FS700 Flash Memory Unit?

R

ReelFilmGeek

Well-known member
So I have the chance to buy a FS700 at a decent price but the sd card slot does not work. however the unit includes a 128gb flash memory unit for recording. Has anyone had experince shooting on the flash memory unit? Is it still worth getting the camera if it can only record trhough the flash unit and not sd cards (external recording also an option, but you can only get 10 bit or better out with the odyssey correct?).
 
Yes, the Flash unit doesn't give any visual benefits compared to recording on SD card.
The FMU128 was a waaaaaay over priced extension to the FS700 that I doubt many people used. If the SD slot is broken and you get the Flash memory cheap enough I guess it's rather convenient...
 
dmitrizigany said:
Yes, the Flash unit doesn't give any visual benefits compared to recording on SD card.
The FMU128 was a waaaaaay over priced extension to the FS700 that I doubt many people used. If the SD slot is broken and you get the Flash memory cheap enough I guess it's rather convenient...
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Well a 128 gb one would be included with the camera so i would have a source to store the data, and if its just as reliable without having an sd card slot I might jump on the deal, just the idea of buying a camera with a broken sd slot is not the best sounding idea haha.
 
Ok! Yeah, buying a camera with something broken is always scary!
i have never used the FMU128, but it seems to be deeply integrated into the camera system so my guess would be it's just as reliable, if not more so, as SD cards.
I would only buy a camera with something broken if it was a pretty damn good deal though...
 
Given that a brand new one only costs $4000, it's have to be a really good price to make me buy a used one that is not in full working order.
 
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Just keep in mind, and I know this is a random one, the beeping issue on the fs700/fs100
I was one of the unlucky ones that had this problem, and managed to solve it by experimenting with memory cards.
the flash unit caused the beep no matter what. If you are using the 7Q or whatever you will be fine, but would hate to see you get stuck-the link to the beeping issue is here:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...ith-my-FS100&p=2428788&viewfull=1#post2428788
 
I've had the FMU and used it almost since buying the camera two years ago. It's rock-solid. In the highest quality 1080 internal mode, you get like 11 hours of recording time, so that's nice. With a fully functional camera, you get the feature of being able to dual-roll internally on the camera. This is a very good feature to have, of course. I'm sure that the SD slot repair cost would be reasonable if you were to ship the camera back to Sony for a fix once you received it. It would almost definitely be less than the cost of the FMU drive itself were you to buy one new. I love that I can usually go multiple shoots without having to format the drive, too - peace of mind with one more backup maintained on hand.
 
Eric Darling said:
I've had the FMU and used it almost since buying the camera two years ago. It's rock-solid. In the highest quality 1080 internal mode, you get like 11 hours of recording time, so that's nice. With a fully functional camera, you get the feature of being able to dual-roll internally on the camera. This is a very good feature to have, of course. I'm sure that the SD slot repair cost would be reasonable if you were to ship the camera back to Sony for a fix once you received it. It would almost definitely be less than the cost of the FMU drive itself were you to buy one new. I love that I can usually go multiple shoots without having to format the drive, too - peace of mind with one more backup maintained on hand.
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I can't imagine trusting 11 hours of footage to a single piece of media! Scary. hahaha

Seeing how repairing a broken ND wheel is pretty much $1K USD, I would definitely enquire about repair cost (direct from Sony) before purchasing. Just my 2 cents
 
Well, you're otherwise trusting everything to a flimsy $60 piece of plastic with some metal contacts on it. Either way, it's going to take a leap of faith, don't you think? If you have a functioning SD card slot, you can dual-roll on the FS700. That's the safe bet, and the one that I take.
 
I work with 5 x fs700 professionally at production house. Twice the SD slot has broken, people try to put cards in backwards. Good News SD slot is easy to replace, also it is fairly cheap, around $150 i think. You need small screw driver and remove the small screws all around shell of fs700. You can call sony professional parts and ask for the sd card assembly.
 
yachacha said:
I work with 5 x fs700 professionally at production house. Twice the SD slot has broken, people try to put cards in backwards. Good News SD slot is easy to replace, also it is fairly cheap, around $150 i think. You need small screw driver and remove the small screws all around shell of fs700. You can call sony professional parts and ask for the sd card assembly.
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Aw thats good to know, though sadly I think I am going to go with the F3, getting a good deal on one so I'm saving a good portion of cash and since I wont have the q7 right now (nor will most of my current paid gigs require it) i'm only losing out on super slow motion (which is cool but again not required).
 
I like the FMU128 option. I bought one when I got my FS700 and NEX-EA50. It works on both. I appreciate the capacity as it saved me a few times when meetings/event went overtime by a lot and SDHC card filled up with no good time to switch cards. You get redundancy, which is always good. And it's built well. And if you're doing a job where you're handing off footage to PA to be dumped into a computer, you have a copy of the footage to look at when you're home.

I did a job at Mount Stratton, Vermont, last winter with really nasty weather and cold temps. A PA was constantly taking my footage away to dump into a computer. Other than the footage that got used in the final cut, I never would have been able to look at my work if not for the FMU128. Plus I had 4 days worth of footage with me in case they lost anything. The only thing was that the high-speed stuff was only saved on the SDHC card. I guess it can't write fast enough to both from the buffer so it just writes to whatever is set to be the primary recording device.
 
My main issue with the FMU128 was the extreme over price. Which might have been justified when it first came out, but by the time the FS700 and EA50 were released it should have been around a third tops of what it was...
 
sissond said:
I like the FMU128 option. I bought one when I got my FS700 and NEX-EA50. It works on both. I appreciate the capacity as it saved me a few times when meetings/event went overtime by a lot and SDHC card filled up with no good time to switch cards. You get redundancy, which is always good. And it's built well. And if you're doing a job where you're handing off footage to PA to be dumped into a computer, you have a copy of the footage to look at when you're home.

I did a job at Mount Stratton, Vermont, last winter with really nasty weather and cold temps. A PA was constantly taking my footage away to dump into a computer. Other than the footage that got used in the final cut, I never would have been able to look at my work if not for the FMU128. Plus I had 4 days worth of footage with me in case they lost anything. The only thing was that the high-speed stuff was only saved on the SDHC card. I guess it can't write fast enough to both from the buffer so it just writes to whatever is set to be the primary recording device.
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Oh wow didnt know high speed stuff wouldnt write to the flash unit. Glad I didn't jump on that fs700 then (went with a Sony F3 as I got one for a steal) Part of the reason for the fs700 over the F3 was high speed (and 4k but I wouldn't have a odyssey 7 for a while as most of my clients dont need it).
 
FS700 Card Help

FS700 Card Help

yachacha said:
I work with 5 x fs700 professionally at production house. Twice the SD slot has broken, people try to put cards in backwards. Good News SD slot is easy to replace, also it is fairly cheap, around $150 i think. You need small screw driver and remove the small screws all around shell of fs700. You can call sony professional parts and ask for the sd card assembly.
Click to expand...

Hi Yachacha, since you have the experience. I wanted to know what you thought of my situation. My camera when i have a flash card inserted it turns on for a second and as soon as it tries to read the card the shuts off and then starts again. I will stay in this loop until I pull either the battery or card. With out a card inserted it runs perfect. Would you think this is the card slot that needs replacement? Thanks
 
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