I've recently obtained two Familienschein from Zurich. One, early 20th century, came as a pdf of the original document, free. The other, 1880s, came as a certified copy, transcribed, and cost a fair amount. This document has less information - there is nothing on occupations, for example.
As I need to order some more Familienschein, I'm trying to figure why I've got documents in the two formats but can't see an explanation on the Zurich Zivilstandsamt website (I can read German to some extent). Can anyone enlighten me? Also, am I right in thinking that the situation would be the same elsewhere in the canton of Zurich?