P2 Software & Snow Leopard

C

Carlos Corral

Well-known member
Hey guys,

I bought my HPX170 recently and love it. I registered at the Panasonic website and checked out all the software for my Panasonic workflow, but, I recently upgraded to Snow Leopard before purchasing my camera and noticed this on the website:

P2 driver software for Mac OS 10.4 & 10.5 are NOT compatible with the recent Mac OS X version 10.6 (SnowLeopard).

Any word on when Panasonic is coming out with the updated P2 Driver / Formatter for Mac?

I ask about this because I've just been transferring my P2 footage via the finder (drag and drop). I'm using the the P2 E Cards with my camera as a reader but the firewire transfer seems really slow. Would the Panasonic software speed up the process or is this normal?

Thanks!
 
the software shouldnt have much (if any) impact on transfer speed. if you are a dedicated mac guy, i say get you an older G4 powerbook with a dedicated pcmcia slot and an external drive to work from. use the laptop for field transfer (so your camera wont be inoperable each time you transfer a card) then connect that external drive to your desktop machine to work from
 
Yeah I figured as much. I may just get one of those windows laptops Barry suggested. I'll see if I can even find an old G4 laptop since those are hard to come by.
 
I'll see if I can even find an old G4 laptop since those are hard to come by.
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they are all over ebay and craigslist. even see them in pawn shops from time to time...
 
Well that brings me my other question, does anyone have an ETA on when Panasonic will support Snow Leopard with their P2 Software?
 
Carlos Corral said:
Yeah I figured as much. I may just get one of those windows laptops Barry suggested. I'll see if I can even find an old G4 laptop since those are hard to come by.
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Carlos, I just picked up a g4 laptop locally for $200 to use strickly for p2. For mac folks I think this is the best way to go. I've got a newer Mac laptop using the delicate Duel Adaptor but as a backup I also bought a pc for ingesting as recommended on this forum but it's been a royal pain to identify which windows system works with it, loading drivers and maintaining a different operating system. PC folks don't have a problem with the all the hassles because they think that's just the way life is supposed to be:)
 
Yeah the duel adapter is great if you have an expresscard slot until it stops working (which it will) but they seem to be pretty good about replacing them for free.

Yeah an old G4 laptop is a good idea...that's not much more than the price of the duel adapter.
 
Sneakle said:
Carlos, I just picked up a g4 laptop locally for $200 to use strickly for p2.
Click to expand...

$200? Everything around the Austin area is $400 and up. Maybe I'll try ebay. The whole reason I grabbed a 64Gb was to avoid field dumps. Shooting at 720p24pn gives 3 hours.
 
Powerbooks do work, but they are all getting very long in the tooth. Beware dead batteries and other issues; caveat emptor as those are all in their geriatric phase.

But not to fear... finally... PANASONIC GOT A CLUE! A genuine 1 slot reader is coming direct from Panasonic; check this thread:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=185071
 
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Carlos Corral said:
$200? Everything around the Austin area is $400 and up. Maybe I'll try ebay. The whole reason I grabbed a 64Gb was to avoid field dumps. Shooting at 720p24pn gives 3 hours.
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Carlos I bought mine from a local guy who saved a little hassle by not selling on ebay. I checked ebay closed auctions and lowest sells there were average of $275. I hate field dumps too so I bought another 32 gig card, but still need a dump strategy back at the house other than firewire.
 
Yeah I know what you mean. I'd hate bring my camera all the time just as a P2 Reader.

Thanks for the link Steve! Our prayers may have been answered for a single slot P2 Drive, even if we have to wait till spring of 2010 for it.
 
I really hope Panny's single slot reader they're developing is a simple stripped down version to keep the cost down. I don't need some crazy digital device with all kinds of functions. Hook in FW800 cord, put card in reader, import footage. Nothing else. I don't want this to cost $800 but more like $100-150, or less.
 
That's exactly what the PCD20 does. No functions, just plug it in and import footage. And it costs $2,000.

If Panasonic's developing it with FW800, don't expect it to cost much less than $2,000.

If it's going to be a lot less expensive, expect it to be ExpressCard.
 
I'm fine if its still an ExpressCard adapter. I have one of the older MacBook Pros that has the 3/4 slot so that would be great. Although, I upgraded to snow leopard on it already and I don't want to go backwards just for the old Duel Adapter.

I'm okay waiting for now to see want Panasonic does for 2010.
 
Barry_Green said:
That's exactly what the PCD20 does. No functions, just plug it in and import footage. And it costs $2,000.

If Panasonic's developing it with FW800, don't expect it to cost much less than $2,000.

If it's going to be a lot less expensive, expect it to be ExpressCard.
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ExpressCard is perfectly fine by me, and I would welcome that.
 
That's exactly what the PCD20 does. No functions, just plug it in and import footage. And it costs $2,000.
Click to expand...

i have been a supporter of the P2 pricing model since day 1
but $2000 for a simple reader? thats straight up extortionate!

especially given that its based on a very long in the tooth format...
 
Barry_Green said:
That's exactly what the PCD20 does. No functions, just plug it in and import footage. And it costs $2,000.

If Panasonic's developing it with FW800, don't expect it to cost much less than $2,000.

If it's going to be a lot less expensive, expect it to be ExpressCard.
Click to expand...

Is there a reason for this?

Because I don't remember FW licensing issues to be that expensive
 
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