I love the feel of the Z5. Slightly heavier than the PD-170, with the MRC-1 attached, but more balanced. Great LCD placement as well but I guess this has been covered in other posts.

Hey !!! love my z5 and getting in love with my new(second camera)fx1000
great duo.
Last weekend my second camera man use the FX1000 for the first time,and at the
end of the wedding he just say ! HEY BOSS NEVER AGAIN 4X3,coming from pd 170
the QUALITY IS NOTORIUS!!!

Be my guest!!!............Franklin

As I said before, I shot with mine Friday and footage is really nice, particularly the outdoor stuff. There is nothing like true 16:9

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the kind words.

The ceremony location was not too bad, but where the couple stood was very dark. You can see the congregation was nice and bright, but the couples faces were in the dark. The camera actually made the scene look brighter than it actually was.

I do agree with you on the reception footage. There was nice accent lighting and then I provided on camera and off camera lighting as well.

I observed that where the couple stood it seemed quite dark, and thought the cam did quite well, but I couldn't say for sure as I wasn't there.

That is why I was so impressed by the footage...very nice Mark.

4:3 - yuk!!!!!!!!!!!
 

4:3 dead and buried

Mark, the couple looked somewhat dark but it looked as though there was enough ambient light to compensate but as Jeff said, without being there it's hard to tell.

Go tell that to Corporate America! Far from dead and buried, trust me on that. :)

16:9
 

I can't understand that.

Here in Oz its all 16:9 across the board. Never heard of "Please film for us in 4:3".

That must drive u nuts Ken

To be honest Martin, I'm so used to it, it just doesn't phase me anymore. Hell, I still get a very occasional request for a finished video to be dumped to VHS!

U.S. corporations tend to be very slow in adopting new technology.

I'm starting to push the issue myself, now that I have the Z5, but not one customer has asked me for 16:9 or HD.

Two days ago, a bride watched my demo DVDs, all shot with VX2100, but it wasn't until I showed her footage from the FX1000 that she went wow. That was the first time that happened.

The way it filled up the screen knocked her out.

Then yesterday, for the first time, a bride asked me if I shoot in widescreen. When I said yes, she booked.

So, it is starting to happen.

That's good to hear Jeff. That's what I'm counting on.

Hey Jeff, I bet it won't be long until we're being asked about blu!