SDHC card + Adapter = NOT WORTH IT IF YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL

Hoodman RAW cards are the only ones with a perfect track record. They claim no failures in the field. I don't know about that, but RAW cards are built with more care than Sandisk. But yes, I plan on getting 2 32 gig SxS as soon as I can. Keep the adapters for home movies, or as a last resort on a long shoot that runs down all your cards.
 
Sorry to hear this happened to you...:(
Not to be impolite , but this is why I am still using 4 8gig SXS cards instead of cheaper options...

My condolences...
 
lahoozaa said:
... BUT, if you are a professional, doing professional shoots, the SDHC adapter combo is SIMPLY NOT WORTH IT, PERIOD. I don't care if 99.999% of the time it works. I fell under that .0001%, and it sucks ass, I just don't want anyone else to have the same fate.

I am personally NEVER going to use the MxR SDHC combo ever again, it's VERY VERY reliable, but (I have over 700 hours logged on my EX1) NOT RELIABLE ENOUGH. I'm sure most of you who are true professionals already exclusively using SxS cards will be like, "told you you so," and that's fine. I deserve it. I just want people to know that the cheap alternative however awesome and cheap it may be, once again, is not the way to go. Don't have the same fate as me..
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I think this is one reason most people do multi camera shoots (and for any high end work, data redundancy) and on non-live events review the footage to make sure a re-shoot is not needed before moving to the next shoot/location. Even without a data loss there is now way to tell what you have until you review the footage on at least a laptop.

One camera will always be an "all your eggs in one basket" scenario whether it be data failure, broken camera, stolen camera, bad/no exposure or whatever, unless you review, confirm & backup what you have while on the shoot. Granted, for live, one time events the only backup is usually multi-camera redundancy because there is no way to re-shoot the event anyway.
 
Robert Ruffo said:
A Nano Flash recorder would seem to me to be the best way to be safe, and always have 2 copies while recording.
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A NanoFlash on the EX1 combined with KxS or SxS offers three copies of the data. Redundant CF cards plus the low-bitrate version being recorded in the camera. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If I was making my living from shooting video, especially with live events, there is no WAY I'd shoot with a single camera. But if put in that scenario, I'd certainly be using a Nanoflash or other redundant recording mechanism. For the price, it's really unbeatable.

One thing I would LOVE to see sony do in firmware, is the offer redundant recording in-camera. Insert 2 cards, and the camera writes to both simultaneously. With 32GB cards, that's nearly 2 hours of ininterrupted recording with redundancy. And unlike my current scenario, it would be at 35Mbps instead of having to do HDV like I do now so I can run to card and Firestore.
 
PerroneFord said:
A NanoFlash on the EX1 combined with KxS or SxS offers three copies of the data. Redundant CF cards plus the low-bitrate version being recorded in the camera. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If I was making my living from shooting video, especially with live events, there is no WAY I'd shoot with a single camera. But if put in that scenario, I'd certainly be using a Nanoflash or other redundant recording mechanism. For the price, it's really unbeatable.

One thing I would LOVE to see sony do in firmware, is the offer redundant recording in-camera. Insert 2 cards, and the camera writes to both simultaneously. With 32GB cards, that's nearly 2 hours of ininterrupted recording with redundancy. And unlike my current scenario, it would be at 35Mbps instead of having to do HDV like I do now so I can run to card and Firestore.
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Thats the one update that is needed for Ex1 and Ex3 cameras....ability to write to both card slots would eliminate fears about media.
I am sure there are some of us who would actually pay for it although why should we.

It is the most commen sense update they should be working on.
 
EIREHotspur said:
Thats the one update that is needed for Ex1 and Ex3 cameras....ability to write to both card slots would eliminate fears about media.
I am sure there are some of us who would actually pay for it although why should we.

It is the most commen sense update they should be working on.
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I know Sony reads the forums too and probably already thought of redundant recording using the 2 slots already, but I'll make sure on Monday to remind the product manager about this issue.
 
EC Junior said:
I know Sony reads the forums too and probably already thought of redundant recording using the 2 slots already, but I'll make sure on Monday to remind the product manager about this issue.
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Thank you VERY much. That would put a LOT of owners' minds at ease if we could get that one.

You know the other thing? A definitive in-out on the screen. I would have paid extra to have a preview screen that had a definitive line between what was in and out of the shot. Something as simple as a .85 magnification in the LCD with the out area shaded 50% gray. I was reminded of this yesterday when I had to shoot a 4-up at a press conference table, then shoot 1-shots while they were all seated. Trying to make sure of what was in the shoot (boom mic, adjacent person) was a big guessing game.
 
Chadfish said:
Hoodman RAW cards are the only ones with a perfect track record. They claim no failures in the field. I don't know about that, but RAW cards are built with more care than Sandisk. But yes, I plan on getting 2 32 gig SxS as soon as I can. Keep the adapters for home movies, or as a last resort on a long shoot that runs down all your cards.
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I had a Hoodman card stop recording with a media error a month ago.

I also have had MxR based failures around card slot switches.

Basically, I am in the same camp is the OP. These secondary recording workarouds via SD cards are not reliable enough.

I just took delivery of a second Nanoflash as this will be my sole recording medium going forward.

The cost of a Nanoflash is the same as a decent amount of SxS and the options are a better investment.

Plus if you move away from the EX in the future or rent a nice camera, you can still have high bitrate recording for whatever you are shooting with.

I see the problem as the SD cards are just hobbled by the camera design. Plain and simple. Sony has a proprietary history and the EX series is no different.
 
Bassman2003 said:
I had a Hoodman card stop recording with a media error a month ago.

I also have had MxR based failures around card slot switches.

Basically, I am in the same camp is the OP. These secondary recording workarouds via SD cards are not reliable enough.

I just took delivery of a second Nanoflash as this will be my sole recording medium going forward.

The cost of a Nanoflash is the same as a decent amount of SxS and the options are a better investment.

Plus if you move away from the EX in the future or rent a nice camera, you can still have high bitrate recording for whatever you are shooting with.

I see the problem as the SD cards are just hobbled by the camera design. Plain and simple. Sony has a proprietary history and the EX series is no different.
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Good points....but it could be worse...we could be stuck with P".

Will be interesting to see how you get on with the nanoflash.
What specs do you get with it?
No media error messages with that so no?

I am all for stumping up money for something that works flawlessly and is futureproof so maybe it is the way to go.

Now of we could just get even higher capacity batteries for the Ex3.
 
I don't see why you wouldn't shoot to SDHC as well as the nano. No capture mechanism is perfect and who is to say your CF card is more reliable than your SD card. Record to both and then if one fails, you have the other...
 
GuyB said:
I don't see why you wouldn't shoot to SDHC as well as the nano. No capture mechanism is perfect and who is to say your CF card is more reliable than your SD card. Record to both and then if one fails, you have the other...
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Well my concern with ever using the SDHC recording is when you get a "media error" message, the camera sort of goes in lockdown. I don't know if this would interrupt the SDI feed or not. I would have re-create the error and see but if you were in a long form situation this might be a mess.
 
Just a note: if you use the fire-wire to a separate recorder, you have the option to do dual recording, the down side is you must use the (sq) or HDV format. I can record up to 4 1/2 hours straight with a M-184 tape on my Sony RM-25u recorder which has a built-in monitor. This is perfect for conventions when you shoot lectures. And as I said, it can be recorded at the same time to on SD cards for editing or backup. As for high quality mode, you must take caution with these memory chip cards as to not bend them and to take care when you insert any card or adapter into the camera. Too, I always allow time when I switch from camera to media or media to camera to allow the electronics in the camera itself to shut down and stabilize. Try turning your home computer off and on rapidly 4 or 5 times and see how well you can find and hold the boot sector. It's possible the booting sector or DIR directory in the SD card got corrupted when you turned the camera on in another location, the video is still there, but the card can't retrieve it. It is always a good practice to format these SD card before you reuse them to allow the sectors to write in sequence and not randomly on recording; the time needed to find a new sector to write on a hard drive slows down the access time and in the case of memory chips, it is limited. Also, always first take a test by shooting 7 sec. of video on a new chip when inserted. and play it back to see the image and hear the sound. There's been many time I've forgotten to change the mic. setting on a the camera in a new shoot, and surprise! -- there's no sound. So always test before you shoot on any media! We are professionals here, and this should be a SOP. Never assume anything, and as the saying goes: to assume is to do nothing more that to make an "ASS (out of) U (and) ME!" -- CARL
 
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