. Or if you do not reset your timecode and the first tape ends at 01:02:03:40, for example, the second tape will start up where the first tape stopped. Or you can reset each new tape to 00:00:00:00 if you want. As Steve found out, he had his camera on U-bit. He probably did not notice that it actually read something like 00.00.00.00 instead of 00:00:00:00.

[Steve Renouf]

Originally Posted by Greg Laves

Steve, I did not entirely understand your response but the Z5 should have complete control over the time code. I know the Z7 does and I would guess that the Z5 has the same capability. For example, if you want tape #1 to start with time code 01:00:00:00, you can do it. And if you want tape #2 to start with 02:00:00:00, you can do that also. Or if you do not reset your timecode and the first tape ends at 01:02:03:40, for example, the second tape will start up where the first tape stopped. Or you can reset each new tape to 00:00:00:00 if you want. As Steve found out, he had his camera on U-bit. He probably did not notice that it actually read something like 00.00.00.00 instead of 00:00:00:00.

What I meant was that it doesn't record the timecode as e.g. 2009-04-22 14:36:45 like it does on most? a lot of? consumer cams (like my old Digital-8) which is what I initially thought he was after.

[Greg Laves]

You can set it to do time of day, if you want. It won't display the date in the time code. But we have "synced" 3 different Sonys by setting them all for the same time and using free run as the mode.

[Boudewijn de Kemp]

Originally Posted by Greg Laves

Steve, I did not entirely understand your response but the Z5 should have complete control over the time code. I know the Z7 does and I would guess that the Z5 has the same capability. For example, if you want tape #1 to start with time code 01:00:00:00, you can do it. And if you want tape #2 to start with 02:00:00:00, you can do that also.

With tape I have this control, but for some reason I can't seem to get this while recording on CF only. It would be nice to treat my CF the same way as tape.
Now if I log and Transfer to Final Cut I always get a number, followed by date and time, but the timecode for each shot is from 00:00:00:00 till I stopped recording. How can I stop this resseting while shooting on CF?