Sony Z1E Camcorder - where to buy?

[Ed Stradling]

Where is the best place to get one of these?

And do you think it will be a bit too heavy duty for yer standard Manfrotto-style tripod? Will it need one of the more upmarket ones (maybe Libec?)?

[Robin Davies-Rollinson]

It will sit very happily on a Manfrotto 503 Head with the 525 MV legs.
It's not that heavy duty...

Robin

[mooblie]

I believe (although stand for correction) that the Z1E is slightly lighter, yet slightly larger than a PD-170 - if that helps.

[Robin Davies-Rollinson]

I'm using the above Manfrotto head and sticks with the FX1E - and yes, it is bigger than the PD150, but the rig is still sufficient for the camera.

Robin

[tom hardwick]

www.hpreston.co.uk (http://www.hpreston.co.uk) is worth a look.

[Ed Stradling]

Thanks chaps

I spoke to a dealer the other day who said that the Manfrotto 503/525 combination was not sufficient for this camera and that I should not consider spending less than £600 on a tripod. He suggested one of the Libec models.

What do you think? I'd rather not spend the money if I'm not going to need it, but will I need it...?

[tom hardwick]

Six hundred quid? The man's in fantasy land. The Video Forum last month had tens of excellent tripods able and willing to shoulder the Z1 for around £200.

[Ed Stradling]

thks

Any you would recommend at that price?

[Alan Roberts]

Manfrotto 503/525 seems fine to me.

[jo123]

£200 still to much £130 will get you the Manfrotto 055CL works great for the fx1/z1

[Mad_mardy]

Thanks chaps

I spoke to a dealer the other day who said that the Manfrotto 503/525 combination was not sufficient for this camera and that I should not consider spending less than £600 on a tripod. He suggested one of the Libec models.

What do you think? I'd rather not spend the money if I'm not going to need it, but will I need it...?


The last person i would speak to would be a dealer, speak to people who use them
or simply look at its maximum weight and then the weight of the camera.

I use a 501 head with the 358 legs for an XL1 and a HD101 (not at the same time of course) and its okay for me

[Dave R Smith]

Ed,
I also have manfrotto 503/525 which I use with Canon Xm1 and xm2.
Cost £347 from Optex, Barnet, north London 12 months ago.

One of the reasons I bought it is that you can initiate a pan smoothly and if doing a vertical pan, you can take your hand off control arm without having to lock it in position to avoid it slumping.

It's base plate position is adjustable, so that cameras centre of gravity is above tripod centre.

Is smooth panning important to you - or do you jus tend to use for 'steady' shots?

I have dealt with optex for a long time -staff are knowledgable (or will call a colleague if question is outside their experience) and can look at gear without pressure to buy.

Whatever you do - I would take your camera and try for size.
Reading specs only gets you so far.
When I bought mine another shop was pushing a more expensive libec on me - made me think they get a bigger commission!

Dave.

[Alan Roberts]

I endorse those views of Optex, I've known them for years and always been happy dealing with them.

[surferboy]

Lowest i have found the z1 brand new is £3172.50 on ebuyer, not a bad price i thought and have not had any bad experiences with ebuyer so wouldn't hesitate to buy one from them.
Infact i plan to buy some in the new year from there, if they are still the cheapest, can't wait...