What’s The best Firestore..

[Michael Sacci]

FS-100

https://www.focusinfo.com/solutions/catalog.asp?id=150

[Michael Murray]

Is that the only Firestore that works? How about other brands?

Thanks.

Michael Murray
Summer Wind Productions

[Shane Ross]

There are no other brands of FIRESTORE. Firestore IS a brand…Focus Enhancements FIRESTORE.

There is also CITIDISK, by Shining Technology. It isn’t a cheaper option, just another option.

https://www.shining.com/products/totalsolution/citidisk_hd/

But I hear about more people using the Firestore.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Noah Kadner]

I’d just invest in more P2 cards. With 2 or 3 32 GB P2 cards you can cover a lot more than a Firestore and a lot more reliably. Sure it’s going to cost you some $$ but it will pay for itself in the long run.

Noah

My FCP Blog. Unlock the secrets of the DVX100, HVX200 and Apple Color and Win a Free Letus Extreme.
Now featuring the Sony EX1 Guidebook, DVD Studio Pro and Sound for Film and TV.
https://www.callboxlive.com

[Bo Skelmose]

Yes – I have had different firestores also the FS 100 – only had problems with it – forget about anything else but the P2 cards. They are not that expenseive anymore and very reliable.

[Steve Eisen]

I’m waiting for the 64GB P2 Card!!!

128GB by NAB? that would be nice.

Steve Eisen
Eisen Video Productions
Board of Directors
Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group

[Christopher Wright]

It always amazes me that Noah always recommends P2 Cards!
The best deal is the new Firestore that has 250 GB storage.
I have never needed or desired the cost and the extra FCP ingest step required by P2 cards. I own two HVX-200s and two Firestores and have never had any problems whatsoever with the recording or editing of Firestore media. When Panasonic finally reduces P2 card storage to that the price of Firestore per GB, then buy them. Otherwise keep to your budget and common sense!

Dual 2.5 G5, IO, Kona LH, IO, Medea Raid, UL4D, NVidia 6800, 4Gig RAM
Octocore 8 GB Ram, Radeon card, MBP, MXO
Windows XP Adobe Studio CS3, Vegas 8.0, Lightwave 9.2, Sound Forge 9, Acid Pro 6, Continuum 5, Boris Red 4, Combustion 2008, Sapphire Effects

[Dave Neyman]

Christopher I think you are one of the lucky ones that has had no problems. Most people I know who have use firestores have had a problem that resulted in significant data loss. At that point the cost per GB is no longer a factor when you consider the cost of a reshoot. There are far fewer problems reported on P2 cards which is why I would have to agree with Noah.

[Noah Kadner]

Just want to say I have nothing against the idea of the Firestore. Focus is a huge company and they make lots of nice products, Firestore being one of them. We outline a Firestore workflow on our Call Box HVX200 DVD by the way.

https://www.callboxlive.com/store/panasonic-workflow-with-final-hvx200-p-33.html

But that said, I hear of problems on the forums with Firestore failure and loss of footage, which is pretty much unforgivable to most shooters. You want your footage and P2 cards are more reliable in my and a lot of other HVX200 shooters’ opinion. More expensive up front but you’re buying convenience and piece of mind. Maybe not 100% perfect but pretty close. With a handful of 32GB cards you’re good to go with most types of shoots.

Not too mention not having a Firestore is one less piece of gear you have to carry and recharge every night. So again, want to say I have nothing against the Firestore. It’s just not my top workflow recommendation- all things considered.

-Noah

My FCP Blog. Unlock the secrets of the DVX100, HVX200 and Apple Color and Win a Free Letus Extreme.
Now featuring the Sony EX1 Guidebook, DVD Studio Pro and Sound for Film and TV.
https://www.callboxlive.com

[Christopher Wright]

Actually if you read many of the posts here on P2 cards, and do a search here on the COW, you will find many, many people having problems with the P2 “solution” as well. I was one of the early adopters of the FS-100 and as such have used the product ever since I bought one of the first HVX-200s available in the country. Usually FS-100 problems are caused by user error, lack of familiarity with tapeless footage acquisition, and just plain not reading either the Firestore or HVX-200 manuals, (much less doing a “test” shoot before your “real” one!), just as most P2 problems are. As the P2 cards can now handle longer shooting times, they are finally becoming more attractive and viable for those of us who shoot performance (operas, concerts, lectures, etc.) where you don’t want or need the extra hassle of swapping out P2 cards to shoot 3 continuous hours of HD video. The P2 price has also always been exorbitant for the amount of storage you get. That is why more and more cameras are adopting the ubiquitous memory stick versus high priced, proprietary P2 cards. Data is data. And Noah is right, both “solutions” work fine if you know what you are doing, and what to look out for and avoid. And the Firestore solution, as of now, is much more cost effective.

Dual 2.5 G5, IO, Kona LH, IO, Medea Raid, UL4D, NVidia 6800, 4Gig RAM
Octocore 8 GB Ram, Radeon card, MBP, MXO
Windows XP Adobe Studio CS3, Vegas 8.0, Lightwave 9.2, Sound Forge 9, Acid Pro 6, Continuum 5, Boris Red 4, Combustion 2008, Sapphire Effects