anyone actually using citidisk recorders?

R

Richard Sutcliffe

Well-known member
I have had a hunt around and found much talk about the citidisk recorders but no user reports.

Its just become available here in NZ, retails at $1100 USD and is 120GB capacity.

According to my suppliers it will record HD and SD, it records mxf data so presumably it will support all frame rates and functions but I would really like to hear from someone using one or who has further information on them.

thanks guys

richard sutcliffe
 
nuff said for you, but for others it may have some appeal.

to my knowledge, this is still unreleased in the US. It is, from what I've read, less sophisticated than the Firestore, and also less expensive.

But again I don't see it as yet released state side.
 
Can you please elaborate? The device automatically detects incoming DV/DVCPRO25/50 and DVCPROHD and records the stream to panasonics mxf files. What do you mean it doesnt stream HD?
 
Richard Sutcliffe said:
Can you please elaborate? The device automatically detects incoming DV/DVCPRO25/50 and DVCPROHD and records the stream to panasonics mxf files. What do you mean it doesnt stream HD?
Click to expand...


Actually, I don't think this is the case. Nowhere have I seen anyone official specifically claim this. All I've read is that it is compatible with the HVX, and that it records to MXF files. But nowhere does it say it does this in HD mode (you can have SD DV MXF files, remember).
 
CitiDisk HD is not shipping yet and I have not heard from the company lately to get any better notion of shipping date.

Ned Soltz
 
You may be right nsoltz, I was told itr ships at the end of the month, I assumed that was May, perhaps it was June. Looks as though it has been overlooked and underestimated? For the record, it records DVCPROHD/50/25 and DV, autromatically detects streams and stores as mxf files, comes in up to 120gb models, has a 90min rechargeable battery and an optional 3 hour add-on. Im told it is compatible as a fw drive with both mac and windows. It will retail here in NZ at $1500 so roughly half the cost of P2 cards?.. having not yet commited to P2 or firestore, Im tempeted to look at this if only so I can start working with the advanced capabilities of the camera without taking out another mortgage.
 
A little bird informed me of some things. I'm not expecting the CitiDisk to be very usable nor reliable. Having used the FS-100 for a week and a half now, I'd spend the extra money for the extra features on the FS-100. Like repair utilities in case the disk corrupts you footage, you still have a good chance at saving them. And up-coming features that will be upgrades to the FS-100 are making it really appealing to me.

I'd hold out for the CinePorter "IF" it lives up to it's advertising hype. But I have a project about to start and CinePorter won't be out in time.

I was using an FS-100 that had major problems. But they sent me a new unit and it works great. There are a small hand full of FS-100's out there with glitches. Focus is working hard to correct them. But the vast majority of the units out now are functioning just fine.

Having used an HDD recorder now, I'm not thrilled that the CinePorter will steal a P2 slot. Trust me, using HDD recorders, there WILL come a time when you need those P2 cards as back up! Not if, but when. And they better be there or you lose a shot! I'm talking live event shooting here.

The FS-100 is also supposed to auto dectect your cameras recording settings in a future update, also. Very nice.

Don't hold your breath for the CitiDisk to be all that. I'm going to wait and see what the CinePorter will actually do before I consider it.
 
I plan to contact these guys on Tuesday and see if they will let me come up to Cypress to talk to them.

One idea I had was to possibly buy two 80-gig CitiDisks, so I could swap them and have an extra device in case one breaks down. The cost would be similar to one FS-100, and the advantages are clear. The question I have is about the features and quality of the CitiDisk HD. Does it record 720p/24pn? Does it limit frame-rates in any way? Can it do time-lapse? Does it play nice with Premiere Pro? Apsect HD?
 
Tom:

Because the unit is to yet shipping, and I know of no beta testers, it's hard to say.

The obvious limitation is the pn issue
 
yes, but the FS-100 also has that limitation, and having two 80-gig CitiDisks would give you 160 gigs of swappable storage, which is a lot of record time, even without 24pn. My concern has more to do with understanding whether there are any limitations of frame-rates and formats I can shoot with using a CitiDisk, or FS-100 for that matter.

I have seen people on other forums say that the FS-100 has limitations on what frame-rates you can shoot, compared to P2 cards.
 
No device records native mode other than P2 cards. The HVX does not stream native mode out of firewire.

You can shoot any frame rate to the FS-100 that you can shoot to P2 except for native mode. But all that means is you must remove the pulldown in whatever NLE you use in order to edit in a 23.98 timeline. It is not a big deal.

But to repeat... there is no news on CitiDisk HD either official or unofficial. I will send them another email after Memorial Day since they promised me an eval unit at NAB.

Meanwhile, I did some shooting with FS-100 today and have heavy shooting all week with it. In some very light shooting today it performed wonderfully. I got it home, plugged it into the G5 and there was all of my footage with no more logging and capturing. I could spend my time making edit decisions rather than baby-sitting tape.

Ned Soltz
 
Ned:

Is the FS a little awkward to use?

Also, are there any ergonomic issues with the firewire cable?

Where do you mount the FS? Bottom of the cam?
 
The Firestore is awkward. Focus just sent me the on-camera mount but Jan (as well as Focus) told me that the camera would pick up the fan noise if mounted on-camera. Jan suggested the jimmybox (www.jimmybox.com) and I await the arrival of an eval of that gizmo. That seems like the best alternative and CinePorter as well is taking the approach of under-camera mounting. Today I just clipped it on the belt of my DVRIG Pro that I was using and had a long-enough firewire cable that it would not become so taut as to pull out.

It is definitely an awkward solution and I am concerned about hard disks and movement anyway. The best scenario would be massive solid state storage. We will get there in a few years. Just like the micro-drives were popular with digital cameras before large chip capacities and relatively low chip prices, so will we see a phase-out of hard drive solutions as capacities rise and costs decline.

Ned
 
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