Sony Handycam® HVR-Z1E Mini DV Camcorder

The Sony HVR-Z1 camcorder is one of the best on the market ,I have a friend who has one of these and he recommended it to me and when an opportunity came on the eBay I was very lucky to win the bid.
I did a wedding video last Monday and was very pleased with the picture quality and the sound production also how easy it was to operate this camcorder.This camcorder is light, well made and looks good.

More and more I was hearing that people were buying this camera. I researched it and found it was becoming the industry standard entry level professional HDV camera. So I got it through ebay. I've now used it for 3 and a half hours of informal filming and found it really easy to use (having previously used to the canon XL1). I only spent a bout 10 mins on the manual and was off and running. The main down side is the on board stereo mic. Don't use it is my advice. It picks up everything around so it's not suitable for interviewing. I've now got an XLR-plugged Rhode mic on it.
I like the idea of setting transition focussing on it with the memory buttons - this is easy to set up. It's not very heavy and so I haven't got strained carrying it and filming.
The monitor is clear, the white balance and all other manual settings are easy to access and set. Zoom can be set at different speeds if needs be and focussing is sharp.
All in all it's a great camera and I've rated it excellent even though the onboard mic isn't practical - any professional filmaker wouldn't be using the onboard mic anyway.