Firestore Confusion....

I

Indy

Well-known member
Can anyone confirm that there is more than one verison of the portable firestore?

There's a Video magazine here in the UK that has a review for a "focusenhancement HDV Firestore" priced at between £520 and £800 dependent on the spec. On a recent trip to my local Panny dealer he quoted me just over £1500 for a Firestore. The only difference I could see was that the Panny one was black and had the DVCPro HD logo on it and the mag review Firestore was grey.

IF there are 2 versions then why is the Panny like twice the price of the other and more importantly I can justify £800 but not £1500 so could I use the non-panny verison?
Cheers

indy... going to China tomorrow!
 
Yea there is a firestore FS-4 PRO and FS-4 DV... Im not exactly sure but I dont believe they are compatable with the HVX..... Maybe someone with more experience can shed some light!
 
Indy is right; we pay for our HVX sins. As far as I know only the FS-100 Firestore supports HVX. The other versions support other cameras outputting to 1394.
 
There are more than one Firestore model, yes. The only one that works with the HVX-200 is the FS-100. The FS-4 series isn't compatable with DVCPRO-HD. The FS-100 cheapest price is probably B&H in the U.S. at $1899.95 USD.
 
BenB said:
The only one that works with the HVX-200 is the FS-100.
Click to expand...
I'd be supprised to learn that there was anything more than a bit of software between the HVX and non-HVX version!! well that and a greedy 'bean counter' with a "Well if they can bloody well afford a 4500UKP camera then they can bloody well afford the EXTRA 800UKP"

Indy.... in Shanghai, China
 
I suspect that the HD is bigger and faster. After all, DV and HDV only run at 25 mbps, while DVCProHD in 100 mbps.
But, yes I think there is a good (OR bad rather) bit of profiteering on the side.
Hard-up and fed-up HVX owner.
Dave
 
I've been using an FS-100 for several months now and love it. Reliable, durable, really nice piece of hardware. If a company doesn't turn a profit, they can't develop new hardware. I'm sure Panasonic and Sony and Canon could price thier products much cheaper, too, if they didn't need to make a profit.
 
The FS-100 is quite different to the FS-4 based FireStore models...it has totally different electronics. FS-100 has a much higher performance processor, 4 times the amount of SDRAM, a larger disk drive etc. FS-4 based models (FS-4, FS-4Pro HD, DR-HD100, FS-C)are not capable of recording DVCPRO 50 or DVCPRO HD.

Hope that helps,

Matt
 
just to clarify. the link above is to a FS-4 Pro HD model with a 100GB hard d rvie. This is NOT the same as the FS-100 model from Panasonic.

If you have the HVX200 camcorder, you MUST get teh FS-100 model. The FS-4 Pro HD will not support DVC Pro HD 100.

Gary
Videoguys.com
 
just to clarify...

The FS-100 is not "from Panasonic", it is "from" Focus Enhancements.

Aside from that, videoguys hit the nail on the head.

Ouch... forgot I was a nail, not a hammer...
 
I guess "from Panasonic" should be taken to mean that the FS-100 is only sold by authorized Panasonic dealers, per Focus' arrangement with Panasonic.

Ned Soltz
 
Only sold by authorized Focus dealers, which usually are Panasonic dealers, since a lot of that hardware goes hand in hand. Panasonic carries the FS-100 on their web site, but they don't regulate it or market it, that's totally up to Focus.
 
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