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

[A. Stone]

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

[Khoi Pham]

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

[Steven Gotz]

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.

[A. Stone]

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