Z-Cam E1 notes, tips, feedback

[hindesite]

I think this is what I'll do with this cam....

...humorous video too...but his video does show that the 1080p quality is good enough esp if 4k is resized to 1080.

The video quality is absolutely fine, it has the same sensor as the GH4 after all. Bitrate might be a little low, but that does have advantages too.

I use mine with several lenses, you'll have seen it with an 800/5.6 Nikkor a few times, but it also works well with a 7.5mm Samyang, great combination and IMHO better than the body cap. For body cap prices you can get a 7Artisans 7.5mm lens, too. That gets you aperture control, which is useful for video since you can't really fit filters to fisheye lenses.

that route leads to the slrmagic 8mm as a solution....set at hyperfocal....at f8. I'd really like to see that comparison...the olympus 9mm and the slrmagic. I'd bet it's close. That would give preference to size.

There's several good options (rectilinear and fisheye), but no need to stick below f8 for video, you aren't worried about diffraction at that level, you aren't pixel peeping and everything is moving anyway.

The only downside to smaller apertures is that because the Z Cam E-1 doesn't have sensor cleaning and seems to be a very dusty camera, the sensor gets very dirty easily and that shows up at small apertures.

 

[helgaaah]

Hej,

I have bought the Z-Cam for a trip next year and have 2 questions:

- I can not set aperture to auto in video mode. Ive read, that it is a bug in version 0.30, so I changed to 0.31 and to 0.28, but it did not work. Any ideas, how i can fix it?

- panasonic 14-42 II: image stabilization does not work, right?

Thank you so much,

Thomas

 

[hindesite]

Hej,

I have bought the Z-Cam for a trip next year and have 2 questions:

- I can not set aperture to auto in video mode. Ive read, that it is a bug in version 0.30, so I changed to 0.31 and to 0.28, but it did not work. Any ideas, how i can fix it?

I don't think you can, which is a bit annoying especially as there is no way to judge exposure. Maybe better to set aperture, use ND and auto ISO/shutter.

This applies to all lenses, AFAIK

- panasonic 14-42 II: image stabilization does not work, right?

Yes, that is just the 14-42II of my lenses, that I have tried.

 

[orey10m]

I am travelling to Australia and New Zealand later this week and want to confirm whether or not I need a voltage converter to charge my Z Cam. Since I am in the US I guess our power supply coming out of the wall is generally going through the charger at 60HZ, whereas in Australia and NZ it will be 50 HZ. Does anyone know if the Z Cam can be charged by 50HZ or is that a bad idea?

Thanks!

 

[Ragnar Jensen]

If you're talking about the charger that came with the Z CAM...

Mine came with plugs for North America, the UK and the EU.

... you'll probably be fine. Mine's universal. 100-240 VAC, 50 and 60 Hz.
I'm in Sweden, so I run it at 240V/50Hz.

It should say, in tiny script on the charger, what it's made for.

--
Ragnar

 

[hindesite]

I am travelling to Australia and New Zealand later this week and want to confirm whether or not I need a voltage converter to charge my Z Cam. Since I am in the US I guess our power supply coming out of the wall is generally going through the charger at 60HZ, whereas in Australia and NZ it will be 50 HZ. Does anyone know if the Z Cam can be charged by 50HZ or is that a bad idea?

Thanks!

I'm in NZ, the charger works fine.

Most chargers are universal these days, the exception being some companies that deliberately want to make things harder for customers by regionalising hardware - and prices - (like Dremel and Makita).

Have a great trip.

--
http://hindesite.co.nz

 

[orey10m]

My camera was in a dry bag (not very protective) and was apparently against the door of my car and fell out against the pavement. The screen shattered pretty bad.

Anyone know of a way I could replace it? The camera still functions perfectly otherwise.



I measured it and it's 2.75" (inches)

--
my digital photography:
- yero.vsco.co
fledgling new youtube channel:

https://tinylink.net/30lDE

 

[6 X 17 Feind]

My camera was in a dry bag (not very protective) and was apparently against the door of my car and fell out against the pavement. The screen shattered pretty bad.

Anyone know of a way I could replace it? The camera still functions perfectly otherwise.

I measured it and it's 2.75" (inches)

OHHH dang! That sucks.



Cheapest source of parts that I know of...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Z-Camera-E...721961?hash=item3b334c7fe9:g:j3oAAOSwEC5dA5BD

--
6 X 17 Feind

 

[cerich]

hmmm... go to facebook and ask the folks at z camera. That ebay one with a biusted screen won't help you much.

 

[hindesite]

My camera was in a dry bag (not very protective) and was apparently against the door of my car and fell out against the pavement. The screen shattered pretty bad.

Anyone know of a way I could replace it? The camera still functions perfectly otherwise.

I measured it and it's 2.75" (inches)

OHHH dang! That sucks.

Cheapest source of parts that I know of...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Z-Camera-E...721961?hash=item3b334c7fe9:g:j3oAAOSwEC5dA5BD

Pretty sure that's more than I paid for my brand new, working E1...

--

HINDESITE

 

[orey10m]

My camera was in a dry bag (not very protective) and was apparently against the door of my car and fell out against the pavement. The screen shattered pretty bad.

Anyone know of a way I could replace it? The camera still functions perfectly otherwise.

I measured it and it's 2.75" (inches)

OHHH dang! That sucks.

Cheapest source of parts that I know of...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Z-Camera-E...721961?hash=item3b334c7fe9:g:j3oAAOSwEC5dA5BD

--
6 X 17 Feind

Haha yeah..just buy another one huh

--
my digital photography:
- flyfishingphotoproject.com -
fledgling new youtube channel:

https://tinylink.net/30lDE

 

[hindesite]

My camera was in a dry bag (not very protective) and was apparently against the door of my car and fell out against the pavement. The screen shattered pretty bad.

Anyone know of a way I could replace it? The camera still functions perfectly otherwise.

I measured it and it's 2.75" (inches)

OHHH dang! That sucks.

Cheapest source of parts that I know of...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Z-Camera-E...721961?hash=item3b334c7fe9:g:j3oAAOSwEC5dA5BD

Haha yeah..just buy another one huh

Might not be easy, they are AFAIK discontinued after heavy discounting by B+H and others, and all the ones I see on ebay are unrealistic in their pricing - just because people were hyped into paying $700 for this rubbish when it was released, doesn't make it worth more than $150 now.

--

HINDESITE

 

[hindesite]

My camera was in a dry bag (not very protective) and was apparently against the door of my car and fell out against the pavement. The screen shattered pretty bad.

Anyone know of a way I could replace it? The camera still functions perfectly otherwise.

I measured it and it's 2.75" (inches)

I'd say plug in an external monitor - but the menu system doesn't appear on that, only the OSD :-(

Maybe you can turn on the WiFi blind and use it that way? On mine, settings works OK on WiFi, but no image monitoring. Used to work OK, was pretty good.



--

HINDESITE

 

[orey10m]

how do we feel about the stabilization in the Z Cam E1?

Does anyone know more about it ..? Is it only stabilizing for stills?

Is it digital stabilization?

Is it stabilizing a non-stabilized lens?

I have it "on" in mine, but haven't really figured out the answers to the above questions. Doesn't seem to work at all in video but maybe it's doing something I'm not aware of.

 

[hindesite]

how do we feel about the stabilization in the Z Cam E1?

Does anyone know more about it ..? Is it only stabilizing for stills?

Is it digital stabilization?

Is it stabilizing a non-stabilized lens?

I have it "on" in mine, but haven't really figured out the answers to the above questions. Doesn't seem to work at all in video but maybe it's doing something I'm not aware of.

E1 doesn't have any stabilisation; it depends entirely on OIS, so your lens must be fully compatible with the E1.

Kind of related to this, E1 also has no ultrasonic sensor cleaning, and is one of the dirtiest cameras I own.

 

[orey10m]

Ok gotcha. Thanks for the info

Also, hello to NZ! I spent some time there earlier this year and was blown away. Mainly hiking and fly fishing. Hiked the Tongariro Pass on the North Island, and dayhikes all over the south island...

Need to get back to editing that footage

 

[hindesite]

Ok gotcha. Thanks for the info

Also, hello to NZ! I spent some time there earlier this year and was blown away. Mainly hiking and fly fishing.

Well, central NI and SI are great for both. Even elsewhere, like where I live I can step out the front door and be in the bush in 5min.

Hiked the Tongariro Pass on the North Island,

Ah, sorry about that, it must have been just awful.

I did about 20 years ago, and we were the only couple on the walk. Now you have to queue and walk single file in places. Bit like Everest but with a longer season. We had a real problem with people turning up expecting to walk that route in beachwear; people who had no business even being on the mountain.

and dayhikes all over the south island...

Need to get back to editing that footage

I find that unless I edit immediately, it just never gets done - there's always something new to record.

 

[orey10m]

and dayhikes all over the south island...

Need to get back to editing that footage

I find that unless I edit immediately, it just never gets done - there's always something new to record.

 

[Gius19]

Hi,

I found this old forum looking info for Z cam E1.

I would be interested in that cam to set a rig of 4 cams for pano pictures.

I would need the cams take a picture at the same time. I know there is a cable to connect two cams (master and slave) for that. I hope it is possible to connect 4 cams the same way: splitting the cable?

I would like to know whether the cam has a fully electronic shutter and how is the maximum rate to take a picture for some time (not in burst mode): 1, 2 ....pictures per second?

Any information, hints, suggestions would be very helpful.

Thank you.

Regards,

Giuseppe

 

[Ragnar Jensen]

Hi,

I would need the cams take a picture at the same time. I know there is a cable to connect two cams (master and slave) for that. I hope it is possible to connect 4 cams the same way: splitting the cable?

Is it the iZugar cable you mean?

Those are more than simple cables and connectors, they are dongles with electronics in them. As I understand it, more than one slave can be used, by daisy-chaining more dongles.

But, from their FAQ :

"Please note that only video mode is working, not in Photo mode or time lapse mode."



I think having four cameras taking still pictures in synchronizaton will take some amount of do-it-yourself.

I would like to know whether the cam has a fully electronic shutter and how is the maximum rate to take a picture for some time (not in burst mode): 1, 2 ....pictures per second?

The E1's shutter is electronic, it does not have a mechanical shutter.
I did some tests when the camera was new to me. I got about 2.5 pictures/second in single-shot mode.

--
Ragnar