Sony HVR-Z5
HDV Camcorder

Major "G Lens" Features on HVR-Z5E

• The 29.5mm wide-angle "G Lens" (equivalent to 35mm film) on the HVR-Z5E offers a field of view that's ideal for shooting situations ranging from broad landscape shots to conditions where sufficient distance from the subject is difficult to obtain. A 20x optical zoom also enables shooting over a wide zoom range.
• Two ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass elements reduce chromatic aberrations caused by differences in light refraction to minimise colour fringing. The advanced 10-group, 15-element lens structure also includes compound aspheric lenses for images that are crisp and clear even when shooting movies at high zoom ratios.
• Advanced optical lens technology makes the most of Sony's 3 ClearVid CMOS Sensor to realise sharper images with higher resolution and less noise even when shooting in very low light.
• The six-blade iris diaphragm is nearly circular, enabling the creation of extremely beautiful background blur.

Natural-touch Lens Operation
Newly designed focus, zoom and iris control functions provide convenient lens operation. The iris ring, located next to the zoom ring as with traditional professional lenses, allows users to adjust exposure with great precision. The zoom function is variable and can be controlled by using the lens barrel ring, the lever at the lens grip or lever on the camera handle. Additionally, once you select the high-speed zoom mode, you can zoom from wide to telephoto 1.5x faster than with the HVR-V1E.

The HVR-Z5E also provides 3 built-in ND (Neutral Density) filters and allows the use of an optional 0.8x wide conversion lens.
1/3 inch-type 3 ClearVid CMOS Sensor system
The newly developed 1/3-inch type 3 ClearVid CMOS Sensor system has 45-degree rotated pixels on each chip in order to increase the signal density, while each pixel maintains sufficient surface area.

In combination with Enhanced Imaging Processor™ (EIP), the 3 ClearVid CMOS Sensor system achieves high resolution, high sensitivity, wide dynamic range, and excellent colour reproduction. The pixel shift interpolation technique has been traditionally used in small 3CCD camcorders. However, it normally requires the combination of all three colour element (RGB) signals to maximise resolution. If an object lacks one or more colour elements, the resolution of the object may be degraded.

The 3 ClearVid CMOS Sensor system is different because it can always produce maximum resolution, regardless of the balance between colour elements, thanks to its unique and sophisticated interpolation technology.
Enhanced functionality with the technology of Exmor
Exmor technology, which utilises the full potential of the 3 ClearVid CMOS Sensor system. Exmor features the column-parallel A/D conversion technique and the dual noise cancelling method also used in the Sony's top-of-the-line models.

Multiple A/D (analogue to digital) converters on each pixel row convert analogue signals to digital as soon as they are generated, unlike traditional technology that only has one A/D converter on each chip.

Exmor technology can eliminate the influence of external noise that enters the signal chain during transfer to the A/D converter, resulting in high-quality digital signals with extremely low noise. This significantly enhances shooting in low-light environments.

By adopting this groundbreaking technology, the new 1/3-inch 3 ClearVid CMOS Sensor system enables the HVR-Z5E to achieve a low light sensitivity of just 1.5 lux*

* At 1/25 shutter, auto iris and auto gain
Switchable Recording and Playback - HDV1080i/DVCAM/DV
The HVR-Z5E can switch between HDV 1080i, DVCAM and standard DV recording, providing the ultimate flexibility to suit your production needs. 60Hz operation for 1080/60i/24p/30p plus SD 480i is available through a chargeable service upgrade
Selectable Progressive Modes
The HVR-Z5E has two types of progressive shooting modes.

Skintone Detail
This function allows users to change the sharpness of an object with a specific colour, and is particularly good for making skin tones look more natural. The target colour can be specified by controlling the Phase/Range/Saturation/Y Level/Y Range parameters or by pressing a button to specify the colour of an object with a colour picker. If the sharpness of the background object is decreased, the blur looks more natural.
Smooth Slow Rec
The Smooth Slow Rec function of the HVR-Z5E camcorder enables smooth slow-motion playback of images capturing 4x faster than normal (200 fields/s). In this mode, quad-speed images are captured for three seconds, stored in the built-in buffer memory, and then recorded to tape (in either HDV, DVCAM, or DV format) as slow-motion pictures lasting 12 seconds*.

This allows recorded images to be checked immediately in the field. Picture quality is slightly degraded due to high-speed capture, but it's much better than converting standard definition images to slow motion using NLE software. This function is ideal for sports or nature photography, where the action can be viewed more easily in slow motion, and opens up many creative possibilities.

*Audio cannot be recorded while shooting in this mode.
Shot Transition Function
The shot Transition function allows for smooth automatic scene transitions. After you have programmed a shot's START and END point settings (e.g., for zoom, focus, iris, gain, shutter speed and white balance) and pressed the start button, a smooth picture transition takes place over the duration of the shot by automatically calculating intermediate setting values. This is very useful when complex camera settings are required during the scene transition. - for example, when panning the camcorder from a distant object to a close object. Transition types can be selected from a choice of "LINEAR", "SOFT STOP", and "SOFT TRANS", transition time can be set from 2 to 90 seconds, and start delay time can be selected from 5, 10 and 20 seconds.
Assignable features
The HVR-Z5E provides seven ASSIGN buttons for quick access to frequently used functions suitable for variable shooting conditions. Some default functions are pre-assigned by name. The assignable functions are AE shift, Back Light, Colour Bars, Digital Extender, End Search, Expanded Focus, Fader, Focus Macro, Hyper Gain, Index Mark, Last Scene Review, Marker, Peaking, Photo, Picture Profile, Push AT Iris, REC Review, Ring Rotate, Shot Transition, Smooth Slow REC, Spot Light, Steady Shot, TC Reset, TC Count Up and Zebra.