Compatibility with SxS Economy Card

[Don Greening]

Sony\’s latest PDF document states that the PMW-EX3 and the PMW-EX30 (deck) will need to have an upgrade to be able to utilize the new SxS economy cards. The upgrade will be available in the spring. There was no mention of an upgrade available for the PMW-EX1.

– Don

[Teri Murphy]

Thanks Don for the info.

Do you see any downside to using the Economy cards, provided that we have the updated firmware?

[Don Greening]

[Teri Murphy] “Do you see any downside to using the Economy cards, provided that we have the updated firmware? “

Not at all. The new economy cards are good for about 5 years or something like that and I think you’d have to shoot 8 hours a day every day in order to see the cards fail in 5 years. I think that’s how Sony bases their estimate on the life of the cards. Other than the life expectancy there’s no difference in the way the cards record or the speed, which is 800 Mbits sec. just like the SxS Pro Cards.

Don’t forget that Sony is also coming out with their own version of the SDHC cards as well. Worth looking into if you don’t need to shoot a lot of overcranked footage.

– Don

[Craig Seeman]

[Don Greening] “There was no mention of an upgrade available for the PMW-EX1. “
I’m seeing many sites that indicate there will be an upgrade for both EX1 and EX3 so I think Sony has distributed this information to retailers.

https://www.taperesources.com/DCS-1-32GB-S.html?gclid=CN6nxPuX954CFc5L5QodW1LKJg

***IMPORTANT: A FIRMWARE UPGRADE IS REQUIRED FOR THIS CARD TO WORK WITH CAMERA MODELS, PMW-EX1 AND PMW-EX3 AND DECK, PMW-10MD. THE FIRMWARE UPGRADE IS SCHEDULED FOR RELEASE IN SPRING 2010. THIS CARD WILL WORK IN THREE NEW MODELS JUST RELEASED, THE PMW-EX1R, PMW-350L, AND PMW-350K. TO FIND OUT IF YOUR CAMERA NEEDS THE UPGRADE, HAVE THE SERIAL NUMBER OF YOUR CAMERA HANDY AND CALL THE SONY PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS CENTER AT 1-800-883-6817, AND USE PROMPTS 2, 5 AND 2.

[Craig Seeman]

It’ll be interesting to see where all this is going with pricing.

At B&H standard 32GB SXS cards are $845
The Economy 32GB SXS-1 cards are $750
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/665727-REG/Sony_SBS_32G1_SXS_1_PRO_MEDIA_32.html
Not a very significant saving in my opinion.

On the other hand TapeResources (very reputable supplier) has the SXS-1 cards for $589
https://www.taperesources.com/DCS-1-32GB-S.html?gclid=CNbbwKOT954CFZAN5Qod9mYjZw
That’s worth noting.

MXM Adaptor with 32GB ATP ProMax card (seems to be most reliable and I’m hearing overcrank reports to 48fps) are $179
https://mxmexpress.com/?page_id=9

There’s also Sony’s new adaptor MEAD-MS01 which is $120 at B&H
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/657501-REG/Sony_MEAD_MS01_MEAD_MS01_Memory_Stick_Adapter.html

Plus the Memory stick needed at $200
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/642705-REG/Sony_MSHX32G_32GB_Memory_Stick_PRO_HG.html

Which would be a total of $320

So it’ll be interesting to see how the market responds to $179 vs $589 for 32GB cards.
As well as Sony’s $320 solution.

To recap the current “apparent” 32GB price it’s
MXM ATPProMac card – $179
Sony Adaptor Memory Stick card – $320
Sony SXS-1 – $589 (drops to $569 ea if you buy 2)