Sony HVR- Z1U vs HVR-V1U « Videomaker Community Forums

3 Dudes & A Camera
Member

Hello poeple, I am about to go HD and I am confused as to which HD cam to purchase. I am torn between the Z1U and the V1U. Any tips and or recommendations will be greatly appreciated. And so far I am considering B&H and J&R for the purchase an tips on a lower price?

Posted 5 years ago #
compusolver
Member

I have an FX1, so I don't know enough to tackle your first question. As for the second one though, yeah - if you go after a much lower price than B&H or J&R, have a good lawyer and maybe have MSNBC video your experience! X-D

Posted 5 years ago #
starcom
Member

Re: HVR- Z1U vs HVR-V1U. I was on a shoot where we had 1 Z1U and 1 V1U. It was an outdoor daylight shoot so low light qualities were not an issue. Image out of each was virtually identical in post. I liked the balance of the V1U and the 20x zoom was a real asset. Image quality was fantastic and the client felt like he "could reach out and touch everything". Both are great camcorders.

Posted 5 years ago #
kyles
Member

The V1u is a better camera because it is newer. The sony z1u is a great camera but it has been around for a long time. The v1u has sharper image quality and uses CMOS which in my oppinion do not compare to CCD's. The nice thing is that the V1u is smaller and has the same audio bord as the Z1u. And the V1u has more customizable functions. I hope that made it a little more clear!

Posted 4 years ago #
On a Roll
Member

The only bit I can throw in is that I know for a fact that the Z1U is used by a lot of TV networks. Discovery uses it in shows like Dirty Jobs, Deadliest Catch, and Mythbusters, due to it's great picture quality, and fairly low cost (at least compared to the $20,000 rigs they use on the "safe" shows! X-D)

Posted 4 years ago #
birdcat
Moderator

I know the V1U does 24p native @1080.

A good comparison can be seen here:

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Sony-HVR-V1U-Sony-HDR-FX7-HVR-Z1U-Canon-XH-A1-JVC-GY-HD110U-Panasonic-AG-HVX200-Compared.htm

The V1U is cheaper (if you can call anything in that price range cheap) but it also uses the CMOS imagers rather than CCD's and from what I've read, CCD's are better overall.

The V1U has a better zoom (20X as opposed to Z1U 12X) but the Z1U is rated to 3 lux as opposed to the V1U's 4 lux (not much different but at a wedding might make a difference). The V1U also has that nice piggyback hard drive that I don't think is available for the Z1U.

Best bet would be to buy them both while being able to return one after trying it out (if you can swing that).

Good luck.
Bruce Paul
7Squared Productions
http://www.7squared.com

Posted 4 years ago #
camreviewer
Member

OneQuality.com has them used for really cheap and I believe they have a 2 year warranty option as well. Hope this help!

Their Sony HVR-V1U:

http://www.onequality.com/product_info.php?products_id=120

Their Sony HVR-Z1U:

http://www.onequality.com/product_info.php?products_id=117

Posted 2 years ago #