Slowly but surely the world of Tape is going the way of the do-do bird. Just as CD's pretty much killed the cassette tape, my prediction is in the next few years we will see almost every camera manufacture switch to some method of either solid state or Hard drive based recording.

    Most cameras today still use tape, but there are a few after-market products that you can buy to get a head start. Today we are looking at the Quickstream DV, a product I have been waiting to hit market ever since I first heard about it a year ago.

   The Quickstream DV's basic principle is that you hook it up to your camera via Firewire, and instead of (or at the same time) going to tape, you record direct to the Quickstream's built in hard drive. This process eliminates the chance of drop outs due to tape problems, as well it instantly digitizes your footage so you don't need to spend an hour each tape going from tape into your NLE; you quite seriously just drop the files into your NLE. Another benefit is that the Quickstream can record up to 6 hours at a time, uninterrupted.So, let's check it out.

In the Box:

Box contents (left) and a cool Adjustable Firewire Cable (right).

    In the box comes The Quickstream DV unit, a 3' 6pin-6pin firewire cable, A Zip LinQ retractable firewire 4pin to 6pin cable, Manual, Power Adapter, Belt Clip and Camera Hot Shoe mount. The Zip Linq are relatively a new product, and work fantastic. I really am happy about them including one of these as it lets you adjust the perfect length of cable from the DV port on the DVX to where ever you decide to put the Quickstream.

Standard 1/4" Mount on bottom of the Quickstream (left) and Included mounts (right)

     A great design feature on the Quickstream is a standard 1/4" thread on the bottom of the quickstream, it allows you to mount the unit on almost all camera mounts, including the included Thread to Hotshoe adapter and Belt clip.

The Quickstream DV is surrounded by a tough shell of impact rubber and plastic, in the same style as Dell's Axim Pocket PC (right)

     The Quickstream unit is built like a tank. Although it is only 9oz, it feels very solid and the entire unit is wrapped by a dense shock proof rubber/plastic shield that should hold up to even the most demanding conditions. This is one of the first times I have ever picked up a hard drive and not worried about toting it around. Some people may not like the 'beefy' look of the quickstream, but I like it and it defiantly serves a purpose.

Initial Power on/Setup:

The quickstream Powered Up and ready to go

      First thing Is charging the unit. The Quickstream has an internal lithium Ion rechargeable battery, and comes with a power adapter, so you can charge it up without a computer or continuously when you are using it on camera if you have AC available. The input is a standard mini power jack, and has a built in voltage regulator that can accept voltage anywhere between +6 to +18 volts, so you can hook up an external battery of almost any size and type as long as you use take a trip to Radioshack to get the right cable. There is a front LED that glows blue when it is charging, and turns off when the internal battery is fully charged.

       Even better though is that the Quickstream can charge itself over firewire, just like Apple's Ipod, so when you plug it into your system to transfer the files it will recharge. Being Lithium Ion, you don't need to worry about the memory effects of recharging at various levels of use. The Firewire recharge is brilliant. Too bad the DVX doesn't recharge this way :)

Side view of Assembly with grips (left); and view from above (right).

      The first step in using the Quickstream is to set what file format you want it to record as. You do this by holding down the record button for 5 seconds, then hitting it again to cycle through the format choices. You pretty much are covered, as there is Raw .DV, Quicktime, Canopus, and of course Windows AVI formats. Which one you choose is up to you and your NLE, the quality of each format is virtually indistinguishable.

DVX100 External Settings (left) Quickstream Mounted and plugged in (right)

     Next is setting up the Camera, and this is where things get a little confusing. You see, Panasonic has decided to use its own proprietary trigger for external devices (much like it did with the LANC port) So You cannot use the drive as an external only drive triggered from the record button on the DVX, you need to either set the camera to "Both" in the DV control menu, so when you hit record it goes to tape and to the Quickstream, or you need to use the Quickstream by in standby mode, where you just press the record button on the Quickstream when you want to record. It would be nice to be able to set the DVX100 to EXT and not need to load a tape, and MCE has requested from panasonic the switch signal so they could make it do so, but for now you will need to pick both or use Quickstream's record button.

     Remember though, since it is digitizing the footage as you go, there is no reason that you need the DVX100 camera to be rolling.. the files on the Quickstream are all AVI/DV or MOV formats, so its not pulling timecode or other data that the DVX would send in record mode, unless you set it to roll tape AND quickstream. Another bonus by just going off the Quickstream besides being able to record for hours and hours is that since the DVX100 drive mechanics is not rolling, you are saving a considerable amount of battery life.

     To see just what info was transfered to the Quickstream, I preset the timecode on the DVX100 to 00:08:00 and I hit record on camera (so Quickstream and a NEW tape where recording) while it was running I shifted the Iris.. (since the DVX adds Iris settings onto the Data track on tape).

     I then took the Quickstream and plugged it into my NLE and dumped the file into my NLE. Without touching the file, I then hooked the DVX to my system and output to a different, new tape the file from the Quickstream.

     Thats when I crossed my fingers. I then unhooked the DVX and put it into VTR mode, re-winded the tape and pressed play. The timecode started at 00:08:00 (meaning the file saved timecode) as well as it also played back the iris setting throughout the clip. So basically, all info as far as I could tell that would have been on the tape, stayed in the file.

Hotshoe Mount (left) Belt Clip (right)

     As for the physical mounting onto the camera, The hotshoe mount supplied with the Quickstream is such a great Idea. being High on the camera on the hotshoe allows you to always keep an eye on the Record lamp on the Quickstream so you know your recording, and it raises it just enough that you can get your hand in there on the top handle and still use it ( I am 6' 7" and have hands bigger than allot of people's lower arms and I still had no problems). It is small enough that it does not add an extra amount of weight or size to the camera. You can, as well, Resort to the Belt Clip if need be, The clip is very sturdy, all metal and has a safety release so you can pull just the Unit off and on very fast without needing to take the actual clip off.

In Use:

Quickstream plugged into desktop via Firewire (Left) Quickstream Mounted as a drive (right)

     Once the Video has been captured, all you do is plug the Quickstream into your system, and It becomes a firewire drive. When you open it up, you see a few folders, one hold software for the Mac (Pc version is expected early Feb. and will be a free download for owners) called MCE Streamanager that is basically a file management program, which you don't need at all but may be useful to some people, but windows explorer etc. can do the same functions. The other folders contain some data, and the 'Media' folder inside the 'Movie' folder holds your clips.

     Since the Quickstream is forced to be Fat32 to be compliant with both Windows and Mac, each file is cut just before the 2gb point, but it happens seamlessly and there are no dropped frames while it is doing it. This means you will have a filename that looks like CLIP0200, CLIP0200 etc... and each time you press the record stop button, it advances to the next clip, i.e. CLIP0300, etc.. basically the first two digits represent the clip number, and the last two digits represent every 2gb part of the clip. It would be very good if you had the option to record in NTFS for example so you can just have one file for every clip, but for MCE it was more important to make the drive Cross platform.

Clip List on the Quickstream (left). Vegas Removes Pulldown Automatically. (right)

     We did a test clip with the DVX100 set to 24p Advanced, and brought a Windows AVI2 file it into vegas straight off the Quickstream drive. This is the first time you appreciate not having to digitize your footage, you basically are saving yourself 1 hour of time every tape, just in digitizing. Anyway's, Right away vegas automatically recognized the clip having advanced pulldown and removed it via 2-3-3-2. This was the only big question I had about the Quickstream DV, and I am very happy to see that it worked fine.
     

DVX100 Timelapse as shown in Vegas.

     Another Interesting use for the quickstream is timelapse. The DVX can be set to record intermittently every few seconds or minutes, and I tested this function with the Quickstream to see what would happen. Unfortunately you still need to have a tape in the camera, and the external drive on the DVX set to 'Both' . The Quickstream successfully started and stopped every time the DVX100 automatically recorded and stopped, and cut each clip into a separate file as expected. I opened the drive in Vegas, and dragged the clips onto the timeline. When MCE and Panasonic figure out how to let you do it external only without a tape, you could realistically set up the camera and do a 30 day - 3 hour timelapse all on the drive, without needing to change tapes.

Conclusion:

  The Quickstream DV lived up to my expectations, and I was very happy to see that it didn't screw up the pulldown cadence, as if it didn't save the pulldown properly, this would of been a much different review. I really had a hard time finding faults for the Quickstream DV, specially that were its' fault. It would be fantastic if the Quickstream DV could work with the External Signal from the DVX without a tape in the drive, but thankfully the red record button on the Quickstream is large and lit in case you do want to use it without a tape. I would of also liked to be able to choose a different disk format, like NTFS, so the files were not split every 2gb, but again, to be honest I don't usually record for more than 5 minutes at a time anyway. These small 'request' are quickly overshadowed though by the very nice included mounting options and cables, the strong build, charging options, and Easy use. I would highly recommend this product to anyone interested in leaving tape behind.

Visit http://www.mcetech.com/quickstreamdv.html for more information.

- special thanks to Arnie from MCE for providing the Product for review.

UPDATE JANUARY 27

    Well, after a few weeks of daily Quickstream use, This product is near the top of the list of items I am using with my DVX. I can't tell you how great it is for camera tests.. where I can just grab a few seconds and come back to my system and drop in the already digitized footage right off the drive.. and the fact that it recharges itself while I am doing this automatically is incredible.

UPDATE MAY 2004

We have recieved alot of complaints about issues and QC problems with the drives, so please contact MCE directly to make sure they will take care of any problems you may have.