My shiny new Sony Z-7 cameras

Hello fellow cow fans,

After renting them a few times for shoots, I have recently bought 2 Sony Z-7 HDV camcorders and am pleased with them. I need to get some accessories and thought I'd get some feedback before buying:

Shoulder Stabilizer - I've seen a few different rigs like Anton Bauer and others. Has anybody used one of these that they liked? While most of my work is on sticks, on occasion I have to shoot hand held for long days and I'm looking for something that will allow me to use the camera like a more traditional shoulder camera. Any thoughts? Opinions?

Matt Box - I have a very nice Choziel that I use with my Sony V1 and it fits perfectly on one of my new Z-7, but I'll need a second. I was hoping to buy a less expensive kit (like one made by Formatt), but have not seen it. At 1/4 the cost of the Chroziel, I'm sure it's not as good. But does anyone have any experience with it or something in the $400 range? All I need it to do is hold 2 4x4 filters (one fixed and one that rotates).

Compact Flash Cards - Sony says that a min speed of 133x is required. But I've heard of some that have had problems with cards other than Sony's 306x speed. Anybody out there have any experience with card performance with this camera?

Cases - I'm thinking about storing the cameras in decked out Pelican 1610 cases with dividers and a deck lid for the little accessories. Thoughts on better hard case options?

Comments about the camera? I've used the camera for 4 shoots so far and have been quite pleased with the results (compared to Sony V1) and love the manual controls and switches. Any comments and thoughts about what you love or hate about the camera are welcomed!

Thanks,

Steve Martin,
Omni Productions
Orlando, FL

Production is fun - but lets not forget: Nobody ever died on the video table!