Comments about Sony HVR-Z1U 3CCD HDV 1080i Camcorder:

It's compatible with Final Cut Studio. It has 3 CCDs, shoots DVCAM, MiniDV and HDV formats. It has manual control buttons for the important functions, like variable white balance, iris, focusing and audio input gain . It outputs are firewire, component (RGB) video and composite A/V cable.It has XLR mic inputs with phantom power for great sound, and a Leica lens for great video. It can shoot PAL or NTSC. It can download 1080i to Standard Definition. Since it uses tape, I can shoot all weekend without having to download a flash memory to disk. I can archive the original tape for later use. It's great for news and documentaries.Some drawbacks are it can't do 1080p, or 24p to simulate film. It has no 3-2-2-3 pull down. I heard there is software to do this in post production using the 1080i from the tape.Overall, this is a great camera that fit my budget, and I plan to make great videos for years to come.[...]