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Upgrading HVX-200 to support 16Gb. cards
Hi all:
I’m researching how to upgrade our HVX-200 cameras to support 16 Gb. cards. I’ve been reading the documentation provided by Panasonic in their website, but there are a couple of details that I’m not clear on:
1) First of all, the Panasonic instructions tell us to check the current firmware version, but don’t tell us to do anything with that information, other than verify at the end of the procedure that there has been indeed an upgrade. Is that the only reason why I’m supposed to check the current version info? FWIW, my cameras are version 2-02-00-0 and 2-03-00-0. Is there any chance one of them could be used as-is with the 16Gb. cards?
2) The instructions tell us to copy the new firmware to a SD card “on your PC”, but we’re here at an all-Mac office. There shouldn’t be any problem, should it? As long as the Mac can read the SD card after it’s been formatted with the camera and can copy the files to it, this shouldn’t make any difference, right?
3) Is there any other caveat I should be aware of?
Thanks in advance,
Paulo.
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7 Replies
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The firmware is only to be sure you have made an upgrade.
And first format the SD card in the camera. Then put it in the computer, save the file to the card. Do not open the file. Then take the card and put it in the camera. If you open the exe file, it with the mac, it will corrupt the file.
Also while you are there, find the software to upgrade the PCMCIA slot, if you are using the Duel Adapter, or the AJ-PCD20 if you are using this device. In other words, upgrade the computer as well.
Hope this helps.
Jan
Jan Crittenden Livingston
Product Manager, DVCPRO, DVCPRO50, AG-DVX100
Panasonic Broadcast & TV Systems -
“Then put it in the computer, save the file to the card. Do not open the file.”
Hey Jan,
I updated the firmware for my HVX200 recently and I want to make sure I did it correctly. I formatted the SD card, then unzipped the firmware update and copied that folder to the SD card (unchanged). I followed the written documentation and the update seemed to take… should I just put the zip file on the SD card and run the update again? (I’m on a PC running XP Pro SP2)
Thanks,
Shawn
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This is fine. You undue the zip, save the file and then do the upgrade.
Best,
Jan
Jan Crittenden Livingston
Product Manager, DVCPRO, DVCPRO50, AG-DVX100
Panasonic Broadcast & TV Systems -
[PaulJBis] “FWIW, my cameras are version 2-02-00-0 and 2-03-00-0. Is there any chance one of them could be used as-is with the 16Gb. cards?”
No, you need version 4.05 to use 16GB cards.
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Thanks a lot. Now the other question, for anyone who has upgraded: is there any caveat when it comes to camera operation with the new firmware? We are using the PAL models, have an extremely important shoot this weekend out of town and the boss decided at the last minute to buy a new 16Gb. card. I’d have liked to test the camera a bit after the upgrade, before using it in an actual shoot, but we won’t have time. So: is there anything different I need to know? Menus in different places, auto modes reacting in a different way… anything.
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Nothing new to worry about, everything works as before. There’s a new “hours of operation” meter, and a new “repair clip (loop)” function, but if you don’t use those then there’s nothing to worry about, everything will work exactly as before.
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Get the most from your DVX camera. The DVX Book and DVX DVD are now available on ebay and at Amazon (https://www.fiftv.com/db) -
Jan,
You mention a PCMCIA update on the panasonic website. I can’t find this. I have performed the updates for the hvx-200 but I just filled up my 16gb card with test footage and my hp laptop is not recognizing the card in the slot. So I am looking for this update you are speaking of.
Thanks.
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