Bob Fagan
Well-known member
I have a couple of FS-4 Firestores and while I've been waiting for the FS100, I thought it might serve as a good battery powered firewire HD to dump the P2 cards. For $700, it's a bit expensive for 40 gigs of space, but it's a valid repurposing since I haven't touched my DVX100 since the arrival of the HVX. 
Just for information purposes, this is how I do it...
1) turn on the Firestore...put it into Hard Drive mode
2) connect the firewire cable between the HVX and the FS-4 but make sure it's connected through the COMPUTER firewire port, not the DV i/O port.
3) Turn the HVX200 power on.
4) Hit Menu>Other Functions>1394 Host mode.
5) Press menu button twice to release menu mode
6) press MCR button (VTR-CAMERA) button
7) press MCR button again and hold it for a few seconds until you see PC 1394 HOST mode appear
8) Wait a few seconds and a dialog menu box will appear where you can format your drive and/or copy your P2 cards.
9) Copy your P2 cards (slot 1/slot 2) You can do multiple (more than 2 cards) by exchanging cards in your camera once they have copied.
10) Turn off camera.
11) Plug FS-4 into a computer via firewire (6 pin cables)
12) You will see (on the Mac) the "No Name" volumes show up. Oddly enough you can have as many No Name volumes as you have copied P2 cards. They will not be "No Name...No Name 1...No Name 2"...they will all be just named "No Name". So it can be pretty confusing. Modified dates do give you a sense of what is shot when though.
13) At this point, your data is resident on the Firestore hard drive and you can probably have up to 10-11 No Name volumes representing 4 Gig P2 card dumps. Copy them or work right from the FS-4 if you wish.
The main problem I have with this particular approach is that it's not easy to check your footage unless you hook the FS-4 into a laptop. The naming convention, or lack there of, is also an issue. But for run and gun shooting, it certainly can make things go faster and you don't have to carry a PB around. It also appears to be pretty fast although I can't quantify it with numbers at this time.
It has made me feel better about my FS-4 purchases I made last year for the DVX100s and given me another option when I can't pull my Powerbook out to copy files.
Just for information purposes, this is how I do it...
1) turn on the Firestore...put it into Hard Drive mode
2) connect the firewire cable between the HVX and the FS-4 but make sure it's connected through the COMPUTER firewire port, not the DV i/O port.
3) Turn the HVX200 power on.
4) Hit Menu>Other Functions>1394 Host mode.
5) Press menu button twice to release menu mode
6) press MCR button (VTR-CAMERA) button
7) press MCR button again and hold it for a few seconds until you see PC 1394 HOST mode appear
8) Wait a few seconds and a dialog menu box will appear where you can format your drive and/or copy your P2 cards.
9) Copy your P2 cards (slot 1/slot 2) You can do multiple (more than 2 cards) by exchanging cards in your camera once they have copied.
10) Turn off camera.
11) Plug FS-4 into a computer via firewire (6 pin cables)
12) You will see (on the Mac) the "No Name" volumes show up. Oddly enough you can have as many No Name volumes as you have copied P2 cards. They will not be "No Name...No Name 1...No Name 2"...they will all be just named "No Name". So it can be pretty confusing. Modified dates do give you a sense of what is shot when though.
13) At this point, your data is resident on the Firestore hard drive and you can probably have up to 10-11 No Name volumes representing 4 Gig P2 card dumps. Copy them or work right from the FS-4 if you wish.
The main problem I have with this particular approach is that it's not easy to check your footage unless you hook the FS-4 into a laptop. The naming convention, or lack there of, is also an issue. But for run and gun shooting, it certainly can make things go faster and you don't have to carry a PB around. It also appears to be pretty fast although I can't quantify it with numbers at this time.
It has made me feel better about my FS-4 purchases I made last year for the DVX100s and given me another option when I can't pull my Powerbook out to copy files.