Learned something the hard way today...

[davideo.net]

I was shooting a corporate video today with my 300 - just in DV mode and 4x3. I was interviewing "associates" of a major company and each interview was about 5 minutes. I was running the camera off AC. After one of the interviews was over, I was JUST about to pause the camera when the power went out in the entire town. I put a battery on the camera to see if my last interview was there, and it was totally gone - like it never existed. So: message to self and to you all - if you're going to use AC power, use it with that Anton Bauer Tandem AC adapter/battery charger unit WITH a battery attached. If the power goes out, the battery kicks in and continues the recording. I learned the hard way, and will never leave a battery off the Tandem charger again.
http://www.antonbauer.com/Products/Tandem

Update 7/26/09: I'm glad to report that I'm wrong! "Repair clip" in the thumbnail menu is your friend.

[puredrifting]

That doesn't sound right at all. On my HPX170, when the camera loses power, all it does is not write the header to the file to close it. I can use the repair clip utility in camera and it has always fixed it and I have even done it on purpose to test that the camera will save my rear. It always has. I know that Jan says the most of a P2 clip that you can lose is 2 seconds, because P2 backs itself up every 2 seconds.

I don't have a 300 here but I would be amazed if Panasonic made a camera that sells for throusands more than my 170 not be able to recover a recording from a power outage. That happens all of the time.

1. Did you re-format/erase the card already?
2. Talk to Panasonic/Jan and figure this out.
3. I would test this on another shot, just do the same thing on purpose (not on a real shoot obviously). You should be able to recover the file with no problem, I always have.

Dan

[marstaton4]

I was under the same impression.

[shorelinedigital]

That is correct. I wonder if the poster knew of the clip repair utility and tried it before warning all about this issue.

[Barry_Green]

Definitely try the "repair clip" function. I've repeatedly tested yanking the power out on multiple P2 cameras, and it has *always* salvaged the entire clip (minus the last second or so).

[davideo.net]

I haven't tried it, but I'm sure you guys are correct. That repair function is not in the camera menu, but in the thumbnail menu, by the way.

[puredrifting]

Yes, the menu structure is quite different on the 300 vs. the 170. Should work for you.

Dan