Used Z-CAM E-2 4K Cinema Camera

2020-11-30T04:12:28

Z-Cam has become a standard force in the industry. This camera really does it all. High Frame rates, Cinema quality picture, extreme low light capabilities, you name it. The only thing you have to watch out for is how you expose the image, but once you nail that, it's a golden camera. Look no further!!

MARTIN I.

2019-12-21T02:45:32

Excellent, Have been using it on professional shoots and product is amazing. Easy to use and user friendly.

MICHAEL P.

2019-10-02T12:47:57

This camera creates some beautiful images, has tons of crop/frame rate/ resolution options. The image quality is a significant upgrade from the sony a7iii.

Sam M.

2019-07-08T06:17:20

Quite an impressive all-around camera. I don't have the time to fully test every single feature and codec, however what I see is a full-featured well-developed product that other competitors should be wary of. I recently purchased and used two of these in a UHD shoot and they performed flawlessly. A highlight is definitely the remote control via Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Compact flash storage is obviously expensive so an external SSD solution was the way to go for me. Any questions I've had along the way have been quickly answered by Z-cam's support (judging by the times it looks like they're only on Hong Kong or similar time zone for support. My two largest gripes are the availability of the timecode adapter to allow TC in to the camera (have to wait around a month as of this writing) and the documentation. The documentation on their website is several firmware versions old and much has been changed and added.

Ian L.

2019-05-28T11:08:47

I've been a regular GH5 shooter for a few years and was lucky enough to preorder a BMPCC4K in time to get the first shipping round. Naturally I've accumulated a fair stable of MFT lenses and gear and like to try and make the most of my investment by shopping other cameras in the same system. The Z Cam piqued my interest initially because of it's 120 fps 4k and built in ProRes, but as I've begun using it I've learned there's more to it than just that. As of writing I’ve had the camera about 2 weeks and used in on a few walk around shoots totaling maybe 4-5 hour of footage. The good: From what I’ve ready it’s using the same sensor as the BMPCC4K and has an image quality that is similar in terms of DNR. Colors are a bit more GH5, but there’s no predominant color caste to anything. 10 bit internal possible at 4k 24, 30 60 and 120 FPS in H.265 and ProRes is possible in all frame rates except for 120. Build quality is very solid, and VERY compact compared to the ultra wide BMPCC4K and more standard mirrorless brick body of a GH5. Controls are fairly intuitive and loads of options are available within the menu system. Another huge win over the BMPCC4K is the reasonable battery powered design decision! Canon LPE6 only last about 25-35 minutes in the BMPCC4K, requiring V mount rigging, gimbal power, or a sack of batteries to shoot a few hours of footage. The Z Cam can snap on a big (and cheap) Sony NPF970 battery and expect to shoot for about 3-4 hours on and off in my experience, which is remarkable! The bad: Buttons are a bit twitchy, not responding when pressed once but when pressed a second time the menu will open AND close, signaling the button was pushed a first time, but there’s some input lag maybe? No port covers for the back side is a little bit unnerving coming from the GH5 with all of it’s snapping rubber covers. Without a cage there are very few options to mount a monitor or the camera, so getting a smallrig at the least will be a requirement for most. The camera has a LOT of noise in the shadows when you’re not set at a native ISO from the testing I’ve seen, which is a bit of a bummer. It’s all something that can be denoised, but that’s just extra render time and seems like it could have performed better. Shooting at native ISO intervals the camera produces nice results. In summary this is a camera much like the BMPCC4k, it’s a system centerpiece for a mini-cine rig that will include a monitor, cage, and maybe a few other gizmos. The E2 wins out on simplicity by a long shot from the BMPCC4K however but not needing a custom power solution, not being tricky to balance on gimbals, containing continuous auto focus, and of course it’s higher shooting frame rates (I could shoot with a 100-400 handheld at 120fps and get smooth footage). The BMPCC4K wins out on RAW recording internally and have a screen built in (although the screen on that is not that useful IMO) and of course better noise control throughout the ISO range. I’d say this camera should be looked at like a Ninja V and GH5 with a few extra bells and whistles and a few more limitations. A really very good camera so far from a company that no one had ever heard of before. I’m expecting their next generation cameras to present a serious threat to conventional low and medium end cine cams.

graham d.

2019-05-26T19:42:21

If you look around the internet you will see the rave reviews for this camera, and they are right. Amazing picture, 4k at 120fps, 1080 at 240fps (although that image isn't super), ProRes, WDR, Zlog, etc., all for $ You will still need a monitor, CFast card (or SSD), and inexpensive Sony battery, and then you are ready. Amazingly light camera, kind of like a Red but smaller and much less expensive. Very responsive company and active user groups.

Daniel L.

2019-03-24T08:42:42

The best little MFT camera. Love the form factor and the company and developers are fantastic. I owned the Z Cam E1 and still use it. Great price for such a little performer.

Ron S.