4 Gb limit with the HF series of camcorders ?

[David Zeno]

Hi guys,

On another forum, a user brought up the topic of the 4 Gb file limit on Canon camcorders, that record footage to SD cards, and or internal drive.

If this is true, what happens if you are filming a 60 min concert or theatrical production ? If the AVCHD based camcorder stopped recording because of the 4 GB limit, and then started to record again, this would create a break in footage with terrible and disappointing end results.

I do this ( film concerts ) quite often with my HV20, and can record 60 mins to tape without any break at all in the film.

* IF * the HF-S100 for example cannot record 60 mins to an SD card, then this would be a terrible choice if you were shooting concerts.

Can somebody tell me what the truth is here ?

Thanks for any help !

Dave.

[Ian Slessor]

Hey Dave,

SDHC cards (can't comment on internal HDDs..sorry) are formatted in FAT32.
4 GB is the max file size BUT if you're shooting the transition between files is seamless. It just means a little more work when you're bringing footage into your NLE if you're attempting to sync multiple cameras.

I shot a bodybuilding competition using my DVXb cams and shot one direct to HDD through my laptop. Forgot to format the HDD in NTFS and had to sync a bunch of 4 GB files to the much longer files I'd captured from tape from the other cam. heh.

Lesson learned. :)

Hope this helps.

sincerely,



ian