Questions from a new guy

R

Rustyb99

New member
Hey everybody,
I am new to the forum. I have been reading around the forum trying to soak up as much information about the HVX as possible. I plan on buying one in the next month or two when I get the money together. I am looking to buy from either the marketplace here, or maybe from B & H, or Spec-Comm. I will decide when I finally have the money together. I do have a few questions though. I am still trying to decide on whether or not to go with P2 or firestore. The thing for me with the P2 is the expense right now and having just started out working in New York in production I am not always booked every week so the cash flow isn't completely steady and the firestore has a lot more space for the same price as a 32gb card. I wouldn't totally rule out P2 cards cause of the convenience on set, especially from the latest show I have been on where they are shooting on the HVX. The guys from the camera department on this show were the ones to convince me to go for the HVX instead of the Canon A1 like i was planning on. I am just wondering what peoples opinions are about the 2. I plan on buying a pelican hard case, and am still unsure about whether or not I want to buy a soft bag as well. And another thing I am unsure about is what type of tripod I should buy.

That's all I have for now. And I am positive I will be back with more questions once I have my camera. Thank you guys, and I apoligize if this is repetitive.

-Mike
 
Hey Mike,

Unfortunately I can't speak from very much field experience since I don't get to get out on as many shoots as I would like but that is because we are taking care of people who are, so we get to see what people want and we usually get good feedback to give to the manufacturers.

When it comes to P2 vs. FS-100, it's a close fight. In my personal opinion I would choose P2 but there are a lot of shooters that like the Dollar per GB ratio you get with the FS-100. If you are careful with your equipment and treat your firewire port on your camera very well then I would say that the FS-100 would be the way to go mainly by looking at your circumstances. I'm sure that some other users will chime in to give their experiences. But in the end, it's your choice.

The Kata CC-195 has been the most popular Soft Bag and the Manfrotto 503HDV,351MVB2K kit has been the top seller for HVX200 clients.

While you're saving up some money, I can get you a couple of mouse pads and the Iditarod DVD (which rocks by the way) so you can drool over the HVX for a while. :)

PM me your mailing info so I can get those in the mail for you.

Best regards,

Andrew Hoffman
 
Hello, I am going to tell you about P2 vs FS100. I have been using the a Firestore for over a year now. The easiest way for me is to list pros and cons then I will elaborate a bit on the different ones.

FireStore Pros:

>Quick import, don't have to wait, just connect to the computer move over and you are done.

Thats about it. :-)

Cons:

>Device freezes all the time (I own TWO and it happens to both!) and the best part about this one is that you won't notice it until you look at the drive because if you look at the camera it shows as if it is still recording (Canon A1).
>Devise tends to skip frames. Example: I record some weddings and lets say I film them walking down the aisle and out of no where they disappear and reappear 5 feet down the aisle. Obvious skipped frames.
>Battery life is horrid. I had to buy a battery pack which weighs a ton just to keep it powered the 6 hours I need it for. (I KNOW they have new batteries but still I am sure they do not last six hours maybe 2 hours at most and they are probably not cheap)
>The clip system they have to clip to your belt breaks so you end up having to invent something to hold the drive.(unless you put it on your camera)

Over all, I am looking at selling both my Canon A1's and my drives so I can switch to the panasonic P2 system. By no means is the P2 system cheaper but I believe in the long run it will save me lot of headaches and back pain(from carrying the batteries for the FireStores).

my 2 cents. i am sure others will chime in.
 
ooo yes and not to mention all the cables you have running everywhere the firewire for the drive and the cable from the battery to the drive. doesn't sound like much but its a pain when you have to be moving around and the cables being caught on tables, chairs etc..
 
Firestore was the worst purchase I ever made.

It kind of worked for 3 shoots, and then died completely after that.

First shoot, it kept switching to 720/24p when I would be shooting 720/24pn. Thus, half my footage was almost useless.

Second shoot, it skipped and stopped recording everytime the base hit at a concert. I thought I taped about 2 hours, and it turned out to be about 40 minutes lol.

Third shoot, it completely died after shooting a timelapse maxxing out the hard drive.
 
Eric Papa said:
Firestore was the worst purchase I ever made.
Second shoot, it skipped and stopped recording everytime the base hit at a concert. I thought I taped about 2 hours, and it turned out to be about 40 minutes lol.
Click to expand...


OOO I can't believe I forgot to mention the base thing. Lets just put it this way, if you go ANYWHERE with even a boom box playing loud music, just throw the drive in your bag and forget about using it. WASTE OF MONEY! Save yourself the money and headache and save so you can go solid state. Thats what I am doing and I can't wait.
 
p2 = complete solid state, no moving parts.
firestore = mobile hard drive. moving parts.

firestore def has most potential to fail on you compared to p2. not like p2 hasn't, but its incredibly rare.

firestore will let you shoot all day and not have to worry about swapping or dumping.

p2 compacities are doubling every year...

firestore is harder for a more run and gun shoot. ie. if your literally running around with your camera for a chase scene or whatever. it will "tie you down" more.

so obviously i'm a bigger fan of p2.
 
JaviBUSA08 said:
OOO I can't believe I forgot to mention the base thing. Lets just put it this way, if you go ANYWHERE with even a boom box playing loud music, just throw the drive in your bag and forget about using it. WASTE OF MONEY! Save yourself the money and headache and save so you can go solid state. Thats what I am doing and I can't wait.
Click to expand...

Yeah, at the concert, the crowd got out of control and the whole place rioted (which did actually get recorded) but I told them the unit got damaged by the crowd, and some of the footage was correupted and missing... (they probably would have slapped me if I told them my $1900 digital recording hard drive didn't work around music lol)

I did get my money back after owning it for 2 months - full refund - on the terms it was advertised as a 'Panasonic product' and not a 3rd party focus enhancements product. It wasn't easy, but no way was I getting stuck with that thing.
 
In response to JAVIBUSA08:

I didnt know you could use an fs-100 with the Cannons. I have two FS-100s used with HX+VX200's and have never in 11/2 years had even a single dropped frame or freeze up problem. As stated P2 and Fs-100 has their strong suits.

I use my stuff in rough environments (motor sports) and knock on wood never a problem. I also only shoot (for work) 1080p and 720p. As a side note I also have several FS1's we use with Sonys and no problem there either.

Nava
 
i have an fs100 thats never once failed me. BUT i also have p2 cards for the times when fs100 isnt suitable - like crowded rock shows...
 
Don't forget also that the FS's reliability is also susceptible to vibration (which can screw up its operation). So depending on your needs, that may be a consideration.
 
you are one of the lucky ones then. FireStore makes a different model for the canons its call FSC. I know another coworker of mines has the exact same problems with the drives.
rpmnava said:
In response to JAVIBUSA08:

I didnt know you could use an fs-100 with the Cannons. I have two FS-100s used with HX+VX200's and have never in 11/2 years had even a single dropped frame or freeze up problem. As stated P2 and Fs-100 has their strong suits.

I use my stuff in rough environments (motor sports) and knock on wood never a problem. I also only shoot (for work) 1080p and 720p. As a side note I also have several FS1's we use with Sonys and no problem there either.

Nava
Click to expand...
 
Thank you guys for all your comments. I think I will go with P2 cards instead of the firestore. If I'm going to spend that much money i want it to be reliable
 
One thing that has been strangely and glaringly overlooked in this thread is that the Firestore makes lots of NOISE! Unless all you folks have been working on MOS shoots, your Firestore's have been causing problems for the other 50% of the shoot: sound. Imagine a discussion of production sound recorders that omitted that one of the devices shone bright lights onto the talent, making CGI in post necessary!

SFX
 
Exactly! And at least I am glad that my experience can help someone else out. P2 ALL THE WAY!:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Rustyb99 said:
Thank you guys for all your comments. I think I will go with P2 cards instead of the firestore. If I'm going to spend that much money i want it to be reliable
Click to expand...
 
i agree about the P2's being better suited than the Firestore.

One quick note from my experience. If $$ is tight, don't get a single 32 P2, get (2) matching size P2s. I have (3) 16GB P2s and almost never use the Firestore. You want to be able to switch them out while recording and a off loading.
 
One thing that has been strangely and glaringly overlooked in this thread is that the Firestore makes lots of NOISE!
Click to expand...

okay, let's be realistic here. they do make SOME noise but NOT a LOT of noise. and unless you have it shoed in ON your camera and you're using the onboard mic, (neither of which i'd personally EVER do anyway) youre NOT going to hear it - unless youre using an omnidirectional mic and shooting a poetry reading or funeral in a bank valut.

if i had to choose P2 OR firestore, id definitely choose p2. but they both have their uses. i like the advice about matching sizes. only because the offloading times will be the same so you dont end up over shooting the offload time every other switchout.

i say buy two 16gig cards and rent or borrow a firestore if you ever have a shoot where you KNOW you will have single takes over 30 min.
 
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