Sony Announces Successor to Z1

Sony has announced a new camera in their HDV professional lineup: the HVR-Z5. It's body is very similar to the Z1. The V1 is a smaller size with the LCD located on the left size of the body, while the Z7 has a removable lens.

There's lots of nice upgrades over the Z1. The 3-CMOS imaging system is supposed to handle low-light much better. The lens is wider and has a 20x zoom and an iris ring right on the lens. Traditionally, Sony has relegated the iris control to a small wheel control on the camera's body for their low-end pro cams. There are a lot of similarities to the new Z7, like recording to CompactFlash (with optional HVR-MRC1K), an high-resolution LCD display and viewfinder, and native 24P recording onto the HDV format. The MRSP of the Z5 is $5000.

Earlier this year, I was touting the Z7 as Link's "next camera". I have to eat my words. I should have seen this camera coming--all the features of the Z7 without the removable lens. I think this camera makes more sense for Link. The built-in lens I think will make the Z5 easier to handle and lighter. The Z7 has a 12x lens versus the 20x on the Z5. And I'm guessing the Z5 will be cheaper than the Z7. Although the Z7 price recently dropped on the B&H site for $6300 to $5400.

B&H wrote an article about the prosumer version of this camera the FX-1000. It's covers some of the new features also included on the Z5 in detail.

While I am now predicting this as Link's next camera, I have no idea when we would buy one. Don't hold your breath. But the camera will be available in December.