Sony HVR-Z7U and HVR-S270U Camcorder Roundup at FreshDV

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Sony HVR-Z7U and HVR-S270U Camcorder Roundup

Published by Matthew Jeppsen November 26th, 2007 in Cameras, Formats, Hardware, Lenses, News, Shopping

Just like our previous XDCAM EX1 coverage, we’ve got continuing coverage here on the new HVR Z7U and HVR S270U HDV camcorders from Sony. Check back here for regular updates and news. Note that newer links and notes will appear at the top.

B&H has the Z7U in stock at this time, listed at ~~$6,299.95~~ $5,399.95 (simply add to cart to see this lower price reflected). At this time you can also order the S270U, listed at ~~$8,499.95~~ $7,950.00. All purchases made via those links help support FreshDV at no additional cost to you.

* Shawn Lam reviewed the S270U for EventDV here.

* Here’s a great video overview of the Z7U compliments of Midtown Video.

* EX1 vs Z7U vs Z1U lowlight framegrabs are up here. The EX1 has the clear edge in noise and brightness with the Z7U not far behind. That’s down in the PD170 low light levels, folks!

* Sony has released an import utility plugin for re-joining split M2T files from the CF Card Recorder. The plugin for Final Cut Pro users enables the use of the Log and Transfer import utility to acquire footage from CF Cards. Get it here. (Update: The download link now works)

* This thread at DVinfo has a few user-submitted M2T clips.

* Per DVinfo, Sony is offering a rebate for a free 8GB CompactFlash card with the purchase of a Z7U or S270U. The rebate link is not yet active, so check back soon.

* Jordan Oplinger wrote in to mention that the Sony HVR-Z7U user manual is in the wild, we have a copy mirrored here.

* Here’s a user report from Shawn Lam on his brand new HVR-Z7U. Several very interesting details.

* HVR Z7U User footage is beginning to surface. Here is one such clip at Divx Stage6. Recommend muting the music, it’s a bit overbearing. There is a mirror at Youtube. Could be my browser, but it plays back a bit jerky for me as if pulldown cadence is “off.” Thanks for JO for the tip!

* Digital Content Producer has posted a first look review of the S270 and Z7U.

* Here are a number of pictures of the prototype Z7U on display at GV Expo. You can see how the flash recorder unit hooks up, the interesting placement of a tape transport, and the free-spinning iris ring.

* Another article by IEBA about the new Z7U and S270U, this was a summary of the updates and features for EventDV Magazine.

* Anthony over at IEBA/Techthoughts has added several videos in the past few days:
- A seminar on the new models by Sony’s Juan Martinez.
- Demos of the TC/UB, Memory, In/Out, and Others menu systems.
- A demonstration of HVR S270 and HVR Z7U lens operation.

* IEBA blog has the display menus up now. (For more info on “Cam Leveling”, check out the product brochure linked below. Interesting feature.)

* Anthony Ajit passed on this link to the PDF brochure for Sony’s HVR-Z7E and HVR-S270E versions of the HDV cameras, and it offers more concrete specs and details. For instance, it becomes clear here that in addition to 1/3″ interchangeable lenses, you can also utilize standard 1/2″ and 2/3″ HD lenses using adapters. The camcorders feature standard ENG 12-pin lens connectors. Note that there is a zoom factor when adapting lenses, namely: 2x focal length for a 2/3-inch lens adapter, 1.3x with a 1/2-inch lens adapter, and 7x with a Sony Alpha DSLR still lens adapter. You should also check pg8 for some interesting features called “Camera Leveling” and “Focus Marking”…yes the camera can detect it’s horizon and display that on the LCD. Sweet. And the Skintone detail feature is now fully configurable…you can set the color manually. I should also note that the CompactFlash recorder automatically syncs with the camera when attached…it does all the recording start-stops without manual intervention. And here’s the answer to a question asked by a friend the other day…YES, you can record HDV 1080 to tape while also recording downconverted DV to card for short term SD delivery.

* Anthony Burokas has screencaps of the camera menus and audio menus (others to come).

* We previously were hoping that you could simultaneously record to tape, CF card, and firewire out to a hard disk recorder. It appears that you cannot as the Flash recorder covers up the Firewire port.

* Our initial coverage of the camcorder announcements. Features, specs and preliminary info from the press-releases.

As always, keep the links and comments coming.

27 Responses to “Sony HVR-Z7U and HVR-S270U Camcorder Roundup”

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1 Robert DUcon Nov 27th, 2007 at 3:11 am

Question: When shooting to the CARD, is 24P footage shot with these new HVrR-Z7U and HVR-S27OU true 24P individual frames (23.976) or it is interlaced, requiring 3:2 pulldown in post to get the 24P out of it? Would love to know!
2 Matthew Jeppsen Nov 27th, 2007 at 7:29 am

I believe that the answer is on Page 10 of the manual linked above. Note that this is the European model manual, just substitute 24p where it says 25p. It looks like you can choose to record either 24p native OR 24p shoehorned into a 60i interlaced stream. Which is a beautiful solution…just give users the choice!

-Matt Jeppsen
3 Robert DUcon Nov 27th, 2007 at 4:02 pm

Ahh.. yes fantastic news. It’s the smartest solution, and I thought it’d just be a downer if it always only 60i on the card. Thanks Matt!
4 Shawn Lam Jan 26th, 2008 at 11:10 am

Can you record to tape in HDV and to the CF card in SD at the same time? Also does the Z7 ship with a CF card (and what size) and what kind of speed do we need from a CF card?
5 Matthew Jeppsen Jan 26th, 2008 at 1:21 pm

Yes, my understanding is that you can record HDV to tape while also recording downconverted SD to CF card. The CF card module is a seperate accessory that you have to buy, and it no doubt does not come with CF media. I believe that 133x CF is sufficiently fast to handle the needs of the camera (I’m almost positive I read that somewhere). That speed is relatively slow by today’s standards, you should be able to find that sort of media anywhere, and pretty cheap.

-Matt Jeppsen
6 Darren Shroeger Jan 27th, 2008 at 6:24 pm

Nice collection of Z7U/S270 nuggets! These cameras will really up the ante and should represent HDV at it’s finest. A lot of folks go nuts about datarates and uncompressed quality but the reality is that HDV allows pretty amazing quality on MiniDV tapes! Hmm, it’s been a while since I watched it, but I thought Juan Martinez said that the CF unit will come WITH both cameras at no extra cost. Did Sony change their mind?

-Darren Shroeger
7 Jack Hutchinson Jan 28th, 2008 at 12:22 pm

The CF unit comes with the camera, but it doesn’t look like it will come with a card (probably due to the fact that CF is so common). The brochure says that 133x is the minimum.

-Jack Hutchinson
8 Jack Hutchinson Jan 28th, 2008 at 5:01 pm

B&H has the specs for the Z7U on their site!!!!

This is getting exciting.

Jack
9 Matthew Jeppsen Jan 28th, 2008 at 11:32 pm

Thanks for the heads-up, Jack. It’s good news to hear for certain that the camera will ship with a solid-state CF card recorder. Per B&H specs: “The camera comes with an attachable recording unit, allowing users to record HDV and DV to CompactFlash cards.” Sweet!

-Matt Jeppsen
10 ajit Feb 1st, 2008 at 12:53 pm

Are you going to test this camera like you did with the EX1. I am seriously waiting to see your tests and then buy. I am still leaning towards to the EX1 but we will see.

ajit
11 Matthew Jeppsen Feb 1st, 2008 at 1:16 pm

You should read Adam Wilt’s review of the production EX1. His findings on dynamic range and ISO rating are very convincing. See here: http://www.freshdv.com/2008/02/adam-wilt-reviews-the-xdcam-ex1.html

As to the Z7U and S270, we are looking into doing some testing hopefully sooner rather than later. We’ll certainly try to put the cameras through the FreshDV wringer. We have more of our own EX1 findings on the way, though most of the important areas are covered in sufficient detail in Adam’s latest review. Definitely read that.

-Matt Jeppsen
12 Norm the Storm Feb 7th, 2008 at 4:13 pm

I don’t see anything in the specs of the HVR-Z7U that says it supplies 48V phantom power to mics. Does it?
13 Matthew Jeppsen Feb 8th, 2008 at 3:42 am

Norm, I would assume that the Z7U supplies phantom power, but I have not been able to find it specifically in the literature and info that is currently available. It’s a great question, hopefully we’ll know for sure soon.

-Matt Jeppsen
14 heidi Feb 9th, 2008 at 9:44 pm

hello. i am confused between NTSC and PAL. i want to buy a camera that i can use both in europe and America. some people say the future of america is pal and others tell me i should buy NTSC because it’s cheaper and there is no difference. I want to film and edit without problem (anywhere I am at the time). which one do you recommend? thank you.
15 Matthew Jeppsen Feb 10th, 2008 at 9:21 am

I seriously doubt that the US would switch to PAL anytime soon. I’m told that many people in Europe use DVD players that are NTSC and PAL compatible. So if you have to choose, I would probably lean towards NTSC. But if you buy a camera like the PMW-EX1, you can have both…it’s menu-switchable.

-Matt Jeppsen
16 Jordan Feb 13th, 2008 at 9:37 pm

apparently, some canadians are already receiving their Z7Us.
17 Kenneth Gooswit Mar 11th, 2008 at 3:27 pm

You have so much influence on the Sony Production Team I would say.
The HVR-S270U is a great camera, but you have to buy the battery unit with charger and AC-adapter
what will set you back for about 1500 US$. In fact this is a 12000 US$ camera.
Why not make an adapter to use two of the 7.2 volt batteries of the HVR-Z7U in serial to power
this baby?
Sony should make a version of this camera (HVR-S270U) with the XDCAM-EX1 specs and with
removable 2.5 inch SATA-harddisks of 500GB.
That will be the killer of all of the “low-end” pro HD-cams.
Also they should address the rolling shutter issue.
And by all means it should be a camera with 1080-24p/25p/30p 50i/60i recording. The same for SD-recording.
18 Bruce Reynolds Mar 25th, 2008 at 12:05 am

Great camera as advertized in low light. Twice as bright as my FX1 at dark receptions. I use a 15 or 20 w Led light works fine. Good to have a camera that shoots to solid state device that doesn’t cost a fortune today and not having to wait 2 years for prices to come down. The CF MRU unit also works with my VX2000 camera using the firewire cable and using the record button on the MRU. I transferred 140 minutes from CF to hard drive folder in 12 minutes. Uses the same batteries I already have. Those are all good things. The bad things that I a several of us who got the 1st batch of cameras are experinceing is the camera is useless in auto focus. It drifts in and out for no reason, so I shoot in manual all the time. I like to shoot in auto when I’m not on a tripod and moving fast, my FX1 always stayed in focus link in this video I shot with my photographer friend link http://www.veoh.com/channels/tmvpvideos
The next thing a lot of are getting is that on short clips of 5 to 20 seconds, which I shoot a lot of during bridal prep, are black digital squares during the 1st 18 frames of these clips but not all short clips, some stert off green then fade to normal. The tapes are fine. My friend has the same trouble with his CF cards, but they play on the timeline fine with his Edius, my Adobe crashes when I bring one onto the timeline. Also on fast moving objects there is ghosting or at a concert the violin bows and conductor hand are moving fast and blurry. I shot the same concert with the FX1 and it fine. I would say unless Sony fixes these 3 defects
that it not worth $3,000 more then an FX1 to get better low light and Cf cards with no auto focus. Several of us are disapointed as this could be a great wedding reception HDV cam.
19 Bruce Reynolds Mar 31st, 2008 at 5:45 pm

Just thought I would post a short video of the CF card trouble several of are having. This happens not on every clip. Out of a 7minute video I shot at a rehersal, I edited mostly in the camera so the short clips, 54 clips and 22 of them are bad at the first couple of frames. Look at the bottom to this video and see what we are getting. Same CF cards most every one uses. This video is recorded using the 1st 14 clips.
link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVJIHy7NA-Q
20 Matthew Jeppsen Mar 31st, 2008 at 7:15 pm

Hey Bruce, many thanks for the heads up. Have you had a chance to read the CF Card tests over at Techthoughts? Which brand/model are you using?

http://techthoughts.org/2008/03/14/compactflash-media-test-results/

-Matt Jeppsen
21 enrico Apr 13th, 2008 at 7:44 am

Is this Roundup going to be updated?
22 Kenneth Gooswit Apr 13th, 2008 at 8:34 am

Once again: Do Sony think it is fair to pay so much for the battery unit of the S270U? It will cost you an extra 1500 to get fully equiped.
23 Kenneth Gooswit Apr 13th, 2008 at 8:36 am

Once again: Do Sony think it is fair to pay so much for the battery unit of the S270U? It will cost you an extra 1500 to get fully equiped.
Perhaps some one can make an adapter that we can use two of the cheaper batteries of the Z7U on a v-plate.
24 Matthew Jeppsen Apr 17th, 2008 at 11:58 am

Yes enrico, the roundup will be updated as we move forward. A bit busy with NAB-related stuff right now though. I did see a Z7U at the show outfitted with a 14mm Digiprime, the effective focal length looking at the display fell somewhere in the 50mm-ish range. Beautiful image.

-Matt Jeppsen
25 Kenneth Gooswit Apr 17th, 2008 at 2:38 pm

I will ask every one who has problems with there new Z7 camera to make a fist. That’s the only way to get Sony to listen. Big companies are “living” of your money, so we are important and not the company. If they sell you a 6000 dollar camera, it should work all the way as it suppose to and if it is not, than Sony should correct the error and if they cannot they should refund you.
If you follow the complains about this camera http://dvinfo.net/conf/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=161
, than it is more than natural to do something about it, but Sony is giving not home or is not fixing the problems correctly.
On other stupid thing is not to allow the owner to do the firmware upgrade by them self; this is so stupid, that i do not even want to talk about it.
There are lots of issues with these camera’s and we should stand up all together and demand solutions.
26 Bryce May 16th, 2008 at 3:26 pm

I posted some footage shot with my new HVR-S270U here:

http://vimeo.com/1023989

Take a look and let me know what you guys think. I’ll post some more as soon as I can get some more free time.
27 D. Hipps Oct 14th, 2008 at 5:45 pm

Quick question if this thread is still alive. Has anyone out there shot extensively in 24p with it? Does it have the checker issues that I hear the EX-1 has? Does it handle camera movement in 24p as well as the HVX-200? I have never shot HDV. When it first came out I heard horror stories about artifacting, drop outs, and color bleed. Are there still issues with these things or have they been fixed? Because if these issues I stayed away form HDV, and went directly to DVCPRO HD on P2. I’m at the point where I really need to be able to change lens so I’m giving it another look. Thanks for your help?