Got my P2 store in 24 hours....that was fast.

Green Hornet

Green Hornet

Veteran
I ordered my P2 store yesterday, and it is here today, thanks to Specialized.
Who needs overnight when UPS ground delivers like that?


When opening the box.....damn, I feel raped!
Just one P2 store (smaller than I thought....which is good)
No power supply, no battery, no usb cable to connect to computer, and my wallet is $1,612.20 lighter.

I never thought I would buy this, but for me, it is necessary.
I need to be able to work as a one man show if I have to (don't like to).

The first things I start to wonder are:

1) What means of power will I buy for this thing ( don't like to use batteries, as I may need them for camera use.)

2) Got to get another usb cable ( another $25 dollars, for the price, panasonic could have thrown one in)

3). Has anyone tried upgrading the hard drive?

4) What really blows is you can't just get a 7.9 volt power pack to charge the battery (that you also will have to buy) because they put the power plug input right where the battery would go.

.....and I paid $1612.20 for this?
 
Hey Green Hornet,

I too just ordered a P2 store, got it from the guys over at VTP. Im going to be shooting in the field come next week and my 12" PB doesnt have a PCMCIA slot.

I got a few questions for you regarding the P2store:

1) Mounting options: are there any? Is there any way to secure it to a shoulder support (cavision dual handgrip has extra standard 1/4" thread)? Any threads on the bottom of the unit, or any suggestion for the use of a bracket?

2) It uses the regular DVX/HVX battery, correct?

3) Have you tested its run-time per battery charge cycle?

4)... does it look sexy next to your HVX???
 
1) No real way to mount it, no loop holes, no screw holes, or taps, it is ridged/grooved like a heat sink, so no way to mount velcro either. The size is about the size of a carton of cigarettes cut in half...length wise.

Maybe stick it in a shoulder bag.

2) Yes it uses the regualar battery.

3) have not tested the run time, but would imagine it to be longer than camera run time. No moving parts that I could hear or see.

4) Yes it looks cool, but not $1,612.20 cool. More like $800 cool.
 
Rhydon,

I shot with a rental P2 store last week and should be getting mine shortly. There are no mounting solutions on the drive and if there were, I wouldn't recommend using them. The drive really likes to be stationary when writing, mounting it to the camera or wearing it on a belt pack seems like a recipe for trouble.

I used it with the battery that came with the camera while powering the camera via the AC adapter. The battery lasted through copying 30 gigs of data off the cards and then lasted through transferring that same data to my laptop twice. So after copying effectively 90 gigs worth of data and being on for over 8 hours, the battery still had about half a charge.

It's a great little unit, works well, and is a heckofalot easier to deal with than transfering to a laptop, especially if you are working alone. If you are doing a lot of "running" in your run and gun shooting, then it might not be up to the challenge.

Hope that helps,
filmstox
 
Thanks Green Hornet and Filmstox. I appreciate the indepth view.

The only reason i wanted to mount it was, like it has been said, its ideal for a one man shoot. I will be doing mostly run'n'gun shooting comming up on the 13th and i need a way to bring the P2 store around with me everywhere i go. I dont mind sitting it on a table or holding it while sitting down (80% of footage will be shot outdoors) while i am operating it. The only thing i worry about is where do i put it while im filming?

Filmstox, how did you deal with the portability of the P2store?

Edit: Or i should say, how WOULD you go about deal with the portability of the P2store on outdoor locations?
 
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Simple question I hope someone can answer:
Is the P2 Store used for recording directly to the hard drive, or is it used to offload footage already stored on your P2 cards? It seems that if it's not designed for movement, or being attached to the camera, that it's intended to simply be a resevoir to store your footage, until you can get to a bigger hard drive back in the studio.
Is this correct?
 
k2director said:
Simple question I hope someone can answer:
Is the P2 Store used for recording directly to the hard drive, or is it used to offload footage already stored on your P2 cards? It seems that if it's not designed for movement, or being attached to the camera, that it's intended to simply be a resevoir to store your footage, until you can get to a bigger hard drive back in the studio.
Is this correct?
Click to expand...


Yes that is correct. It is used as a medium for "backup". Meaning you only have 2 P2 cards but need to shoot 140 mins of 24PN HD using those 2 cards. The P2 store makes it possible to accomplish that while in the field, without heading back to your editing suite. Its simply a "resevior" device as you put it.
 
1st post! :kali:

Why not just buy a Firestore for that much money? 1700 for 80 gigs and you dont need P2 cards right?
 
Trademark said:
1st post! :kali:

Why not just buy a Firestore for that much money? 1700 for 80 gigs and you dont need P2 cards right?
Click to expand...

yeah.. but you cant buy one yet.
 
I also have a P2 store on order... After today experience, I love P2 Card, but a firestore would surely help.

I was asked by relative to film their wedding, and I feel the constant switching of P2 Card into the P2 Store just to be very annoying. I am not sure what I will do. I also hoped the p2 store to have belt clip or something, but from what I heard I guess it doesn't... Well I am really not sure anymore :/
 
Thanks to all for the info! I just got my HVX today, with a single 8 gig P2 card. Clearly I'm going to need an in-the-field storage plan, and am trying to consider all options.
 
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