I'd rethink the Bogen tripod. The sticks are OK but those heads suck, especially the 501. Don't scrimp. Get a Sachtler or Miller or something in that league.

Also, I've had a lot of bad luck with the Sony Premium tapes and haved switched to Sony Excellence for DV. For HDV, I'd advise getting the new HD tape. A dropout is more more serious than it was in DV because of the GOP frame encoding.

Gary

I'd have to mildly disagree with the comment about the 501. It's not a great head, but quite servicable for the Z1. The Z1 weighs in at about 5 lbs without the battery and wide angle, and that's less than half the load the 501 accepts. Sony's using the 503 head on their show floor displays. Biggest problem is that any jerkiness or stutter from the head is greatly amplified in HD. If you can afford a bigger/heavier/stronger head, go for it, but $$ are a big difference.
Gary's absolutely right about using Digital Master. I've got roughly 35 hours of HDV footage at this point, all on regular DV tape. No dropouts. I also know I'm living on borrowed time with them. Digital Master offers a greater gain, amongst other benefits. This DOES translate to better picture. It also translates to safer shelf life. I'll post a slideshow with comparison stills later in the week, if I can get the time to compress the images and post them in an intelligent fashion.

Spot,

I'm going to have to disagree with your disagreement :-0

In tripod heads, bigger and stronger is not the isssue, it's the design and precision with which it's made.

I have owned three 501's and they all were usless for a gentle, smooth tilt (panning was fine) with my 4.5 lb. VX-2000s. I HATED these heads, especially compared to my full-sized Sacthter for my broadcast rig (heaven). I bought some less expensive Sachtlers (about $850 each) and am much happier.

I have seen all too often when people spend all kinds of money for camera gear and are using an inexpensive (sub $500) tripod when it's the single biggest detriment to them getting professional looking results.

Gary

Spot, don't mean to sound funny or anything, but are you saying that the Sony HDV tapes give a better picture than normal tapes? How is this possible?

Good question, a more reliable picture for sure but all the extra headroom means is less risk of 1s turning into 0s. The risk of that happening is pretty remote with DV anyway, ever tried to bulk erase a DV tape. The better signal to noise ratio doesn't translate into a less noisy picture, the noise comes from the CCDs and the analogue circuits in the camera.
Actaully I think the more important improvement might be in the way it's all held together giving less risk of bits of the media flaking off.
Bob.

Mind you, I've not shot these myself, as they just started shipping. Sony has a powerpoint that they're using in the HDV workshop showing the greater gain equates to a richer color. I questioned it, because it's all bits at that point, and the only benefit I can see is the stronger embedded information, less flake, better head conformity, etc. But, the rep has images...and they are marginally different. Add that to the far greater error correction, it's worth the extra cost, IMO, as it's an insurance, or as close to insurance as one can get from a changing/moving medium. Once I can get my hands on the tape, I'm going to do a comparison myself.
Gary, you're welcome to disagree, but generally, stronger and heavier equate to smoother with more evenly balanced dynamics. The 501 isn't an optimal head, I agree with that. But it's a decent head for a 5lb camera. It doesn't suck, it's just not as good as a much more expensive head. We use the Bogen 316 for our HDV cam and for the similarly weighted cams.
Miller even has modified their Solo series heads for the HDV cams, and even though it says "Miller" on it, it's not an optimal head either. And the Sachtler DVII isn't all that either. In other words, just 'cuz it says Miller or Sachtler doesn't mean it's a good head.
The problems with the 501 are going to be noticed in slow pans or tilts, no doubt. Especially with HD. But as a budget head, it will suffice. I'd rather use a higher grade head, but if cost is a major concern, it'll fly, especially if panning isn't a primary concern. If it is, then the 503 from Bogen, the DV4 from Sachtler, or the DS 20 from Miller are all good "next up" options, but they'll all add around 800.00 to the cost, plus the cost of changing stix if the head won't mate.

There is always error correction with digital formats. More robust storage means less error correction which means a more faithful representation of the intended signal, be it digital or analog.

Error correction would tend to "average" data if a lot were missing (beyond what checksums and such can reconstruct), producing flatter video.

Mark

One of this camera's jobs will be shooting local cable commercials. That means (shutter) a lot of pan n' scan.
No need to tell me I'm shooting a butterfly with an elefant gun using HDV for cable. I know that. But hey, I'm just happy Corporate let me buy the beauty.
Sounds to me like I really have to do some begging and get a better head (for the stix, not for me).
Spot, you mentioned liking the other matte box; what is the difference, if I may ask?

I guess we are all assuming you got sound pickup covered elsewhere?

For sound I'm using a couple ME66's for shotguns and Audio Technica's U100 w/Tram lav mics.
I've used them before and the bear out pretty well.
However, if you have other suggestions, I'm always eager to learn.

The U100 with the Trams is a nice rig. However, wait'll you see what AT is releasing at NAB 2005! I got a back room glimpse at the NAMM show. Pretty sweet.

Spot,
we already own the u100s so there's not much I can do about that. However, I'm in the process of purchasing the Trams and that part is changable.
I get the impression that you can't answer direct questions, but maybe you can suggest if I should wait to buy the Trams? Is what's being offered in the same price range as the Trams?

Nah, if you've already got the U100, stick with it. AT has a new product coming out that you could use the Trams with. I really like the Trams. I like the 899AT as well, and love how it sounds and mounts. They likely will have a new mic too, based on what I was shown at NAMM last week. But the Trams are a great choice.

Hey Spot,
Sorry to bug you, but I can't find the Sony .8 adaptor. Do you have easy access to that part? I can't get Promax to find it and he's asking me for a part number. I'm a bit lost.
I'm also definately going to change the tape stock and am despirately trying to upgrade to the 503 head. I just can't talk my corporate offices into springing for more at this point.
I'm happy with everything else, though. Thanks to all who weighed in and helped me fine-tune this order!

VCL-HG0872. Should be around 400.00 or so.
http://www.expandore.com/e_shop/Sony/HDV_Cam_accessories.htm has every accessory made by Sony.

Mr. J if you want to talk them into it. them tell them it's teflong resistance (which it is) and is prone to wearing a notch so to speak if it get's front heavy cams (that the z1 alone is, but with the right attachements it probably could be). The 503 however is an actual Fluid Head, I have one, and I have no complaints, I've used some bigger $3K heads and I've used my 503 and for the most part the reason for increased price that I can see is that they have a higher weight capacity. However the $3K heads I've used are getting old (at least 15 years) so it's not like it's a really fair comparison, but I like my 503 better than the $3K ones. Never the less the fact that the 501's are not fluid but teflon resistance is a big deal to me, and I would think to most people. so that might help you get it mrj.

Dave