Dana Kupper
Member
I have a MxR adapter that stopped working for some reason - if anyone wants it I could drop it in the mail for you. Let me know!
PMW EX1/3: Use cheap USB Hard Disk Drives up 168GB!
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GuyB
Well-known member
I have started writing this up into a new web page on http://www.xdcamexinfo.com. Its a work in progress.
I shot with this solution no problem. 3 hours of contineous recording, not a flintch out of it at all. So easy, I just kept recording I had so much capacity.
Anyway, check it out if you want:
http://www.xdcamexinfo.com/UxX
I shot with this solution no problem. 3 hours of contineous recording, not a flintch out of it at all. So easy, I just kept recording I had so much capacity.
Anyway, check it out if you want:
http://www.xdcamexinfo.com/UxX
Barry J. Anwender
Active member
Nice work Guy for documenting this and indeed it does work. The only caution I'd add when choosing a USB/SATA harddrive is to remember that as it fills up the data transfer rate is reduced to half. This must be a consideration for some SATA hard drives on the market which still have slower data transfer rates.
Solid State drives, particularly those using 1st and some 2nd generation controllers have some inherent issues such as power consumption, white space fragmentation and sputtering data transfers that would prevent them from being usable for video applications involving the the EX cameras. The SSD's just emerging into the market place seem to have corrected these issues.
Your main point is spot-on, SSD's are still expensive when compared to traditional hard drives, however they are much cheaper than Sony's SxS memory cards.
Solid State drives, particularly those using 1st and some 2nd generation controllers have some inherent issues such as power consumption, white space fragmentation and sputtering data transfers that would prevent them from being usable for video applications involving the the EX cameras. The SSD's just emerging into the market place seem to have corrected these issues.
Your main point is spot-on, SSD's are still expensive when compared to traditional hard drives, however they are much cheaper than Sony's SxS memory cards.
GuyB
Well-known member
In theory the drives only need to be able to sustain 4.5MBps write which is pretty low. In reality the camera does a write every 2 seconds which means it does a burst write of about 9MB (in HQ mode). Certainly that burst needs to be written within the 2 seconds before the next burst comes along, but what is not clear is what the acceptable time to the firmware is too write that 9MB. Can it be pushed out to near 2sec or does it cut of earlier with a media error? I'll have to experiment with some overcranking to see what it can tell us.
With my external hard drive, it takes about half a second to write that 9MB + whatever overheads there are (I did time it once, and will do that again to more accuraty note what is achieved).
With my external hard drive, it takes about half a second to write that 9MB + whatever overheads there are (I did time it once, and will do that again to more accuraty note what is achieved).
Here's another hottrodding idea I'd love to see implemented...
Get both slots to record the same file at the same time.
This would be great for instant back ups. Shooting to two cards simultaniously means you can record to 2 SDHC cards or you can record to one of these new HDD's and to an SxS or SDHC card at the same time.
Instant backup!!! Send one off to the edit and hang on to the other for safety.
Get both slots to record the same file at the same time.
This would be great for instant back ups. Shooting to two cards simultaniously means you can record to 2 SDHC cards or you can record to one of these new HDD's and to an SxS or SDHC card at the same time.
Instant backup!!! Send one off to the edit and hang on to the other for safety.
EIREHotspur
Well-known member
Thats a great idea....I am surprised they never implimented it as an option.
Maybe on the Ex5.
Maybe on the Ex5.
GuyB
Well-known member
Agreed, but that would take a firmware revision and may not even be possible if the writing hardware is somehow limited to interfacing with only one slot at a time. Not to mention if the USB limitation is such that it wouldn't have the bandwidth to write the 70Mbps reliably anyway (OC 24p only just makes 48fps sometimes, its borderline).
GuyB
Well-known member
It also shows the potential for developing internal PCI Express devices. In effect, all they need to do is not have the PCI Express interface pin connected and support connecting as a generic USB Mass strorage device. I wonder if any manufacture would take this knowledge and develop a half decent 80odd GB version of the likes of the Lexar SSD.
Harddisk not accepted
Harddisk not accepted
Hello !
I have built the interface and it is operating in a pc and in the ex3.
When I insert it, the camera searches an wants to format the drive ( it is preformated with FAT32 )
It starts to format and then says : Cannot format please change.
Can anybody help me ?
Thank you !
Harddisk not accepted
Hello !
I have built the interface and it is operating in a pc and in the ex3.
When I insert it, the camera searches an wants to format the drive ( it is preformated with FAT32 )
It starts to format and then says : Cannot format please change.
Can anybody help me ?
Thank you !
PaulTV
Member
I agree Guy, but I'm using both 64GB and 128's and I must say that 2 64's gives 8 hours of recording, which is fine, and also pretty good for the cost, as the 128's are pretty pricey,
Also, the 64's give a faster offload speed, all in all it works pretty well.
I've tried so many ways to cheat the partition size, preformatting the drive as FAT32 128gb, and the Sony says NO. Maybe it needs divisible partitions, more detailed and messy. I've tested putting the BPAV folder onto a FAT 32 large partition, doesn't work either - more fiddling to do yet.
Anyway, watch this space for a fab new piece of kit just around the corner!
Paul
Also, the 64's give a faster offload speed, all in all it works pretty well.
I've tried so many ways to cheat the partition size, preformatting the drive as FAT32 128gb, and the Sony says NO. Maybe it needs divisible partitions, more detailed and messy. I've tested putting the BPAV folder onto a FAT 32 large partition, doesn't work either - more fiddling to do yet.
Anyway, watch this space for a fab new piece of kit just around the corner!
Paul
Carl Marxx
Active member
SATA or BUST!
SATA or BUST!
Does anyone out ther have the SATA data cable pin-outs, there's gota be a way to get a SATA drive on to this camera?
SATA or BUST!
Does anyone out ther have the SATA data cable pin-outs, there's gota be a way to get a SATA drive on to this camera?
OK, I've got the final question. Who wants to build me a dual drive system? I have CASH (paypal) in hand. email me directly with how much you want for two systems (one for each slot) shipped.
I have an EX3 and I don't know anything about soldering. I was about to buy sony's external system, but these seem like the way to go. And Sony already got $8G from me for the camera.
damon
Damonwill@yahoo.com
I have an EX3 and I don't know anything about soldering. I was about to buy sony's external system, but these seem like the way to go. And Sony already got $8G from me for the camera.
damon
Damonwill@yahoo.com