Radically Less Expensive p2 Cards Announced

I can't wait for 5 years to pass and all the people who are shouting "HURRAY" will be bitching that they have to replace all their P2 cards.
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If someone cant afford another $988 64GB P2 card in 5 years (and that's without memory prices going down) then thehy must not be doing something right business wise. They're talking about filling it up daily for 5 years. If you do that then you should be more than willing to buy more P2 cards because obviously the investment worked.
 
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Certain types of memory have a limit to the read write cycle. It doesn't mean that the card will die in 5 years just that after a point they start to develop errors.

Daily use means to me 8 hours. Multiply that by 365*5 and you get 14600 hours. Just a guess but it will take a while to wear one out at that rate...
 
Comstock1 said:
Jan from Panasonic answered this on another thread. There is no time limit on the card. It has a "use" limit. I think she said the magic number is 1825 which is once a day for five years. The card will begin to warn you at some point before it shuts down that you are approaching the use cap on the card.

All that aside, will P2 still even be a favored format in five years? I think the five year limit is a total non issue for 99% of people who will actually be using them.
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I'm not a fan of a technology enforced time limit. Even though (as you say), it is unlikely that most people will hit the limit anytime soon, I'd rather the card just warn me that it is at the limit rather than stop working. I'd rather relegate the old, over-limit card to test shots or non-critical applications than just throw it away.

The enforced limit reminds me of the HP inkjet cartridges that stop working after the expiration date even if there's ink left...

Still, for what I do I may still buy a couple just for the price savings.

Wonder how this will effect the value of used standard P2 cards?
 
my fear is that the stated 5year life span might also translate to less day to day stability - it may not. i may be totally full of crap. but really the existing P2 pricing hasnt hurt my work load at all. so i hope they will continue producing the existing format cards as well...
 
I appreciate Panasonic attempting to find a solution for the fairly pricey P2 cards. I have three P2 cameras and was an early adopter of the system - some of my cards will soon enough be coming up on the five year mark. Do I use them 365 days a year - no - but I do use them multiple times a day very often and maintain a heavy shooting schedule.
I would hate to think my original p2 card purchases were nearing a possible sunset date - they aren't so I don't have to worry. P2 is such a rock solid recording system. I would hate to compromise my shoot on recording media that one day might not perform.
Its too early to tell how well the "E" series cards will work, but at least there is a new option. Memory prices will continue to fall and maybe it is a smart play for the short term. Panasonic has trumped its rival Sony in the pro market. They have been right up till this point, so maybe this is simply another success for the P2 system.
Looking forward to hearing everyone's experiences with these new cards.
 
200Mb/s is a lot... I worry about archiving? Well being that optical discs are 1000% safe for ever and ever, ow much AVC Ultra will we be able to archive using dual layer blue rays?
 
You know, this new card product is almost Machiavellian in nature. With the cheaper prices, 'A' type cards will disappear. Mandated wear out schemes will force users to replace cards on a regular basis .. I'll wake up now,
 
Yea, I wuz just trying to use DUAL and BLUE RAY for jokes. :)

Yea... 200Mb/s 4:4:4 projects might deserve LOTs anyway!

I am very exited about this AVC Ultra thing... as in I am hoping that HPX170's will drop in price! But I am not so sure about that... they'll probably bring in that 170-looking camera somewhere at about ~$6,250... is there any info on pricing on Barry's or other threads that I missed?

Dick Campbell said:
You know, this new card product is almost Machiavellian in nature. With the cheaper prices, 'A' type cards will disappear. Mandated wear out schemes will force users to replace cards on a regular basis .. I'll wake up now,
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Its been said before, but let me be more clear... there is NO solid state memory based product that will die on you before it becomes obsolete. 5 years means 6-8 years. In less than 80% of it's life you will have the opportunity to buy a card at least twice its size at less than half the price.. give or take... all hypothetical random numbers that I am throwing out... but you won't see anyone post saying that I am completely off base... maybe a little of, someone might believe they are off by quite a bit, but none will disclaim the reasoning.
 
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jeez guys, slow down and read. It's not a time based expiration, it's a useage based expiration. Just like a rechargebale battery, you can't keep recharging it forever.

Even memory in solid state drives don't last. that's why the have writing schemes that make sure each block get's written on before it uses a block that's already be written on again. it does this repeatedly, that's why there are still issues with ssd drives slowing down after awhile.

If panasonic is using cheaper memory cells then they won't last as long. Even the P2 cards we have now won't last forever. If you FILL UP the card EVERY SINGLE DAY for 5 years then it will wear out from USE, not time...

:-)
 
this is big -- more TV shows...even reality hows will be utilizing the solid P2 workflow.

and i'll be picking up a few extra cards for sure!!
glad i waited -- almost bought a used 32 GB card for mucho cabbage!
 
Good news for Panasonic users, and a good move by Panasonic. I read where Sony is dropping SxS prices on their larger cards, but this price point by Pansonic for a 64 GB sounds like it'll beat the SxS price. Sorta steals a little of the thunder Sony had on media price (not so much the file size of the card, but the record times).

In a coupla years these cards will probably be the price of a Starbucks venti skinny-boy decaf latte no-foam.
 
USLatin said:
Its been said before, but let me be more clear... there is NO solid state memory based product that will die on you before it becomes obsolete.
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Absolutely.

To put that in perspective - P2 was introduced about 5 years ago, at which point a 4gb card was priced at $1700.

How many people are still shooting on 4GB cards?
And if given the option - how many people would even WANT to shoot on 4gb cards?

Today we're looking at the potential of a card that is 16 TIMES larger in capacity for what will possibly be roughly HALF the price. So... looking at history, what do you think we'll be dealing with 5 years from now? The shorter 'lifespan' of the cards should be a total non issue for the vast majority of DVXuser members. Odds are the cards will be seen as close to obsolete before they even get close to reachign the end of their life.

This new series of cards, and the lower price, is nothing but good news from where I"m standing.
 
Luis Caffesse said:
Today we're looking at the potential of a card that is 16 TIMES larger in capacity for what will possibly be roughly HALF the price. So... looking at history, what do you think we'll be dealing with 5 years from now?
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A 1TB card for $499. Damn, is that correct?

64gb x16 = 1024gb. Yep, now cut the price in half and it's $499! :thumbup:
 
Who has'nt paid for their 8GB cards yet? Imagine how quickly you would pay for your new E Series 32GB card. By year 2 you should be buying 256GB!!! at least. 5 years is loooong time in technology. By that time we'll just use our built in wi-fi to stream to a centralised solid state server while the jobs being edited in 4 D! P2 will be in the broadcast hall of fame as that first solid state recording medium! Someone will say " I still have an E series card!" I don't think Panasonic will design the card to self destruct, it might just warn you that the maximum re-writes have been reached and it's time to buy a new camcorder!
 
ShootDC said:
I appreciate Panasonic attempting to find a solution for the fairly pricey P2 cards. I have three P2 cameras and was an early adopter of the system - some of my cards will soon enough be coming up on the five year mark. Do I use them 365 days a year - no - but I do use them multiple times a day very often and maintain a heavy shooting schedule.
I would hate to think my original p2 card purchases were nearing a possible sunset date - they aren't so I don't have to worry. P2 is such a rock solid recording system. I would hate to compromise my shoot on recording media that one day might not perform.
Its too early to tell how well the "E" series cards will work, but at least there is a new option. Memory prices will continue to fall and maybe it is a smart play for the short term. Panasonic has trumped its rival Sony in the pro market. They have been right up till this point, so maybe this is simply another success for the P2 system.
Looking forward to hearing everyone's experiences with these new cards.
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Well I think this will help people that need cards. Either their first cards or more cards. (I need some I've been using a FS-100 or renting cards.) Then after a while if they're making money they can by some of the other cards that hopefully will have come down in price and not have the five year limit?:huh::):huh:
 
That's pretty great news from Panasonic, I'm glad I went down the P2 road. I sure as hell don't fill all of my A-series cards daily, so the price tag is more than welcome! 32Gb E-series cards for 3/4th the price of a 16Gb A-series? I'm all-in!:beer:

Now, my guess is that people who were whining about the price issue will instead whine about durability! Foo! :costumed-smiley-047
 
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