Getting a FireStore FS-100

K

Kugar13

Well-known member
Hey guys/gals

I'm thinking about getting a Panasonic FireStore FS-100 160gb hard drive to use with my DVX100a. Does anyone have any experience with them? If so, any advice or wisdom you'd like to share before I make my purchase?

I'd like to know what the professionals think of it before I invest. :laugh:

Thx :dankk2:
 
I have 2 FS-100 100GB drives that I bought with my camera a few years back. I only used them for about a year before I was fed up. They are very nice in that they can hold a lot of footage, but I hated dealing with its size on set, having to set it up all the time, charging them, etc. Also, bumping them around in any way could and did erase clips that were being recorded. Finally, on one shoot, one the firestores misrecorded the audio for an entire scene and I was done. I've been shooting on my 2 16GB cards ever since, and since nearly all of my work is in narrative short films, there is normally enough time and resources to dump them as we are shooting IF we ever fill them (which we normally do not, thanks to those wonderful things called rehearsals).

Of course, everyone's needs, opinions, and experiences are different. This is just my 2 cents ;)
 
I have an FS-4 with an 80 GB drive, which I use with my DVX100B. It's great when it records correctly. However, as Sean noted, files can easily become corrupt or lost. Anything of importance must be recorded with tape as backup. For what they charge for these units, the file failure rate is totally unacceptable. Perhaps someone who has replaced the factory hard drive with a solid state one can comment on differences, if any.

I have not found the physical unit cumbersome to manage. It can be clipped to your belt or attached to a clamp (or anything) with a standard 1/4 screw mount.
 
ouch!

ouch!

WOW, I'm not so sure I want one now....
I had no idea you could loose footage that easily. That is VERY discouraging.

Is there a better alternative for the DVX line of camcorders?


Thanks guys!
 
I just sent this to Focus support:

Thanks for attempting to send me the missing cable. However, you sent me a 3-foot 6-pin to 4-pin firewire cable, not the missing 1 foot 6-pin to 4 pin firewire cable. Please send me the missing 1-foot cable. In addition, I'd like you to know that a thread about Firestore file failures now exists at dvxuser: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=179931. Perhaps you can pipe in. I, for one, would like some answers as to why my $800 bought an FS-4 HD which fails more than 10% of the time.

Let's see what develops.
 
wow

wow

Wow! Very assertive of you sir! Bravo!

I hope this leads to some feedback satisfying our inqury.

Anyone think the loss of footage/damaged footage is direct result to the FireStore moving and/or being bumped during the shoot? If this is the only cause of error I may purchase one.
 
I wanted to talk to chinematographers (DP) about their experiences with the firestore. Shouldn't this section be fine under those circumstances?
 
Kugar13 said:
Anyone think the loss of footage/damaged footage is direct result to the FireStore moving and/or being bumped during the shoot?
Click to expand...

That could very well be. However, there is also the audio problem, which happened to me once. And, there is no error message or sound when files become corrupt. The only way to know it recorded safely is to play back files, which can be done when the DVX is in VCR mode. To add insult to injury, there are disk and clip repair utilities which have done nothing to assist me.

But yes, not moving or bumping the unit should increase the success rate. So why does it come with a belt clip?
 
My first experience using the Firestore was a nightmare (lost audio and corrupted files, despite a lot of testing on my end ahead of time).

You can probably find the thread with a search, if you want more info about my personal trials. You'll find people here or there who will defend the device, but while I'm glad it worked for them, I've encountered more than a few professionals since then who won't touch it.

I thought I read somewhere else that the company that makes it filed for bankruptcy. Don't know if that's true, and/or if they emerged from it. My experience with their customer service, anyway, was also bad.
 
I guess I shouldn't be too disappointed about saving myself a $900-1000 purchase. Dang, I so wanted for it to be all I had hoped.

Thanks guys!
 
I received this reply:

[FONT=&quot]Jordan,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I apologize you were sent the wrong cable. I will have a 1 foot 6pin to 4pin firewire cable sent out today. Corrupted clips on our DTE recorders are generally caused by loose or bad firewire cables. I recommend to any customer who is experiencing corrupted clips to try taping down their firewire cables so they do not come loose, usually this solves the problem.[/FONT]
 
jordandov said:
I received this reply:

[FONT=&quot]Jordan,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I apologize you were sent the wrong cable. I will have a 1 foot 6pin to 4pin firewire cable sent out today. Corrupted clips on our DTE recorders are generally caused by loose or bad firewire cables. I recommend to any customer who is experiencing corrupted clips to try taping down their firewire cables so they do not come loose, usually this solves the problem.[/FONT]
Click to expand...

A feasible explanation. Do you think it to be true? Too bad the firewire ports don’t have a locking mechanism built in like most XLR ports.
 
The problem is that the firestores use a spinning hard drive. The slightest vibration, jolt, bump, etc. can cause a hiccup which ruins your day. Thats why the video industry is starting to move towards solid state... no moving parts means that you can smack your solid state recorder around as much youd like (within reason) without having to worry about losing your clips.
 
Kugar13 said:
A feasible explanation. Do you think it to be true? Too bad the firewire ports don’t have a locking mechanism built in like most XLR ports.
Click to expand...


I'll find out. In the meantime, I'll wonder why they haven't designed a simple clip to keep the cable from jostling, instead of telling their customers to tape it. Inexcusable.
 
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