Cineporter 2 info up at Spec-comm

I

icicle22

Well-known member
For anyone who didn't get to see the images of the Cineporter P2 device being developed by Specialized Communications, there are a few images over on their site.

http://www.spec-comm.com/cineporter.php

Intereseting to say the least. Not a lot of new info but at least I got to see how they plan on mounting it to the HVX. Can anyone tell how you would mount this on a tripod with the Cineporter on the bottom of the HVX?
 
Hmm, interesting.

Mounting would be easy....the device has a plate that would attach to the camera, notice the sloted insert, and one on the bottom that would attach to the tripod head.
 
Nice... VERY nice... Maybe this can finally put an end to all the "HVX can't be used to shoot weddings in HD because I'd have to buy, like, 15 P2 cards..." crap. Here you have it, folks. FOUR HOURS of 1080/24p DVCProHD, or almost 10 HOURS in 720/24p.

****ALMOST 10 HOURS NONSTOP RECORDING 720/24p!****

I want it right now.

Please?

Also, I like that it uses a P2 slot, and not the flimsy 4-pin firewire plug. That thing makes me nervous.

I wonder how much it'll cost. If it's anywhere under $2000, I think it'll kill Firestore sales. But only if the quality and reliability are excellent. Otherwise, they'll suffer the fate of the Quickstream. Firestore products apparently have a great track record. Let's just hope that the Cineporter can claim the same level of reliability, because this looks like an awesome product!
 
I like the capacity, but not the design. Now you have to mount your tripod to that puppy? The hand held feel is going to be different...

Have to wait and see. I give them credit for jumping on it (you go Tonto)...
FD
 
When I was shooting with the DVX100 I always liked to have my heavy steel tripod plate mounted to the bottom to add weight. It really helped stabilize the handheld shots for me so I don't mind this on the bottom of the camera.

However I do get a little concerned about the spinning of the drive. Have you ever felt a 7200 RPM 3.5 inch hard drive in you hand when it is spinning? The inertia of the drive causes it to want to pitch left and right or up and down as you change the orientation. There is a lot of energy being displaced. Hope this is not an issue here.
 
well. i imagine hand held shots would stick to P2...but for stick or dolly shots, should work fine.
 
Well has anyone used the firestore with DV devices? Was there any issues with inertia created from the drive spinning? Or maybe it was kept on a belt clip so it wouldn't effect the camera. I seem to recall photos with it being mounted on the cameras shoe with an adapter so that is why I ask. Maybe this is a non issue.

I would be looking at this as an alternative to P2 and not as a compliment to it. although it could easily work for both.
 
Well I thought shock mounted meant it was protected against external movements. Meaning the drive will run smooth and consistantly regardless of the external motions.......

It will probably not be an issue but I was referring to the momentum generated by a spinning drive. If you hold a 7200 drive in your hands while it is spinning and try to tip it against the rotation you will feel a strange resistance. If you try to tip it with the rotation then it almost tips for you. It feels really strange and almost seems to defy physics although it's not. But I could see potential of when you are tilting the camera or doing "dutch" angles to feel the drive work against you or with you.
 
vibration and heat

vibration and heat

there are also vibration and heat issues when mounting a hard drive to a "handheld" videocam although this camera is quickly becoming a non-handheld for those who don't want to spend $2000 for 8 gigs.
 
Now THAT's what I'm talking about! Finally. Anyone know about the possible release date? As far as the gyroscopic forces go, that's a pretty major concern. I wonder how long the P2 cable is, for possible belt mounting. Although even so, if you've ever held a spinning 7200 RPM drive, it seems it could create quite a tug on your belt when it spins up/down. I guess someone on here could gaffers tape a fw drive to the bottom of their dvx while it's spinning and let us know if the gyro helps or hurts... just for the sake of science.

Oh yeah, and the vibration of the heads when they access the platters, that could potentially get picked up by the mic and also mess with the steadyshot.
 
Hmm.. this could be interesting on a Steadicam.
...on occasion special Gyros are mounted to a Steadicam to provide additional stability on a couple of axises. They can be a blessing, but also a curse at times. Having a camera that acts like a gyro will be interesting.
Thoughts pookie?

- Mikko
 
Judging by the hard drive sizes they are offering, I'm guessing they are going to use 1 or 2 2.5" drives in that thing. Probably 2 drives in raid 0 althugh maybe 1 drive is fast enough? Vibration/heat/power use/Gyro effect would be much less of an issue with 2.5" drives.
 
I think if you have two drives and put one drive into the pack upside-down and you put the other drive normally, the gyro effect will be nulled out because the disks will spin in reverse direction relative to each others.
 
I imagine the weight of this will be a problem - taking away dramatically from the beauty of using the compact and lightweight hvx200. The battery plus possibly 2x 2.5" drives shockmounted.... can't imagine it will be a featherweight BUT if it is I may just have to buy it!
 
Neat idea.

So, I guess the advantage over a Firestore is P2-like features such as variable framerate playback from the camera interface, etc. ?

This could easily be mounted onto rods support with the appropriate hardware... like the Firestore mount from Zacuto-Rentals.com.
 
Barra said:
I imagine the weight of this will be a problem - taking away dramatically from the beauty of using the compact and lightweight hvx200. The battery plus possibly 2x 2.5" drives shockmounted.... can't imagine it will be a featherweight BUT if it is I may just have to buy it!
Click to expand...

I don't think the HVX200 is really particularly compact. It's quite a bit bigger than the DVX100... I think the HVX looks pretty dumpy, so I don't think adding this unit underneath is necessarily going to take away from the "portability" of the camera.

I would speculate that it's going to weigh at least 800g (including the battery) which is 1.76 pounds. [Battery 250g; HDs 100g(x2); Logic Board & Components 100g; Case 250g]
 
You could always go back to shooting with a 25 lb BetaCam.
I use to be 6'2", after 20 years with a BetaCam on my shoulder
I am now 5'8"
 
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