Why 16 gig so cheap?

DavidBeier

DavidBeier

Veteran
This may well be a dumb question and I haven't been on the boards for a while but why is the 16 gig selling so cheap. Since I've had an HVX200, we've been paying more per gig on bigger cards with the 8 gig always being more than twice the price of the 4 gig. Now I go online and see an 8 giger for $700 and a 16 giger for $900. How'd that happen. I'm not complaining as that's a fantastic deal for a 16 gig card but how'd it end up so cheap? For that matter, is Pansonic trying to phase out 8 gig cards since it seems that once they can keep up with the demand of 16 gig ones (which i realize may take a while), no one in their right mind would invest in an 8 giger.
 
Well, from what I have gathered, and what I would guess... there are a couple of things at play.

One thing is that Panasonic had to redesign the cards to an extent to make them compatible with the newer SDHC cards (as opposed to the regular SD cards). In doing so, they were probably able to bring down the cost of making the cards as well.

The other thing would be the huge P2 exclusive contracts that Panny has signed with big broadcast stations and networks over the last several months. For example, Fox has signed an exclusive agreement with Panny to use only P2.

Cheaper manufacturing costs, coupled with a ton of new customers are probably the big factors.
 
The manufacturing deal with Fox is great and explains a big price drop (we all hoped that would be the case), but I'm still curious why the 8 giger is $700. The new manufacturing methods make sense but, why wouldn't Panasonic start making the 8 gigers the same way so they could drop to $500 or so? It still seems like the 8 giger isn't going to be around for long.
 
I think competition might have something to do with it, too. Hoodman is coming out with 16G P2 cards in June (they call it H2). Sony's new XDCAM EX cameras are using the Expresscards, which are open sourced. Panny needs to lower the price to stay competitive.

I think they're keeping the 8G price "high" because the 16G's haven't come out yet. It might go down soon. The 32G cards are supposed to come out by the end of the year, so we might see more price reduction at that time.
 
damn thats great news.. i was planning on getting an 8gb card, but if the price difference is a few hundred, then i'll go for 16 of course :)
 
Hoodman is coming out with 16G P2 cards in June (they call it H2).
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Well that's interesting. I wonder if theirs will be even cheaper than Panasonic's. If they come out with one for $800, we'll be essentially paying $50 per gig. A lot nicer deal when we had to pay $175 per gig a little over a year ago.
 
The H2 cards (I wonder if GMC is going to sue them) will have to be priced substantially below the P2 card prices for people to take a gamble with them.

I'm not saying H2 is a bad product, but until they have a proven track record, most folks will probably stick with P2. The fact that they are reverse-engineering things without Panasonic's help or support isn't helping the perception either.
 
I hope they turn out to be a good alternative. But, it's also my understanding that these will not be 4 raided sd card type deals like p2. So, they will probably be considerably slower. Maybe not a big deal for some/a lot of people, depending on what they want to use 'em for beyond straight recording and offloading.

Jason
 
$900 is still a bit too high, but I'm glad some competition is coming into play.

Things should be looking up soon.
 
Sumfun said:
I think competition might have something to do with it, too. Hoodman is coming out with 16G P2 cards in June (they call it H2). Sony's new XDCAM EX cameras are using the Expresscards, which are open sourced. Panny needs to lower the price to stay competitive.

I think they're keeping the 8G price "high" because the 16G's haven't come out yet. It might go down soon. The 32G cards are supposed to come out by the end of the year, so we might see more price reduction at that time.
Click to expand...


Actually neither of these "factors" have anything to do with the price as neither of these are delivering products. When they are tangible working products maybe that would be an influence but not until. It is not a competitive product until it is competition.

The real reason that the 16GB carde is less expensive is the manufacturing method on the 4GB Chip memory is more efficient and the higher quality throughput is more consistant. Something that was never attained in the 8GB/2GB chip manufacture.

I had my hands on a 16GB card and a prototype 32GB yesterday, I was absolutely giddy. When I saw on the 32GB card that I could record in 24PN/720 for 85 minutes, it was just way cool. The 16GB registered at 40.

So for those of you that have not looked the software upgrade for the 16 GB is up on the download site. I find that by going to the HVX200 product page and look uder resources. For those of you that are using a PC and the P2 viewer, you will also want to upgrade the PCMCIA slot on the computer and the P2 viewer. For the Mack guys, upgrade your slot, and if you bought the Duel adapter, I have heard that by also installing the AJ-PCD20 driver, you will have an easier time of using the Duel.

Best,

Jan
 
Jan_Crittenden said:
So for those of you that have not looked the software upgrade for the 16 GB is up on the download site. I find that by going to the HVX200 product page and look uder resources. For those of you that are using a PC and the P2 viewer, you will also want to upgrade the PCMCIA slot on the computer and the P2 viewer.
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Hiya Jan,

Before I ask a question, I'd just like to say thanks for all the support you've provided to the forum.

I have a question regarding your post above. To run the 16gb cards [and future cards] are you saying we need to upgrade the actual hardware PCMCIA slot itself or just a software upgrade for it from the manufacturer?

I ask as my editing computer is a PC Laptop and the slot is built into it so a hardware upgrade I don't think is possible. I actually bought my laptop before I purchased my HVX200 to make sure that it would be compatible with the system so I'm keen to see my investment pay off.

If you can advise I'd be greatful !

Thanks again for everything that you do.

Majormorgan
[Richard]
 
Panasonic wouldn't drop the price of 8GB P2 until they actually start shipping 16GB because they want to make as much profit on 8GB who needs them right now.
I would imagine they will drop the price of 8GB cards after 16GB comes out and won't continue to produce 8GB.

SxS card only requires little more than 35mbps because that is what XDCAM requires.
P2 is so valuable because it lets you record at 100mbps, that is why P2 is so valuable.
I guess Panasonic has to keep the data rate high because they have to provide cameras for olympic which requires fast camera movement?

Anyway, HVX200, to me is a must have camera because my casts won't slow down.
 
Thanks for the info Jan. I wasn't aware that the updates would be required on my p2 driver for my lappy and p2 viewer as well.

God, that just... holding a 32gig p2 card in your hand... nice...

Jason
 
Thanks Barry, panic over... :) I think it was the 'upgrade your PCMCIA slot' that threw me, 'update your PCMCIA' wouldn't have threw me so much ! Thanks!

Konnichi wa Ito-san ! The 8gb cards have dropped in price in the UK already even though the 16's aren't out yet. This holds across Europe as well. The reason being for the drop is because the 16s are such an attractive offer, they are worth holding off for so it makes sense to sell off the old stock at a comparible price now.
You've gotta Admit that Panasonic deal fairly with prices and this is one way that they prove that. You are right, it would be easy to keep the 8gb prices high until the release, but they are smart and they do care about their userbase.

Can't wait til the 16s are out !

Majormorgan
 
Has anyone tried to dissect the P2 cards and replaced the SD memory with higher capacity? Eg open a 4 gb card, open remove the 4 x 1gb SD cards and replace them with either 2 or 4gb SD's??

Did it work??
 
jwl said:
Has anyone tried to dissect the P2 cards and replaced the SD memory with higher capacity? Eg open a 4 gb card, open remove the 4 x 1gb SD cards and replace them with either 2 or 4gb SD's??

Did it work??
Click to expand...

I can save you the effort. I will not work. The programming in the LSI is looking for the memory map of the chips that are known to it, by replacing the memory, it does not know that you have and it will simply ignore the rest of the memory you have put in there. Keep in mind that these are assembled in a "clean" room, sticky pad and all at the door.

Hope that helps,

Jan
 
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