Sony Professional HVR-Z1U 3CCD High Definition Camcorder with 12x Optical Zoom

Sony Professional HVR-Z1U 3CCD High Definition Camcorder with 12x Optical Zoom

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With high-definition television sets replacing standard definition, it's time for a high quality HD camera to lead prosumer video into the future. Sony's HVR-Z1U Digital HD video camera recorder is just such a camera. It's the compact and cost-effective machine that bridges the gap between high definition and standard definition video formats.

HVR-Z1U camera See large image HDV 1080i
The HDV 1080i specification features 1080 effective interlaced scanning lines and 1,440 horizontal pixels. Interlaced pictures, which have been common to TV broadcasts from the beginning, alternately display odd and even numbered lines between each screen refresh. The HVR-Z1U can also record at the HDV 720p specification, which features 720 effective progressive scanning lines and 1,280 horizontal pixels. Progressive scanning fills both odd and even numbered lines with each refresh, providing a flicker-free picture.

Not yet ready for HD? The HVR-Z1U can convert material from 1080i down to 480i and 576i, and output these digital video signals through its i.LINK interface or as analog signals through component, composite, or S-video connectors. When down-converting these signals, the aspect ratio displayed can be converted from 16:9 to 4:3, and display modes can be selected from squeeze, letterbox or edge crop.

Keep an eye on audio levels on the LCD monitor Audio
The HVR-Z1U adopts the MPEG-2 compression format, which uses 8-bit digital component recording with a sampling rate of 4:2:0. The camera uses MPEG-1 Audio Layer II audio compression format, allowing for two-channel recording with a sampling frequency of 48 kHz/16-bit. It features a built-in stereo microphone, as well as two XLR audio input connectors for use with professional-grade microphones or external audio sources. Each input level for CH1 and CH2 can be independently adjusted using two audio level dials on the camera body and viewed with an audio level meter on the LCD monitor.

3CCD camera system
Originally, camcorders used one CCD--the imaging device that turns light into electronic information--and let the image processing unit decipher the color information from the data. Like today's broadcast video cameras, however, the HVR-Z1U uses a prism to divide incoming light into three beams and uses specially tuned 1/3-inch CCDs to create red, blue, and green composite images, which are assembled into a final image. The result is a more film-like vibrancy and more accurate color representation.

Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 12x zoom lens
The HVR-Z1U is equipped with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* high definition lens with a 12x zoom function. It has the same optical coating as is used on all of the Carl Zeiss prime lenses, which produces sharp, high-contrast images with virtually no chromatic aberration. This lens is designed with a wide viewing angle, and a 35-mm equivalent focal length ranging from 32.5 mm to 390 mm in 16:9 mode, and from 40 mm to 480 mm in 4:3 mode.

In order to facilitate zoom control and recording operation during low-angle shooting, an additional zoom lever