SxS and EX1R: the ultimate way to save

abereut

abereut

Carbonite Member
After buying EX1R earlier this year, I realized that the major weakness of the workflow is recording media. With shocking price of SxS cards – even in "inexpensive" configuration – this is still not affordable for everyone. Even using MxR adapters and class 10 SDHC cards, the cost is pretty impressive. But what I saw on e-films australian site was e-HDR, the adapter–hard drive combo.
I found little cheeper implementation of this idea on eBay under the name of "sEXy Drive'. When this thing finally arrived ( from UK, it took almost 3 weeks!), I tried it, but just the card in conjunction with my own drive. To my surprise, not only EX1R recognized media, it formatted whole drive – 320 GB– giving me just over 18 hours of recording!.
I tried this for about 48 hours of recording, transferring, deleting, recording again, under- and over-cranking, without a single problem. So, that "sEXsy" adapter-drive combination does work. But, again, the price of 120 GB pounds… So, after a bit of researching I found and ordered the adapter itself. $7.99– this is three times less, than the shipping charge for sEXy drive alone.
Here are all of the DIY ingredients for working combo:

USB 2.0 to ExpressCard 34 54 Express Card Adapter BC268 (http://www.trait-tech.com/product/T-PCA-5057/) = $7.99
*Shipping from China may take longer, than from UK, but it is inexpensive.

USB 2.0 Device Cable (Left / Right Angle) RR-AR4TMBR1-12GL
(http://www.usbfirewire.com/Parts/rr-ar4tmbr1-xxg.html) = $13.50
* this cable while expensive, is very convenient,– short, with right–angle connectors, minimizing chances to damage cab;e/card/drive.

320GB 2.5" Hitachi Travelstar 7K500 7200RPM SATA 9.5mm Notebook Drive with 16MB Cache (HIT0A72333)
(http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Hitachi/0A72333/) = $59.99
*Not sure about other drives to use, but I can't see any restrictions, as long as characteristics of drives used are identical..

Acomdata USB 2.0 2.5-Inch SATA Hard Disk Enclosure HDEXXUP-240-BLK (Black)
(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00292BSFI)=$12.99
*Nice and stylish, the enclosure is self-powered (by the bus). I plan to get a simple shoe mount to attach to it later.
 
I don't know what USB type the EX offers, but the Travelstar 7K500 seems to be too power-hungry for USB 2.0:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus#Power
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/storage/display/25inch-500-640-750gb-hdd-roundup_17.html#sect0
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Hitachi/0A72333/

If it works then great, I hope it will not overload the USB port. I have several Hitachi external drives and I can only use them with the Y-cable, without this cable the drive sometimes does not start up and sometimes stops working. With the Y-cable it works just fine.
 
Well, the first part of your first sentence says it all... These of us who are concern about power usage can easily try SSD, but their price is still too high... The system I described just works. For little over 90 bucks one can have O V E R 1 8 H O U R S oh 1920i recording. I am just showing the inexpensive way to record .:)
 
Just bookmarked this thread, I've always thought about doing this. I've always worried the ex1r's sxs interface wouldn't prvide enough stable power, but you say it's working great? no errors at all with 60p overcrank?
 
No errors – although I didn't try overcranking for more than 5 minutes. As far as I see this, it greatly depends on e n c l o s u r e for the hard drive, its chip. The one I use works flawlessly. And again, when on important shot, one always should have a good SxS card inserted in other slot, so if something goes wrong – prosed with simple push of a button. Granted, the usage of external HD draws more power from camera battery, but at some circumstances, the external power source can be used.
 
Thank you very much for the info. I'll probably be ordering that enclosure and usb card soon! I will probably be picking up a slower 5400rpm drive. As in maximum overcrank mode the camera is only writing at 70mb/s, which is around a measly 7MB/s. The usb controller will max out way before a hard drive's write speed! Interested to see how this will work.

The main thing I am worried about is the movement of the camera effecting the hard drive. Any experience with that?
 
Last edited:
...I doubt the camera movement would effect the hard drive performance: you would avoid hitting the camera while recording on regular SxS anyway, and generally you would try to make camera movements smooth, wouldn't you? So, what difference makes a hard drive mounted to the shoe mont, right?
...As of picking 5400 drive... it might be worth a try, but personally I prefer a fast drive: remember, you will unplug it later from camera and plug into computer for transferring. You probably don't wont spend an extra hour or so on file transfer process. Also, according to my personal experience, slower drives are noisier. Unless you always using wireless, you don't want that hissing noise to be present on your audio track. When market price goes down, I'll try SSD.
...Also, you might choose using longer cable and keep HD, say, inside your funny pack, remembering about being bonded with camera all the time. I am just charing my personal experience here. I also realize that the fact of 320 GB HD being recognized by the camera is quite a miracle, since I was reading again and again about 80GB partition limit for media with EX1R. Is it latest undocumented Sony' improvement (I did firmware update, indeed), or enclosure chipset, or drive specs – I have no idea. This is why I described all "ingredients"so detailed. Change one of the components of this alchemy – who knows, what happens..
 
Interesting. I think I'll risk the slower drive for less power consumption, I want to be absolutely sure I'm not going to underpower anything or overdraw the cameras internal circuitry. It was not designed to be powering whole hard drives! The 5400rpm drives I have here in my laptop are more or less completely silent. I'll probably velcro the drive to the camera somewhere, or get a hotshoe mount like you suggested :)

I'd be getting the card and enclosure you mentioned, then western digitals "blue" drive, (the 5400rpm, silent, low power consumption model for smaller laptops)

I'll report back on how it works!

so it actually says 18 hours next to the card on the camera menu? that's awesome.
 
... for some reason Sony indicates remaining time in minutes. This is how it is presented on camera's screen:
screengrab.jpg

So,... yes, it gives o v e r 18 hours.
As of power consumption, Read / Write (W, avg.) for hitachi drive I use =1.8 V I really doubt it will damage anything...
 
Last edited:
That's so awesome.

Hmm, I think I'm gunna order the card and enclosure, and try out one of the 5400rpm drives I already have. If it works without a problem, I'll just buy another one of those. If there's any problems I'll pick up the drive you mentioned :) That is some pretty low wattage!
 
Last edited:
abereut said:
As of power consumption, Read / Write (W, avg.) for hitachi drive I use =1.8 V I really doubt it will damage anything...
Click to expand...
It is 1.8 W, not 1.8 V. Also, the highest power is usually drawn during startup (5.5 W), not during read/write. 5.5W is above USB 2.0 spec, but if it works then why not. Hopefully this will not overload the camera.

Isn't it funny that Sony allows to record onto Memory Stick, SDHC and even onto an arbitrary USB device, while Panasonic limits its users to P2 cards?

BTW, Sony offers (or at least offered) its own interpretation of such a device, it has onboard power supply:

phu-120k.jpg
 
Ahh I remember that thing. it wouldn't even let you overcrank! I remember a lot of users having trouble with it being unstable during recording
 
That is very nice picture you've posted, Drill Bit! I am glad you didn't spoil it with its price tag, which is (at B&H) well over $650. Add to this Sony's own battery, at $250+ and as a result of almost a grand get yourself 9 hours of recording time, that is more, than $100 per hour. That PHU-120R is a joke when you realize, that less than $94 can buy you 18+ hours, roughly at $5 per hour. Granted, this is the recording set-up not approved by Sony,(because you're not paying to Sony), and neither card I am using, nor the enclosure have that four-letter-word that cost so-o-o much. And– yes, that is wattage we're talking about, not voltage.
 
Tim Kay said:
(...)can you post pictures up of your completed rig...!
Click to expand...
- Sure, here are some pictures.
This is how i came together:
allrb.jpg


Here are some details:
cardslot.jpg

drivearea.jpg


Another interesting thing...
I was browsing forum (this one, I guess), when came across baseplate issues. And than, on one of two sites mentioned within that tread, I found absolutely amazing thing I "invented" a week prior to my discovery. At Westside AV Studios Online Store Site (http://www.westsideavstore.com/index.php?p=product&id=17&parent=0)! It was beautifully named as CineArm Bracket, the "Langerstrom Spesial". I am wondering, would anybody pay that guys $50 for the still bracket that runs $2.00 at Home Depot? This is how my invention looks:

armplate.jpg

15 minutes of sowing and drilling, bolt, rubber washer ( the thick one)...
... And (if you find something unusual on the first picture that raise a question)– the answer is "NO, SONY DON'T MAKE MONITORS OF THIS KIND" It is a LILLIPUT monitor. I was just getting tired answering questions by clients, wonderers, ordinary people about LILLIPUT brand. Old Umatic (dead both physically and mentally) was an"organ donor" :)
 
That's awesome, and the bracket is too. I got a Noga arm but it has a 3/8-16 bolt that only fits my "Norbert" bracket from K-Tek. A little thing that makes my unused tripod head hole useful is cool.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top