All of you that have been using the Sony Z5 for 6 months or longer...

[Silas Barker]

How do you like it? I got mine recently and have only used it for a few things so far....

Likes:
20x zoom,
wider angle lens,
audio controls are buttons on the camera (instead of like the Z1 on a menu)
Iris control ring
Slow motion is bomb!
depth of field is better then Z1

Dislikes:
The LCD screen is smaller then Z1
the zoom ring feels "light" and every jiggle comes through
the auto focus is a tad slow (not bad tho)
its heavier then Z1 for glidecam

I basically like the camera overall and the picture quality seems great!

[Mark Hendren]

As far as cameras go, I love it. I've used a lot of cameras (broadcast and smaller) and I have to say this is one of the more intuitive cameras out there. Most everything is where it should be and is pretty straight forward.

On the negative side, I would love to have dedicated focus stops and a mechanical zoom ring. Guess I could have gone with the Z7. That and the menu wheel is annoying.

Other than that, it puts out beautiful pics and is easy and straightforward to work with.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to shoot me a message or just post them here.

Mark

[Adam Gold]

There are only a couple of silly ergonomic things I'm not so crazy about, and they're minor:

--As mentioned above, the menu button and scroll wheel take some getting used to. I guess they recessed them that far so you wouldn't accidentally hit them, but to me they're hard to find and work in the dark.

--I really prefer the more amateur AC adapter arrangement of the prosumer twins for these cams, like on the FX1000. There, you can just leave the batt in all the time and plug the cam in when you get home. But the plug isn't really locked in place and isn't that secure and could get kicked out if you are shooting while attached to the AC power. With the locking plate that the Z5 and other more Pro cams use, you have to remove the batt and can't charge the batt on the cam (which I know some people advise against, even though they can't tell you why). And to switch from batt to AC you have to remove the MRC1k as well, making for a lot of snapping and unsnapping during your day. And because the AC power plate is snapped securely into place, if someone kicks or trips over the cord it brings your whole rig crashing to the ground.

But silly and minor, as I said.

[Stelios Christofides]

I also love this camera and I believe that the Z5 is really value for money especially when you have the MRC1 with it (a must if you have this camera). I also agree with Adam about the power adaptor set up.
My next camera will also be the evolution of the Z5 the NX5!

Stelios

[Tom Hardwick]

Silas, sounds like you came to the Z5 from the Z1 as you mention the screen size. I don't have a Z5 but the Z7's screen isn't a patch on the Z1's when they're both in direct sunlight. The near invisibility of the Z7’s screen image in sunlight was a real shock to me, Z5 the same? In the run 'n' gun world I’d far rather have a softer image that I can see than a sharper one I can’t.

You don't mention CMOS jello or flash banding - neither of which the Z1 has but the Z7 sure has.

You also say that 'depth of field is better than Z1', but to be technically accurate they're both exactly the same as they both use 1"/3 chips sets and at 54 mm their maximum apertures are the same. Of course the Z5 allows you to zoom in more, but this simply gives you less of the subject's face on screen for a softer background.

Sorry to be so pedantic, it's the way I am.

tom.

[Dave Burckhard]

I'm not as distracted by the lack of markings on lens control rings as others are. As with my other cameras, both still and video that have markings, I focus and zoom by feel while keeping my eyes on the viewfinder.

As an aside, I was disappointed when Nikon, my still camera brand, started arbitrarily re-arranging the zooming and focusing ring positions. Regardless of markings, it is now a pain to keep up with my lens handling. At least there's been an attempt to maintain one direction for focus and zoom control. Mostly.

Video camera makers are worse than SLR lens makers and are all over the map. Markings wouldn't help is you're always having to adjust to the positions and directions of controls for different lenses and cameras. At least the Z5 allows you to reverse the iris (aperture) control operation. Of course for me, the default is "wrong."

Also, I'm not as annoyed by the selector scroll wheel as others are. I've never had an issue with it. One of my issues, though, is operational in nature. The video out ports seem to be less-than-professional. I would have preferred a real composite BNC port with HD-SDI supported so as to be compatible with more gear. The 10-pin solution seems so Sony -- therefore, so icky proprietary. Locking BNC connectors are a great way to secure a connection. The NXCAM is outfitted with proper ports. Also the 4-pin Firewire port is a step backwards from the 6-pin as included on the Z7. The 6-pin port is a hassle enough for secure connection if it doesn't have the click locks. The 4-pin is just asking for trouble. It's just one more thing I have to check during shoots as I use a DTE hard drive on my Z5. Thankfully, the included full-sized HDMI output will become more useful as more ancillary gear is made for it but is sure doesn't allow you to use legacy equipment such as monitors and recording onto your computer.

Again, my issues with cameras have never ever been with picture quality. Every single contemporary professional level, and I'm talking all the way down to a Panasonic HMC40 or Sony HVR A1 is capable of making beautiful images. My issues are always in operation, handling and workflow.

Dave Burckhard
PicturePoint On-line

[Steve Renouf]

Originally Posted by Silas Barker

How do you like it? I got mine recently and have only used it for a few things so far....

Likes:
20x zoom,
wider angle lens,
audio controls are buttons on the camera (instead of like the Z1 on a menu)
Iris control ring
Slow motion is bomb!
depth of field is better then Z1

Dislikes:
The LCD screen is smaller then Z1
the zoom ring feels "light" and every jiggle comes through
the auto focus is a tad slow (not bad tho)
its heavier then Z1 for glidecam

I basically like the camera overall and the picture quality seems great!

My biggest annoyance is that I can't get the zoom slow enough. Sometimes I want to be able to zoom so slow it's hardly perceptable. Unfortunately, it seems to be impossible on the Z5, so I can't get those really slow zooms that the audience aren't even aware that the camera is slowly zooming in.

The main plus for me were the low-light performance and wide angle.

Other than that, I can live with the other foibles. Pity the NX5 wasn't available at the time though, as I would have probably gone for that one in preference.

[Silas Barker]

Tom Hardwick:
Not sure what you ment about the screen in the sun? The Z5 is similar to the Z1's screen except smaller which is annoying if your shooting in HD. It is supposed to be high resolution though. As far as depth of field, it appears slightly more shallow, possibly from being able to zoom in, but i think in general it looks nicer then the Z1. I know they redid the whole lens with the "G" series. I have not noticed any cmos issues besides a slightly slow auto focus (GRRRR!)

Steve Renouf:
For a slow zoom, the best thing to do is to set the zoom speed to 1, and use the top zoom lever on "fixed" this will give you a nice zoom. Its slightly faster then I would like, but it works for most things I do. I believe the NX5 has a worse mps quality setting. There was another thread on here about that, its 24 instead of 25 (not sure how much difference that makes)

I actually like the continuios rings, that way i can keep my eye on the screen , look at the numbers on the screen to see where i am too and not have to look anywhere else. Esp in the dark.

Also the lens flares in some situations on this camera are much more tolerable then the Z1. The Z1 you get those weird 9 patterns, but not with the Z5.

Happy filming!

[Tom Hardwick]

As I say Silas, I haven't tested the Z5's screen alongside the Z1's, but I have put the EX1 and the Z7 up against the Z1 in bright, full-on sunshine and the Z1's is by far the best. Why? because you can see the image on it. A pretty basic requirement in my book.

The Z5's is a high resolution screen as you say, and hi-rez screens have far more, and far smaller pixels than standard rez screens (Z1). That's the bare bones as to why they're not as bright and not much use in sunlight.

If you haven't come across any of the CMOS artifacts then please don't go looking for them. You're better off not knowing.

tom.

[Adam Gold]

Originally Posted by Steve Renouf

My biggest annoyance is that I can't get the zoom slow enough. Sometimes I want to be able to zoom so slow it's hardly perceptable. Unfortunately, it seems to be impossible on the Z5, so I can't get those really slow zooms that the audience aren't even aware that the camera is slowly zooming in.

Originally Posted by Silas Barker

For a slow zoom, the best thing to do is to set the zoom speed to 1, and use the top zoom lever on "fixed" this will give you a nice zoom. Its slightly faster then I would like, but it works for most things I do.

You guys probably already know about this, but if you set shot transition to 90 sec, it's pretty darn slow. Not imperceptible -- you'll see the zoom happening -- but really slow enough for most purposes. You can also program in a delay so you can't see the bobble when you touch the Shot Transition button, and you can also program in a soft start and stop at the ends of the zoom, at the expense of slightly shorter elapsed zooming time and consequently a slightly faster zoom speed.

We were using this last night at a concert and it was quite effective during the slow emo songs. Only issue is it forgets the memorized shots when you power off the cam.

[Steve Renouf]

Originally Posted by Adam Gold

You guys probably already know about this, but if you set shot transition to 90 sec, it's pretty darn slow. Not imperceptible -- you'll see the zoom happening -- but really slow enough for most purposes. You can also program in a delay so you can't see the bobble when you touch the Shot Transition button, and you can also program in a soft start and stop at the ends of the zoom, at the expense of slightly shorter elapsed zooming time and consequently a slightly faster zoom speed.

Hi Adam, nice idea and great for pre-planned shots but with live performances I find it's virtually impossible to set up this type of preset, as the actors can end up missing lines/cues/positions quite easily (no 2 performances are ever the same :-( ) and I may need to change before the zoom finishes!.

Also, my camera angles tend to be different for each performance (where there are several performances) to give me different shots to work with in post.

I have managed to get it slightly slower with lanc control but maybe there is a better one out there that will give me really slow speeds!?!

[Mark Goodsell]

I've written this before about the LCD. As it comes from the factory, it's very difficult to see outside. I struggled for a while. Finally I found the 'brightness' feature burried in the menus. Once set higher (and the VF too) it made a big difference. Take a look to see if yours is set to bright.