Z1 vs. Z1U
 

I was hoping someone could help give me direction on this. I am looking at getting a Z1U for personal use. I might use it a few times a year, but it will never be for anything production. So I don’t want to spend more then I have to on a Z1U. I have found a couple camera providers that sell the Z1 not the Z1U for under $1900. I would have to buy the charger & battery separately, but that is not a big deal if I am saving $2500-$3500. I know that I am giving up the 1 year warranty, but I have always bought Sony products and believe that if they are going to fail, it will be more then a year. My concern is if the camera has the option to change the language on the screen to English. I believe the Z1U supports that, but I don’t know if the Z1 does? I am not too concerned about the buttons on the camera body as a lot of them are symbols and I can lean what is what over time. Can anybody share some thoughts on this? Has anybody bought one of these? Thanks again for the help!

Little Risky
 

Buying an expensive camera, with no waranty, who knows what you'll get in the mail. I don't think its wise to cut corners on an expensive peice of electronics.
For what its worth my take.
Jack

Bob, if you KNOW and UNDERSTAND the risks of buying a cam from a grey-market dealer, and understand that it's usually a split out box where you're charged for every little thing, and don't mine having no warranty and no one to call for tech or damage support, but saving the money is more important, go for it.
Myself, I'd never do it, I like having a fall-back position when something goes wrong. But, Im also not a casual user of most of my gear.

There is no such thing as a Z1 or Z1U. They are trying to fool you making you believe there is a difference between a Z1 or Z1U. People refer the Z1U as Z1. It is the same thing! They are trying to draw that distinction so they can sell you a gray market product with no accessories and no warranty of any sort.

I dont want to sound too blunt, but only a fool would fall for that.

Eu contraire! There is a big difference. Owners manuals, language on screen, etc. But more importantly, the service package. Warranty is part of service. Without a warranty, you're walking a wire without a net.
Are the physical aspects of a Z1U different than the physical or electronic aspects of a Z1J? No. But the packaging is different as it's localized, and most importantly, the warranty issue. Sony Japan doesn't want to be paying warranty costs for a camera that came from Europe, and Sony US doesn't want to be paying warranty costs for a camera that came from Sony Latin America.

This is VERY common among localized products, and while there are vendors without ethics that sell from one market to another, buyers absolutely need to be aware. If the vendor says "Z1" and not Z1U or Z1E or Z1J, or Z1N, etc...then the buyer is definitely not getting what they might think they are. And, if the vendor is a fly-by-night, or won't accept returns even on an incomplete, damaged box, or defective unit, the buyer is screwed because Sony won't do anything for them at all.

But it was the physical aspect what I was referring when I said there is no difference between a Z1 and a Z1U or Z1J or whatever.

In any case, your thorough explanation about the actual differences between a Z1 and a Z1U is excellent and I would reaffirm what I had said ... Only a fool would fall for that ... and buy a Z1 (not a Z1U) ...

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Take a look at Adam Wilt's review of the Z1 in DV Magazine (probably also at dv.com). He claims there is a difference in the colorspace of the composite and s-video outputs between the Z1U and Z1E. He claims that PAL footage will look wrong on a PAL monitor connected to a Z1U via composite or s-video, but will be OK via component video.

This is discussed at length in another thread here; others dispute Adam's claim...

You don't have to believe everything that it is said regardless if he/she is a technical guru or not. I had a shoot about 2 weeks ago, and was able to connect my Z1u in PAL mode to a PAL monitor via composite for a client from England. I then switched to component and although the footage coming from the component signal was definitely better, the colorspace looked fine to me either in composite or component. Trust what your eyes see and what your instruments (waveform, vectorscopes, etc) tell you, rather than someone else's theories or empirical tests.