What is the best external recorder to use with a Z1-U

[Russ Froze]

Hello Scott Francis,
As we went through the codec debates I deemed the codec issue to be superfluous. The question was ” What is the best external recorder to use with a Z1-U”. Any suggestions would be welcome for I too would love to find a way to extend the service life of my cameras.
Russ Froze

[Scott Francis]

The issue for the Z1-U is, to my knowledge that it does NOT have an HDMI out, however it DOES have component via the special Sony D connector (if it is at all like my old FX1’s). The Atomos Ninja series I believe only have HDMI in (or SDI), however you could use a component to HDMI converter before it, which Blackmagic and others make as well. When all is said and done, you are getting around a $600 to a grand before you even get into HD’s for the Ninja 2 or CF cards for the Ninja Star. In my experience the FX1/Z1-U’s do look better on component out vs the HDV format (I use FX1s for live IMAG shoots at our church and also at events in the past) and I have also edit the same footage from HDV afterwards and from the sensor looks SO much better. I can’t tell you what colorspace comes from the sensor, but pretty sure it is still 4:2:0 but image is still better than HDV.

I now use Canon G30’s (as I don’t need XLR inputs because I record audio separately, but often shoot up to 5 cameras at events) and DSLR’s and the footage I get is SO much better than on the older HDV equipment. We still use 3 FX1’s for out broadcast (so just for the sensor image)and they look good, but honestly are getting a little long in the tooth.

I would recommend the Atomos Ninja series recorders, and I am using non-SSD hard drives with mine as I am not moving when I use them…however, if you are running and gunning SSD drives are recommended. Atomos has recommend drives listed on their site and I also use there HDMI to SDI converters and love them.

Good luck!

Xavier (Scott) Francis
Mind’s Eye Audio/Video Productions

[John Rofrano]

Yea, I usually shoot long running performances so I only have a couple of clips of whatever I’m editing. I do beleive it’s the number of smaller clips that makes things bog down.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Don Hutcheson]

You are correct, Scott. What killed my interest was discovering that the outboard recorders need HDMI and the Z1-U only has component and Firewire out. By the time I bought converters, etc, I could buy another GH3 and have memory card capability built in (GH3s are now down from $1199 to $799 since the GH4 is out). This whole thing got started when I got hold of a bad tape on an interview and the color fades ands comes back in a maddening 3-second cycle all the way through. That will be a lot of color-correcting on a 50 minute interview!

Hutch