Nexto di video storage

J

johnhizzle

Active member
I'm thinking about picking up one of these units to I can back up my MTS video files on my GH1, maybe the 500GB model. I don't really have the resources to get the pro model with the cool LCD screen. Would this be a good investment and does anyone have any experience with this product?
 
I have (and use) the Nexto NVS2500 (the one with the LCD screen). Here's a review I wrote a few months ago after using it on a shoot…



I'm not big on long-winded reviews with a bunch of data/testing, so I'll be brief here.

Last month, I had a chance to take the Nexto Video Storage Pro with me for a shoot in Costa Rica. (Thanks to Andy and Abel CineTech for getting it to me so quickly.) Filming took place on C.R.'s hot, rainy and humid east coast. We had two cameras, the Sony EX1 and Panasonic GH1, as well as Convergent Design's Nano Flash. Meaning not only was I shooting to Sony's SxS cards, but also SDHC cards (Hoodman) in the EX1, Compact Flash cards (the Nano Flash) and SDHC cards in the GH1.

A normal shooting day would begin at 5:30AM, shooting all morning before breaking for lunch, then shooting again from 2:00PM until dark (and beyond in some cases).

As the Nexto has SxS (ExpressCard), CF and SDHC slots, offloading was as simple as plug-and-play. Power the unit on, insert the card, verify that you want to begin copying, and it starts. SDHC and SxS seemed to be the fastest transfers, with CF a bit slower. But all transfers executed flawlessly with no issues. In all, I probably backed up almost 400GB of footage on the trip, without a single bad clip in the bunch.

There were times when I'd leave the Nexto copying unattended, and I'd return to find it switched off. The drive has an auto-off function, meaning once copying is finished, after a certain amount of time, it will shut itself off. Turning the unit back on will show a "copy succeeded" message, and asking if you want to verify the card contents. I only ran verification on every other card copied, and everything was perfectly fine.

An interesting note about power… One night, in the midst of offloading, the entire village lost power. I was working with the AC adapter plugged in, and the Nexto switched right over to the internal battery without missing a beat.

I also used the Nexto's screen to review clips occasionally. The only problem is that clip review works only with the SxS footage, not with either Nano Flash footage or GH1 footage. This wasn't really an issue for me, as I also had my laptop for footage review.

All in all, I would have absolutely no hesitation not only taking the Nexto on any shoot, but also relying on it's performance for offloading and backups.

It's expensive, but there are those who need what the Nexto can do. For them, as me, it's a bargain at any price.
 
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