FilmDailies.com – A filmmaker’s blog

Sony HVR-Z5U is the same Sony HVR Z7U, however, Sony has fixed the lens on this one. Let’s find out if it’s such a good move.

First off, the new Sony HVR-Z5U is affordable – $4200 street price ($4950 list). It’s in the same league price-wise as Sony Z1 and a bit more expensive than Sony FX1 and Sony FX7. It’s very competitive pricing considering a Panasonic HVX200 goes for more than $4,200 – and in some stores it goes to $5,000.

Let’s examine what could make you upgrade to Sony HVR-Z7U – it usually costs about $1,200 more. Both camcorders use the same electronics. The controls and I/O are a bit different but it’s more a matter of personal preference rather than anything “measurable”. The key difference is the lens – the Z7U has a 12x Zeiss lens that can be REMOVED. Just so you know, this is where your $1,200 will be going – giving you flexibility to change the lens.

The lens on the Sony HVR-Z5U is a fixed 20x Sony “G” zoom lens. In this, Sony is consistent – all its camcorders in this range have sported a similar lens – all the way back to (my beloved) Sony VX2000.

If you’re easily impressed by ZOOMs, Sony estimates the 35mm equivalent is 29.5mm – 590mm! Impressive! If you go with the Z7U, it stops at about 380mm. So in practical terms, you get a lot more tele from the fixed 20x lens. Frankly, I’m not a big bird watcher, so zoom isn’t that important to me. However, if you plan to shoot architectural videos, you might need a wider lens (or adapter).

Same as the Sony Z7U, this camcorder uses the new Sony’s ClearVid CMOS with 1440×810 photosites. Through extrapolation (i.e. software), Sony achieves 1080 resolution. The sensor deliver very similar picture to full resolution 1920×1080 sensors which cost a LOT more.

So in conclusion – do you need it? If you already have a Sony Z1 or comparable, you probably don’t need to upgrade just yet (unless money is no object).

If you’re in the market for a new camera, the Sony HVR-Z5U is a very solid choice and comes highly recommended from all the reviewers I follow. The only caveat is the fixed lens but let’s admit it, at $4,200 you won’t find a camera with a removable lens anyway.

I tried to enjoy August – it’s really the only portrayal of the dot com bubble I can think of.

I’ve read quite a few (good) books about it and I have been a part of it in a minor way, so I expected to empathize with the protagonists. It proved to be rather difficult as right from the start, Josh Hartnett is tough pill to swallow. He’s too good looking (too sexy for our lady viewers too) to picture him as a real CEO. Don’t get me wrong, there are good-looking CEOs but that happens only AFTER the VCs take over the company and put their own puppet to run the show.

Now, despite Josh’s appearance, you can tell she’s trying hard to pull off a convincing portrayal. My problem with the support cast is that as out of place as Josh is, there’s no one else that steals scenes. I recently saw Charlie Wilson’s War and I watched in awe how Philip Seymour Hoffman steals EVERY scene he’s in.

I guess the moral of the story is: no matter how sexy you make a business guy, he always falls short of keeping the interest in the cinema. If only I didn’t have Wallstreet as a perfectly good example of a business movie!

None: The movie looks good and has been shot digitally with a Sony CineAlta rig!

Mike Curtis has a sensual (no other word could describe it) unwrapping session with the unique RED camera.

Mike has endorsed the RED camera before but this time he actually gets to unwrap his very own RED cam.