You edit on PC or Mac?
If your on a Mac, I thoroughly recommend the G film filter from http://www.nattress.com/. I've been using this filter for every project I have done over the last 1.5 years and it's made a very big difference to the look of my final works. It certainly won't turn your stuff into celluloid, but it does do a very good job of emulating the film look. Using something like this helps to bump up the production quality of your video that extra notch which is quite welcome if you're not shooting on a camera that has progressive scan w/ 24 fps function.
*I have to warn you that this is the only film filter I have used so I am not all that clued into what else it out there. However, I have also never had a reason to find something better.
In the last 2 months, I have been shooting a majority of my footage on the Z1 on DV CAM (90% at 50 fps) on a weekly basis, test editing scenes and applying the G film filter to see how the end product will appear. Personally, I can't tell the difference between the PD-150/170 and the Z1 when shooting in Standard Def.
Anyway, my post process is like this: After editing the scenes together, I colour correct, bump the contrast up a notch, and then I richen the blacks. I do this by creating another video layer and copy and pasting the same video track directly underneath. I convert the bottom layer to b & w. Then I blend the two together very slightly by bringing down the opacity of the colour into the black and white layer. I often exagerrate the contrast on the b & w layer and add a very faint Gaussian Blur as well. Finally, I apply the G film filter to run overnight. For a 2.5 minute sequence, it takes about an hour or two on my computer to render.
p.s.
If you're curious as to why I'm not shooting in HDV, its because I didn't want to spend my entire life sitting infront of the computer editing this film. Render times are bad enough as it is. I also knew that my final output wasn't going to be HD so there was no reason for me to shoot on HDV.
+ ... my opinion and assessment of the Z1. The main reason why I got the camera was because I loved the PD-150 so much. The second reason was the choice to shoot HDV (mind you, this is before I found out how much of a headache it is to edit on HD on your average home PC). The third was a practical issue to do with travelling I have planned in the coming year to the US and JAPAN. This camera switches seamlesslly between both formats at the flick of a switch (I live in Australia and I didn't want to run into the hassle of NTSC/PAL compatibility when I live abroad). The fourth reason was longevity - I figured a camera with HDV would last longer in terms of how much use I could get out of it. Finally, if I wanted to sell the thing, I felt I was more likely to get more of my money back than a PD-150.
The PD-150 I used to borrow and use extensively every weekend never once went weird on me and it took a good beating. The Z1 which I own hasn't been through half as much hell yet, but so far, its done just as good, day shoots and night shoots. When comparing the Z1 and the PD-150, unless you're shooting in HDV, there is none. All the practical functions are basically the same. I see no need for the colour correction fuction on this camera or the cinemode function. They're all a piece-a-sh#t. All that stuff can be done with far greater control in post using FCP or After Effects. Aspiring film makers who operate on a shoe-string budget... this camera is not the one. Take it from me. Save yourself a couple of grand and get the PD-150 or PD-170 instead if you want to go with sony. Unless you need to output onto HD (which means you're not making short or indie films but doing music clips, commercials, wedding videos etc... for clients who demand HD) you have no need to shoot on HDV. I learnt this the hard way by buying this camera. Right now, I have absolutely no use for this function and it cost me an extra 2 grand AUS $.
Bottom line is every time I plan a scene, I work within my limitations and use them to my advantage. And anyway... these issues are really the last things I tend to worry about when I'm shooting anyway.
