You probably don't need another .02 worth, but in my opinion the P2 cards are the best thing about the Panasonic cameras (I own two, a 200 and a 500).
I have 5 16g cards that I bought 3 years ago (4 came with the original HPX500 package)- they more than paid for themselves in the first 2 months. and I will continue to use them until I get a non-Panasonic camera, then they will still have value used.
I would have shot several hundreds of tapes by now, and let's say I was using Sony Digital master tapes, that would be thousands of dollars.. Even with drug store DV tapes (bad idea) it would be considerable,
Admittedly you do need to back all the files up on hard drives.. get a Voyager (about $140) and buy 10 or so 750g drives and a little plastic drawer system from Orchard Supply for storage and you're covered for quite a while, even if you double back up (good idea).
As for off-loading, you can always use the camera - it's not like with tape where you're creating wear on the heads - there is no wear... In my case, as a Mac guy, I bought an old used Powerbook, replaced the boot drive and have been using it to off-load tapes exclusively (it does have internet access as well, which comes in handy on the road).
P2 cards are very robust, powerful things that have a terrific reputation for reliability...
It's like in the old film-shooting days - trying to save money on film was a bad place to economize - that's true here as well.
I have 5 16g cards that I bought 3 years ago (4 came with the original HPX500 package)- they more than paid for themselves in the first 2 months. and I will continue to use them until I get a non-Panasonic camera, then they will still have value used.
I would have shot several hundreds of tapes by now, and let's say I was using Sony Digital master tapes, that would be thousands of dollars.. Even with drug store DV tapes (bad idea) it would be considerable,
Admittedly you do need to back all the files up on hard drives.. get a Voyager (about $140) and buy 10 or so 750g drives and a little plastic drawer system from Orchard Supply for storage and you're covered for quite a while, even if you double back up (good idea).
As for off-loading, you can always use the camera - it's not like with tape where you're creating wear on the heads - there is no wear... In my case, as a Mac guy, I bought an old used Powerbook, replaced the boot drive and have been using it to off-load tapes exclusively (it does have internet access as well, which comes in handy on the road).
P2 cards are very robust, powerful things that have a terrific reputation for reliability...
It's like in the old film-shooting days - trying to save money on film was a bad place to economize - that's true here as well.
