Just picked up a Z7 ... early days yet .

[Derek Heeps]

That was the first camcorder , and before I had replaced the tape mechanism . With the new mechanism fitted it now works 100% .

I bought a second camcorder very cheaply , advertised for spare parts as it came with some accessories missing from the first one , and got the whole thing for what I'd have paid elsewhere for the front accessory shoe and the rubber eyepiece . I initially thought the second camcorder was worth fixing and bought another tape mechanism , but that one turned out to have more wrong with it - hence it was so cheap ! I now have a spare mechanism which may come in handy at some point , given I have five working HDV camcorders now , and also have three Firestore FS4-HD external recorders , one of which I used at the wedding in addition to shooting on tape ! . ( Plus my JVC GY-HD251 and two PDW-F350 XDCAM cameras )

Then I bought a third Z7 , paid a little more for it , which is 100% working .

I also bought two Sony ECM-MS2 microphones , same as I already have on my HVR V1e , and suspension type shock mounts to mount them on the camera ( the standard mic mounts are awful ) , so that I have on board stereo mics .

Filmed the wedding 2 weeks ago , all went very well and got the bulk of the edit done last weekend ; hopefully will complete it this weekend .

[Dave Barnes]

Hello Derek - great reading over your last several posts on your Sony Z7 adventures - I have 3 Z7's myself that I use also. They are great cameras and I think make a nice image. We do not always have to have the latest and greatest! Like you I am older and aside from a couple jobs per year it's just a hobby for me.
I would like to do more video production, maybe I should retire part time or something ? :)

I have the Sony HVR-1500A hdv deck also so no playing tapes on the camera, I have shot many concerts, plays and stage shows with the Z7 and they look great. I also have the included CFcard recorder that attaches to the back - you might want to look for one of those they are worth the investment, I set it to record to tape and CF card simultaneously.

Still have my JVC HD200/250's also.

I have not yet removed the 12x lens from my Z7 , however I do also have the 8x wide angle lens that I bought off Ebay several years ago which I have used to shoot an educational tape in a lab and it worked well.

[Dave Barnes]

Also forgot to mention - if you get the Anton Bauer branded NP-Fxx batteries ( I get mine from B&H) one will run the Z7 for 600 mins :)

I think they are FP-975's - I will have to get the camera out to take a look

[Dave Barnes]

Oh yeah also ... I picked up a new Blackmagic Video assist 5" (the older HD version only) from B&H at a good price a few weeks ago - I will be able to use this as a monitor AND also feed hdmi out from the Z7 to record on the blackmagic , best of both worlds without constantly buying the newest and latest camera every single year when something new comes out and everyone is told ' they need this' :)

[Derek Heeps]

More than a year on , and having retired last month , I have been buying some new toys , and at the same time having a clearout .

The job with the Z7s went very well , my boss and his sister who was the bride , were delighted with it , but I haven't used these cameras for much since then , so I'm either going to give them away to a friend who has a daughter interested in filmmaking , or may sell them , but as I'm not keen on strangers coming to the house and seeing too much of what is here , not so keen on the latter .

I picked up a second JVC GY-HD251 last year , just the body , and mounted my Fujinon lens on it , and have just bought a second Canon lens for this one , for which I was then looking only for a viewfinder for ; but that was solved two nights ago when another GY-HD251 body popped up on eBay , complete with mic and VF , so I will get the VF from that one , pop my Fuji lens on it and sell it less the VF as it still hs the LCD screen ( unless I decide to just keep the three cameras ) . I also have two of the DG-HD100 JVC versions of the Firestores , which work well with the cameras , and thanks to the good optics , they look as good as my 1080i cameras , despite being only 720

I still have the HVR V1e and two HVR A1e , and most of the time pick up an A1e as it is the smallest and lightest camera , so my plans are to keep my two PDW-F350s ( in fact I just bought a third one because it came with the same wide angle HD lens one of my others has ) , possibly keep the third POW as a spare parts camera , dispose of the two Z7s and maybe the V1 , keep the two , or three JVCs , and the little A1 .

That will leave me with two , or three , full size ENG cameras with 4 channel audio , and 2 of these with slot in Sennheisser 3000 series receivers .

Then two , or three , compact ENG style cameras , with hard disc recorders , but only two channel audio .

Lastly , one , or two , small HD palmcorders which are handy for taking along on days out , or for positioning to get cutaways without setting up another big camera .

That is just the cameras , I also just bought a 2019 Mac Pro to replace my old 2008 one , need to get my head round FCP 12 now , but still have FCP 7 on the old one . Have two other 'cheesegrater' style Mac Pro to dispose of , keeping only my 8 core one , and have several other computers to rationalise , many of which will just go to the dump !

I also need to look at my lighting kit ; currently have two Arri Blondes , four Arri Redheads , lots of stands , auto-poles , and other bits , two Bowens dimmable daylight fluorescent broad lights , two Tri-lights , and lots of PAG camera top lights . Also a lot of Elinchrome lighting kit for photography .

Won't start into audio , but again lots of mics of various types , collected over the years ; a few mixing desks , power supplies , cables and lots of other stuff , as well as portable PA kit .

Everything was used for work at one time or another in the past , but I really do need to decide what to keep and what to clear out going forward . Much will probably end up in my storage container until I decide !