Customer Reviews

Sony HDR FX1 / HVR Z1U Made Easy Tutorial DVDs (Volume 1 & 2 covering the FX-1 & Z1)

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My own conversion from film to digital photography has been a very steep leaning curve and not all the products purchased proved to be useful. In addition to the photographs which support my books and articles, I also provide the detail which enables a world-class artist to produce an accurate portrait of each of the major shipwrecks I visit. In the case of one book, that process took a number of years to complete. The artist has now suggested I purchase a high quality video camera which, will allow me to film a shipwreck's exterior features in far fewer dives whilst still providing him with all the necessary detail.

Consequently I purchased a Sony FX1 HDV video camera and an equally expensive custom-made underwater housing. The only problem being, I had never previously used a video camera of any description. Unlike courses run by Nikon UK to familiarise customers with their new Nikon camera, similar training events run by Sony were prohibitively expensive and appeared to cater for those who already understood the equipment and were simply converting from one camera to another. So I purchased this video - and for no other reason than it was the only one available.

Once again, however, this is a product which caters for those who already understand what these cameras are all about. Three, clearly knowledgeable, men take it in turns to introduce various features and get straight into iris, gain, filter and whatever other qualities they wish to discuss right at the beginning of DVD One. Their technique is best described as an overview of whatever features exist and, quite frankly, is pitched at those who are already understand such features. In short, not much use for the rank beginner.

Now before anyone criticises me for having purchased a "Top of the Range" camera without the requisite knowledge to use the item, there are various books and DVDs which allow the rank beginner to start ordinary "still" photography from scratch without having to work their way up to the best cameras available.

Having sat through the first DVD (there being 2 in this package) and having learned very little, I then sat through DVD 2. This commenced with a couple of basic lessons on how to charge and fit the battery and how to insert the film cartridge. But still no basic operating instructions before we were back into some very technical areas where yet again the features were mentioned but "NOT" explained. Even when a detached microphone was recommended as being far better than the camera's own in-built sound recording system, that additional item was not shown attached to the camera and there was no practical demonstration whatsoever.

Altogether, this DVD has left me feeling very confused. On the one side of the coin, I earnestly believe those people who are able to comprehend this DVD will have no use for it because they will already understand the overview of camera features portrayed here. On the other side of that same coin, those of us who are in need of instruction will gain little or nothing from watching this DVD - even if we were to watch it through over 100 times!, simply because the instruction is not there.

NM