Dan Vance
DVXUser Sponsor
I have a CAPDIV FireWire Hard Drive recorder that I've used for several years now.
Though it's really handy and way better than tape, it has a problematic form factor. The ideal place for it is in the same plane as the viewfinder or monitor, so you can easily check to make sure you're really recording when you think you are. But it's built more like a rack-mount device, so it's short and deep, rather than tall and shallow, like, say, the Firestore. First I tried mounting it it different locations on the XL2:
...but it was awkward to operate and looked 'wrong.'
So I finally got around to making a new CAPDIV enclosure to orient the front panel perpendicular to the hard drive. To do this, I bought an off the shelf aluminum mini-box (LMB) that was 4" x 5" x 3" and cut its height down to 1.25". New box in foreground, original box in background:
The original CAPDIV size was 4" x 6" x 2". I wanted to minimize the size, and the 2" height left a lot of unused space.
I mounted the front panel/bezel on the top of the new box, leaving room to fasten my 5.6 LC monitor above it. Because of the new location of the front panel assembly, I had to get a longer flex-cable to connect the front panel to the main board. But this was an off-the-shelf part from DigiKey.com ($3).
The original CAPDIV enclosure was steel, so it was quite heavy, at 14 ounces (empty). The new hard drive assembly (without the monitor) weighs 13 ounces-- 1 ounce LESS than the EMPTY CAPDIV enclosure alone! Even with the monitor, the whole thing is not quite 2 pounds.
The next step was to fabricate a mount to attach it to the tripod plate I made for my XL2. This mount allows it to tilt and swivel over a wide range.
Next I will mount a 12V battery for the hard drive and monitor on the far side of the camera. This will balance the whole thing laterally.
Though it's really handy and way better than tape, it has a problematic form factor. The ideal place for it is in the same plane as the viewfinder or monitor, so you can easily check to make sure you're really recording when you think you are. But it's built more like a rack-mount device, so it's short and deep, rather than tall and shallow, like, say, the Firestore. First I tried mounting it it different locations on the XL2:
...but it was awkward to operate and looked 'wrong.'
So I finally got around to making a new CAPDIV enclosure to orient the front panel perpendicular to the hard drive. To do this, I bought an off the shelf aluminum mini-box (LMB) that was 4" x 5" x 3" and cut its height down to 1.25". New box in foreground, original box in background:
The original CAPDIV size was 4" x 6" x 2". I wanted to minimize the size, and the 2" height left a lot of unused space.
I mounted the front panel/bezel on the top of the new box, leaving room to fasten my 5.6 LC monitor above it. Because of the new location of the front panel assembly, I had to get a longer flex-cable to connect the front panel to the main board. But this was an off-the-shelf part from DigiKey.com ($3).
The original CAPDIV enclosure was steel, so it was quite heavy, at 14 ounces (empty). The new hard drive assembly (without the monitor) weighs 13 ounces-- 1 ounce LESS than the EMPTY CAPDIV enclosure alone! Even with the monitor, the whole thing is not quite 2 pounds.
The next step was to fabricate a mount to attach it to the tripod plate I made for my XL2. This mount allows it to tilt and swivel over a wide range.
Next I will mount a 12V battery for the hard drive and monitor on the far side of the camera. This will balance the whole thing laterally.
