Sony HVR-Z7U fixed!

Laurence wrote on 4/29/2015, 10:41 AM

Quite a few years ago now, I had a lens issue with what was my main camera at the time: a Sony HVR-Z7.. The center would veer off a little as you zoomed and fully wide, you could see some intrusivevignetting on the left side. Against the advice of some here, I decided to try to get the lens fixed. $800 and three return trips later, the lens no longer veered right as it zoomed, but it would now only focus fully zoomed in.

While all this was happening, I still had gigs booked, so I bought a Nikon DSLR and shot quite a few gigs with that before moving on to my current GH3.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I spotted a new condition Z7 lens on ebay and it arrived yesterday. Now I have a somewhat out of date (but still hopefully useful) like new condition Z7 that at last functions properly.

Most of the time I was fine with the DSLR or mirrorless and in fact almost preferred it, but there were some notable exceptions. I really hated covering live events with a still camera. With an actual video camera, if you were covering an event on stage, you could zoom in and out to follow the action and never lose focus. With the still camera, every slight touch of the zoom meant you needed to refocus. I will definitely use the Z7 for that.

I also liked that when I was shooting interviews, I could reframe my shots on more intense questions without refocusing. On the GH3, I tend to just leave the camera on a constant head and shoulders because the amount of futzing around it would take to reframe would kill the flow,.

My two computers are both i7 quad cores, but one is a laptop and the other is an all in one Lenovo and neither one has Firewire. Both also have SD card readers.

I found a SD to Compact Flash card adapter on eBay for less than $10 and ordered two of them. Hopefully this will let me use SD cards with this camera. It looks like the latest Z7 firmware will handle up to 64GB which will usually get me through any particular shoot.

I also like things like the built in ND filters and the way the video camera kept a consistent shutter speed without constant effort.

I certainly am not going back to a video camera approach. I LOVE the look I get with my GH3 and my fast prime lenses and can't imagine giving it up, but there certainly are times where it will be good to have this camera back.

Is anyone else here still using a Z7/Z5? I imagine there are still some EX1 users here too. Is there still some life left in one of these older cameras?

Comments

set wrote on 4/29/2015, 11:40 AM

I found a SD to Compact Flash card adapter on eBay for less than $10 and ordered two of them. Hopefully this will let me use SD cards with this camera.

I bought this sometimes ago too, but it is not compatible, because the size is thicker than acceptable CF slot.

I still using Z5, XH-A1, and even older FX1! Latest use is Live-switching Multi camera of Solo singer. RX10 is used for inserts only.
http://tinyurl.com/RaisaAtmosphereResortCafe

Set

farss wrote on 4/29/2015, 3:53 PM

[I]" I imagine there are still some EX1 users here too."[/I]

Sure are.

Sony's efforts at designing a better version of it have failed for a variety of reasons.

Bob.

Laurence wrote on 4/29/2015, 4:33 PM

[I]>I found a SD to Compact Flash card adapter on eBay for less than $10 and ordered two of them. Hopefully this will let me use SD cards with this camera.

I bought this sometimes ago too, but it is not compatible, because the size is thicker than acceptable CF slot.
[/i]

There are two types of compact flash cards: type 1 and type 2. They are identical except for the thickness: type 2 are slightly thicker. You must have bought the type 2 by mistake. I ordered the type 1 so physically at least I should be ok.

Tom Pauncz wrote on 4/29/2015, 6:36 PM

Laurence,
I am still using my S270, the BIG brother to the Z7 (same lens and chipset) and am very happy with it.

Getting started with DSLR video and have just invested in a Canon 70D and a Tascam DR-70D 4ch recorder. Numbers are a mere coincidence.

I guess a slider is next on the wish list! :-)
Tom

winrockpost wrote on 4/29/2015, 7:19 PM

" I imagine there are still some EX1 users here too."
lol,,, as soon as something better at a decent price comes out I'm in! Have purchased and sold 2 sony "upgrades"...still use the ole ex1r and for the shallow depth stuff a NEX-EA50UH ,,,but it sucks for anything but that....

set wrote on 4/29/2015, 7:22 PM

I ordered the type 1 so physically at least I should be ok.
Let me know after you receive it.

Set

fldave wrote on 4/29/2015, 8:15 PM

I still use my FX1 along with my GH2/GF3 if I think I need it. I ran to look at it to see if it had a CF slot, but doesn't look like it, darn! CF to SD is brilliant! I have periodic issues with my Firewire port, don't really want to send it in to get fixed at this point ($$) but I would use it more if I didn't have to mess with tape!

imaginACTION_films wrote on 5/4/2015, 5:58 PM

I use Canon XA10s which are really great when travelling. Astonishing steadyshot and great image quality. However there are still times I prefer the ergonomics of my Z1. Yes, I know, it uses tapes but they are really just containers for 1s and 0s and I keep the tapes as safe backup.
I have a Pentax K5-II and some really fine glass to go with it and in certain circumstances I use it so I can make use of the great lenses. But, like others, I am not at all comfortable using it in interviews or live events. Way too many hassles with zoom and focus. As I said, I like the heft and ergonomics of the Z1 and the image quality is just great and everything is controlled by knobs and buttons so you rarely need to dive into menus.
David

SWS wrote on 5/4/2015, 6:29 PM

Well that's is exactly my configuration a Z7 and a GH3! Had the Z7 for many years now and still love it, especially for "long-form" event coverage. And not having to "rig" for audio and such like the GH3!! It also plays real nice with my Atomos Ninja Blade. The 422 coming out of the Z7's HDMI port really helped my green-screen shots.

To upgrade a bit I am starting to look real hard at the new JVC GY-LS300 though. I think I would love that sensor and still be able to use my Panasonic lenses on a "real" video camera....

NickHope wrote on 5/4/2015, 11:28 PM

I still have my Sony Z1P and would like to have the option to use it for some jobs, particularly as I really like the Light & Motion housing I have for it, whose features aren't really replicated in any current offering.

However ever since a single drop of water fried some of the electronics in 2007, it's had a chequered history. A while back I discovered that the back focus has only been set correctly in 50i mode. In 60i mode the back focus is way off. Surprising that the back focus would be different across those 2 modes. I don't think Sony here in Bangkok thought of that either after the last repair (which was to remove dirt from inside the lens).

Then a few months ago I lent it to a friend. It came back with those dreaded C:31:22 tape errors. The last time I had those it cost a few hundred dollars to fix. Doesn't seem worth repairing now, if indeed it's even possible.

I certainly don't miss DV/HDV tape dropouts!

Grazie wrote on 5/5/2015, 2:40 AM

Once was a time I wouldn't even contemplate moving away from Tape. And now? I have 2 tape Canons, and, hopefully, don't/wouldn't want to need them as back up. Ugh . . shiver . . . .

Grazie

SWS wrote on 5/5/2015, 9:28 AM

the reason I went with the Z7 a few years ago, I wasn't ready to trust a CF card with my video.I am still pretty "old-school" in most ways. I loved the idea of tape as my backup. That said in the many years I owned the Z7 I think there was only one time I needed to go back to the tape to retrieve a shot.

Laurence wrote on 5/5/2015, 9:39 AM

At the time when I bought my Z7, I was quite interested in long form documentaries. I remember coming back from a month in Africa shooting a documentary on charitable giving with something like 60 tapes. At the time, carrying around a laptop and a couple of external USB hard-drives would have been harder than it would be today as the capacities were much smaller and the prices much higher.

Aside from that shoot, I hardly touched the tape mechanism.