FS7: Inaccurate remaining duration on cards

H

Hawk115

Member
While shooting yesterday, noticed that the time displayed in the viewfinder for the XQD card didn't match up with the actual amount of time being recorded. Was in XAVC-L 50, 1920x1080, 29.97 fps, using a Sony G Series XQD card (64 GB). Started at 143 minutes, and after a 17 minute interview, displayed 134 min. Continued to be inaccurate throughout the day.

No technical problems with footage, just wondering if this is a known bug / glitch with XAVC-L...?

Thanks.
 
The compression on XAVC-L is quite variable, and dependent on what you shoot so it makes sense that the time calculated is just an estimate. Actual results may vary.
 
Not only is it just an estimate, it also assumes the worst possible scenario for compression requirements so usually you'll get more time than is shown. I've never seen an instance where the estimate was too high and the card ran out earlier than expected. In fact I once recorded 5 hours of color bars on a 8GB card with my EX1 just to see how efficient the codec was with a simple subject.
 
Thanks Dennis and Doug. I didn't realize how variable the compression is on XAVC-L (and probably XAVC in general). It makes sense that the estimate was lower than the actual recorded time... these were sit-down interviews with a static camera. Lots of opportunity for compression... Good to know going forward.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top