A bigger P2 Store type of device now available

B

Barry_Green

Moderator
Nexto has come out with the NVS2500, a portable offloading device that acts pretty much like the Panasonic P2 Store used to. Many people have asked for a P2 Store type of device, but with a larger hard disk. Panasonic doesn't offer one, they offer the HPG20 instead with the ability to use any external hard disk.

But Nexto is offering an external hard disk/memory card reader unit that can directly read compactflash, SD, SDHC, and SxS/ExpressCards, and, with the use of an included P2->ExpressCard adapter, it can also read and offload P2 cards.

In a step forward from the P2 Store, the Nexto has a color LCD screen and can reportedly actually play back your copied P2 footage or photos, etc. I haven't used one so I can't say what exactly it does or doesn't handle, but that's what I've read.

The 2500 also has an eSATA connection for quick offloading to a computer (as well as USB 2.0 and FireWire ports).

You can get the NVS 2500 with various hard drive options, including a 250GB drive, a 500GB drive, or a 128GB Solid-State SSD drive.

Prices range from around $1800 to $2500. DVXUser sponsor Abel Cine Tech is a USA dealer for the device; here's a link to their offering of the SSD version.

Questions I have:
1) can it play back AVCHD footage on its screen?
2) can it play back AVC-Intra footage?
3) can it be used as a pass-thru slot reader?
 
BG,

According to the Nexto website, the NVS can be used to simultaneously back up cards to both the internal drive/ssd and to an external drive. I didn't see anything about bypassing the internal drive altogether, but I would think it's an option.

One of the things that make this device so appealing to me, and the way I shoot (long trips with limited power options), is that you can power the device with "AA" batteries through an external battery holder. That could be a pretty cool solution to shooting "off the grid."

-SM
 
Barry:

1) AVCHD will be supported in a firmware release in October (or sometime in the 4th Quarter).
2) It can playback AVC-Intra files, though it warns you before playing that it is 'preliminary support'. It plays but is very jumpy. Apparently the next firmware will improve this as well.
3) I'll check out the pass-through capability. Our demo unit is out with NFL films right now.

Stephen:

The NVS2500 has the ability to download to both an internal drive and a external drive at the same time, which is called Multi mode. They also have a Sync mode which can copy all the contents of the internal drive to an external drive. But at the moment there is no way to bypass the internal drive completely. I'll pass on this suggestion to the Nexto distributors.

Check out my video blog on the NVS2500 - http://blog.abelcine.com/2009/08/25/nexto-video-storage-pro-2/
 
Boy, at $2K, you have to wonder about whether this is going to sell.

Two 64GB E series cards run what? about the same price?
 
I know this product won't be for everybody, but I've already ordered one. Here's why…

A lot of shooting I do happens in places where either there's little or no power for a laptop, or in places where you don't want to take a laptop with you. (Think the Amazon rainforest.) The less gear with batteries I have to charge, the better. This product can be powered by AA batteries in an external pack, meaning I can shoot and offload as many times as I have camera batteries to handle, or power/solar to charge them.

Now, could I buy more cards? Sure. But if I travel with my EX1 and GH1, I have SxS and SD cards to deal with. Now I've also added the Convergent Nano Flash, meaning I'm shooting high bit-rate XDCAM HD 422 to Compact Flash Cards. So, instead of carrying more cards than I need in each format, I can carry a few of each, offload as needed and re-format. With the automated backup function, I also don't have to worry about having a laptop just to create a backup of my footage.

Again, is this workflow for everyone? Aboslutely not. But for me, and the way I work, I think it's going to be perfect. That is, as long as the Nexto does what it's supposed to do.

--SM
 
this seems like a nice little device. I really like the idea being able to back up on 2 hard drives (internal and external) without having to lug around a laptop.

Andy, if there's no way to bypass the internal drive, does this mean that even though you have a 1.5 Tb external drive connected to the NVS2500, you are limited to using a max. of 500Gb on it?
 
Cool item. Can't wait for it to be 80% cheaper in a few years. I think there is a desire for this in the consumer market for point & shoot digital cameras while people are on vacation. Although SD cards are getting so cheap these days you can almost archive on them for less than a roll of film.
 
Okay, so I just got back from a morning of testing with some new gear, including the Nexto NVS2500. This was my first "in the field" use of the Nexto, and with the help of Drew Ott, we shot as many flavors of solid-state as we could. We shot SxS with the EX1, Compact Flash with the EX1 and Convergent Designs Nano Flash, Compact Flash with the Canon 5DMkII, SDHC with the EX1 and Hoodman ExpressCard Adapter, and finally, SDHC with the Panasonic GH1.

I can't give you any hard timings on offload speed, but it certainly seemed far, far quicker than laptop offloading. Power on the device, insert a card, click OK and the card would start offloading.

After shooting, the drive connected flawlessly to my MacBook Pro via firewire, and all .mov files (from the 5D and Nano Flash) could easily be previewed via QuickTime Pro, and all flavors easily ingested via Log & Transfer in FCP.

The only drawback to the NVS at the moment is that the built-in Preview mode of the Nexto unit will not allow playback of 5D, GH1 or Nano Flash footage. Copy and verify functions work perfectly, but until a firmware upgrade is avaiable (soon, I hear), you won't be able to use the preview function with these flavors. SxS footage loads and previews perfectly, and though we had no P2 cards, I hear P2 footage works with the built-in preview just as well.

All in all, this is going to be a very handy device for location offloading, especially when working in a multi-format environment. For example, if your "A" camera is an EX1 or HPX170, but your "B" camera shoots to SD cards, it's easy to offload all of your footage to this one drive for later ingest and organization in your editor of choice.

Pretty cool.
 
UPDATE: Just re-copied about 1GB of SxS data to the Nexto device. Copy took about 11 seconds. Full verify took just under 2 minutes.
 
This thing seems wonderful ! I just still can't believe Panasonic still hasn't upgraded the P2Store. Down side is still the price ... cut it and it's mine !!!
 
Ok, here t is, I bought the thing, I'll test it on the field.

Furst test I ran gave this. 2min 21 sec for 7.3G of video. The video playback is working, but it's really dark, low resolution, and it seems like it's playing in 30P when I'm shooting in 24PN, resulting in showing the footage in hi speed.

Also the P2 to SxS adapter they use seems stronger, it still doesn't look that tuff.

when you plug the drive using Firewire on a pac using P2CMS, the drive is automatically recognized and mounts all the files correctly and import is working.

I'll run some more tests, so if you have any questions/ideas, don't hesitate.
I have a AG-HPX171E, so I can run tests for this baby, and so it can be applied to the HPX-170 as well.

Have fun !
 
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