(Article) Field Production: P2 solid state vs. XDCAM disks

I dont want to deal with a camera they has a laser burning to spinning media, too many movable parts to screw up...end of story.
 
Correct. Data transfer rates are THE reason we got Pana's ( spx800's) instead of Xdcams. For ENG, speed is the only factor, and XDcam is a true disaster. Sony claims up to 5x realtime for SD. This is true if you have 1 long shot. The disk, like a dvd, n takes a dive, if you have a series of short clips( eg. 10sec shots) because the laser has to shuttle between the edge of the disk with the file-info and the actual data. Transfer was far BELOW 1x realtime in normal operation. This was a big no-no for us.

For Pana on the other hand, it made almost no difference to have 1 long shot or a series of short clips. Transfer rates were consistent at around 12x to 15x realtime SD. This is probably due to the USB-2.0 maxing out. At NAB Pana introduced the new P2 cardreader with a new Firewire-800 port, which should up the speed even more.
 
And you think the connection system used on P2 cards will be more reliable?
The 'no moving parts' statement is a myth, the P2 cards will be moved many, many times. That a huge number of electrical interconnections being made and broken many times every day of a shoot. Only one needs to fail and the card is gone.
THe BD XDCAM disks have a pretty decent history, so far they've survived ever horror thrown at them, from being frozen to immersed in salt water. Same goes for the Zip Rev disks used by Grass Valley. The other plus with both these systems is they don't need to be swapped so many times and they're both cheap enough to use only once.
 
Yeah I would have to go with the XDcam. P2 simply costs to much. XDcam is also a proven platform. Both can have problems but I need my master. Master to tape boo,but master to digital XDcam disc hooray. P2 is the weakest and strongest part of panasonics workflow. When 32gb cards come out under a grand then maybe. Thats 32 minutes in 1080p. I just backed up a 6 minute mini dv project to a dvd disc with project files and all. Can the sony XDcam be used as a XDcam backup burner? That would be the shizzle.

Did anybody read the Sony PDW-F350 XDCAM vs Varicam review in the Creativecow Magazine? It is an eye opener.
 
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sony has been trying to push the "dvd" camera for the longest time...2 hot swappable 8gig cards...sweet!
 
Nik Manning said:
Yeah I would have to go with the XDcam. P2 simply costs to much. XDcam is also a proven platform. Both can have problems but I need my master. Master to tape boo,but master to digital XDcam disc hooray. P2 is the weakest and strongest part of panasonics workflow. When 32gb cards come out under a grand then maybe. Thats 32 minutes in 1080p. I just backed up a 6 minute mini dv project to a dvd disc with project files and all. Can the sony XDcam be used as a XDcam backup burner? That would be the shizzle.

Did anybody read the Sony PDW-F350 XDCAM vs Varicam review in the Creativecow Magazine? It is an eye opener.
Click to expand...

Whether you keep your XDCAM disks archived or back up your P2 footage onto an external hard drive (or two, or three, etc.), its all the same. You're keeping digitized content on a physical item. The zeros and ones written onto a Blu-Ray disk or the disks of a hard drive aren't any different.
 
robroysyd said:
And you think the connection system used on P2 cards will be more reliable?
The 'no moving parts' statement is a myth, the P2 cards will be moved many, many times. That a huge number of electrical interconnections being made and broken many times every day of a shoot. Only one needs to fail and the card is gone.
THe BD XDCAM disks have a pretty decent history, so far they've survived ever horror thrown at them, from being frozen to immersed in salt water. Same goes for the Zip Rev disks used by Grass Valley. The other plus with both these systems is they don't need to be swapped so many times and they're both cheap enough to use only once.
Click to expand...

I'd be interested to see how the XDCAM handles recording while being shaken or knocked a couple of times, compared with the P2. Something tells me it might not fare as well (but hey, if it does, all the better!)
 
Before I went back out on my own we upgraded our Panasonic dv25-based dvcpro cameras to Sony XDcam....they worked flawlessly, were robust, and gave GREAT images.

I have nothing but good things to sat about them.

And unlike P2, it is easier to archive the recording media.
 
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