Calling a lot of camera owners! Sony/Panasonic/Canon/etc

T

tby

New member
***Update*** Canon did some tests for me. The only camera that fits the bill is the HF G20. Success!

I wasn't sure where to put this thread since it is related to more than one brand of camera, so please feel free to move this is necessary.

I work for a company that creates thousands of product videos each year and we are expanding our production. We are looking to purchase another 12 cameras over the course of the year but are finding it difficult to find the proper solution for our needs.

Currently we have about a dozen Canon HF G10 camcorders which have been doing a fine job. Our workflow from camera to network storage is where we are running into problems. Our current process is the following:

Shoot throughout the day (single camera setups and multi-cam studio setups). Once finished, the cameras are plugged in via USB and AC power to their respective computer. We have a piece of software which will CUT/PASTE the files from the camera to the local computer and name the file appropriately. It repeats this process until the camcorder is empty. Overnight the files are moved from the local computer to our server where our editors can access the files and get to editing.

The problem is that the HF G10 is no longer in production. My initial camera purchase was the newer version in that line...the HF G30. The camera itself is great but we ran into an issue with access permissions. When plugged in via USB, the camera is locked to read-only mode at a hardware level. I checked this by loading DISKPART on win7 and getting info by using the 'DET DIS' command. When pulled up, the camera shows 'current read-only state:yes' which to my understanding means the camera is locked to read-only at a hardware level.

The question: If you own any of the following cameras, could you check if the camera is locked to read-only? It would help us avoid purchasing camera after camera to find one that is not. I have contacted manufacturers but they don't seem to help or even have access to the cameras to check...so I figured I'd come to those who have cameras.

Canon:
XA20 - Current read-only state: Yes
XA25 - Current read-only state: Yes
XF100 - Current read-only state: Yes
XF105 - Current read-only state: Yes
HF G30 - Current read-only state: Yes
HF G20 - Current read-only state: No
HF G10 - Current read-only state: No

Panasonic:
HMC40 -
AC90 - Current read-only state: Yes
HMC-150 -
AC130A -
X920 -
AG-AC160A - Current read-only state: No

Sony: Sony tech stated none of their cameras would do what I'm looking for. (Kinda skeptical but he didn't seem interested in testing any of them)


To check...follow these steps:
1 - Start > Run > type in 'DISKPART' and open as admin
2 - Type 'LIS DIS' and return.
3 - Then 'SEL DIS #' (whichever number the camera is) and return.
4 - Finally, 'DET DIS' and it will give you the info about your camera.

The line in question is 'Current read-only state:' -- if it says NO, then it is a camera we can use. If it is 'Yes' -- then it is locked to read-only.

Any help would be much appreciated!
 
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Checked the AC90, it says "YES" - read-only.

Don't have an AC130A, but I do have an AF100, which I believe is running the same or extraordinarily similar hardware and firmware. It comes up "NO" -- not read-only. Can't guarantee that the AC130A will perform the same, but I would be inclined to bet that it will.
 
Thanks Barry - I figured I'd have a better chance coming to the forums :) Also just to clarify, "current read-only state:" is what you are referring to? There are two different read only lines when you check.

I know it is a really odd problem to have but it works well for us. I don't think my boss will like the idea of cameras that are 2x the cost of what we've been buying but...cost of business right? :)
 
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Is there a reason you don't buy used or refurbished G10s for now? Canon sells refurbs pretty cheap on their web shop when they are in stock. They seem to have just gone out of stock during their current sale though. They were down to around $550. Seems a number of sellers on Amazon and eBay have them too for a couple hundred more. Probably flipping ones bought from Canon's web shop.
 
CF01 said:
Is there a reason you don't buy used or refurbished G10s for now? Canon sells refurbs pretty cheap on their web shop when they are in stock. They seem to have just gone out of stock during their current sale though. They were down to around $550. Seems a number of sellers on Amazon and eBay have them too for a couple hundred more. Probably flipping ones bought from Canon's web shop.
Click to expand...

It has been a thought but we also realize that we may not always be able to buy them. We might be able to get a few right now but what about 6 months from now? or 9 months? I feel that this is a song and dance we will have to go through eventually so may as well get it over with. That and (personally) I'd rather put money into newer cameras if possible. But it may come down to what works the way we need it to.
 
You might want to add the Canon G20 to your list of cameras to test. It came out just a few months before the G30. It is a slight update to the G10.
 
CF01 said:
You might want to add the Canon G20 to your list of cameras to test. It came out just a few months before the G30. It is a slight update to the G10.
Click to expand...

Thanks -- I assumed it had come out much earlier. I have to guess that if it came out around the time of the G30/XA20/XA25 that it won't work for us but certainly worth looking into. I'll add it to the list!

I was contacted by a Sony senior tech and after exchanging a few emails, he basically said no Sony cameras would allow us to do what we are asking. So I guess that takes Sony out of the picture for now.
 
Tby: This is interesting. "We have a piece of software which will CUT/PASTE the files from the camera to the local computer and name the file appropriately. It repeats this process until the camcorder is empty".

On my 160A you dock the camera, highlight SD1 or SD2 manually - the camera puts up a menu and you click on "PC". The computer now sees the drive and you then copy the entire structure to a new directory. Inputting meta data at clips probably would allow you to browse the copied directories and see what each relates to.

Would you be happy with a piece of software that

a) detects a new drive becoming available
b) auto-copies the entire content of the SD card to a new directory
c) erases the files on the SD card

then, in the morning, someone simply unplugs the cameras?

Step (c) is the key step because I understand it's a no-no to erase SD card content via the computer (I always disconnect the USB, then start up the camera and manually go and erase the clips).

If erasing SD card content could be done from the PC, step (c) would be possible and most of what you want to do would be automated if I understand properly what you are trying to do.

A problem does exist however if you have content on the other SD card - that means processing one SD, then manually processing the other.

We may be able to help you - I own a software company that handles enterprise software processing - we have applications where 100 healthcare clinics upload all of their patient data each day. The hosting organization built up 120,000,000 transactions over a year and the entire process is automated.

Call me at 450 458 5601 to chat. I warn in advance custom software is expensive when the market size is one customer.

Maybe others have similar problems that some combination of software and hardware might be able to solve.
 
kwkeirstead said:
Would you be happy with a piece of software that

a) detects a new drive becoming available
b) auto-copies the entire content of the SD card to a new directory
c) erases the files on the SD card
Click to expand...

Our in house guys would have done this I believe, but the files cannot be deleted when hooked up to a PC (at least based on what they looked into quickly). I just checked with the HF G30 and it doesn't allow deleting at all on the mounted volume. I suppose you could have windows format the drive entirely but the SD card would need to be re-initialized/formatted by the camera each morning.

I understand we could simply remove the SD cards and pop them into SD card readers to resolve this issue but my boss would like to avoid the step all together. Mostly because we have so many cameras in use each day and that number is growing rapidly (currently 14, soon to be 17 and probably 24-26 within the next 9 months).
 
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