Hi, Tom!
I assume you're shooting HDV (not DVCAM).
As you may have already noticed, the adjustment options of Z1 are not as abundant as in some other cameras. Having said that, I still like the z1's overall look.
To me the factory settings have worked out pretty well. If the progressive "film look" is what you're after, we haven't found much of a difference between shooting on "cineframe25" or interlaced and having the fields joined in the post. Don't use z1's own "Film look" settings. They'll just crush your blacks (which is something you can do in the post, if you wish to). No need to use "Black stretch" either (unless you have a very difficult lighting situation and you want to show more detail in the shadows). The problem with the z1's crude black stretch option is that it's just ON or OFF and it doesn't only lift your blacks but seems to raise your grays as well.
Z1 (and HDV in general) is not very good in low light conditions, so don't forget the lighting ;-) And, of course, keep an eye on the highlights and use grad filters if possible. It's video.
You can also check out the BBC white paper on Z1 settings at http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/whp/whp034-add20.shtml
Hope this was of some help to you.
Cheers!
Sampsa
