[Edward Randolph]

Larry,
Thanks for the real world feed back. It sounds like the SATA drives and the FirmTek products are working for you. The only difference is I would be getting the new SATA to PCMCIA Card and enclosure bundle they’re offering (SeriTek/2ENSM2). I like this solution for in home or office interviews, but I will also be touring Government facilities and need more mobility, hence the FS-100 decision. I hope it works as well in my hands as at NAB 🙂
I was going to RAID 1 the 2 SATA drives throught the MAC disc utility so I have mirrored backup of everything I copy from the FS-100.
Turn-key RAIDS cost about twice as much as what I’m attempting.
I’ll jump for joy and post if it works.

[Edward Randolph]

Hey, Do you guys own stock in P2 cards and P2 Stores?
P2 cards are $50 a day to rent x2 is $100 a day and I’ll be shooting for a couple of months. That’s about $6000.
I could buy 4 8GB P2 cards for that and have 32 minutes of continuous shooting if I had the camera locked down on the tripod and fast hands.
Shooting on the move B-roll with a shoulder mount, I’d need a clever monkey on my back.
On the other hand, for the same money, I can buy three FS-100s and have 5 hours of shooting (swapping every 100 minutes) without downloading. Or, I can buy one FS-100 and two 1TB RAIDS (storing 16 hours mirrored) and have $2000 left for traveling money.

About the P2 Store:That’s 60GB capacity and will hold 60 minutes of HVX-200 footage. If that’s all I shot in a day, I’m not working hard enough.
One interview is usually 45 to 60 minutes for me and more if I find a “live” one. 4 or 5 hours of interviews and B-roll is a good day for me. I don’t always get it, but I want to be able to.
I also don’t like the fact that the P2 Store has a little LED telling me my footage is 100% copied and safe so I can now destroy it by erasing the P2 Card. Can you check through the camera to see it’s really there before you erase the card?

Sorry for the rant. Did I say P2 cards are too expensive? I DO love the camera though. Maybe the price will come down and the capacity go up in a year or so. 64GB P2 cards for around $1000 each and I would be buying.

[Edward Randolph]

Thanks for the voice of reason. I am jumping in a little deep, but I’m already off the bridge and in the air with the HVX-200 purchase.
I do not have to start shooting until June and thought I could work out the bugs (if any) by then.
I had intended to buy either the Canon or JVC HDV cameras until I went to NAB and spent about 5 hours hands on with the HVX-200. I have a DVX-100 so I’m familiar with the layout.
With the Canon or JVC I could have just recorded to tape and not had this problem, but I just don’t like the idea of compressing to MPEG2 and calling it HD.
I have never liked P2 cards. Two 8GB cards giving 16 minutes of recording for approx. $2600 is ridiculous. If I did want to spend that, have you ever tried to shoot a documentary interview and stop every 16 minutes.
I woud never have bought a P2 camera,no matter how good the footage until I saw it working with the FS-100. I thought, “great, now I can get the HD output with a longer record time.”
I know it’s new, but FireStore has been out for a while and this is just a new version (I hope!).
The SATA to PCMCIA is just a stopgap until I get my new Mac Book Pro, OF course then I need the SATA to Express 34 card; also a new technology.
I know firewire is good. I have been using FW 400 external on my PowerBook to capture footage in the field, but before, I’ve had the DV tape for archiving. I was assuming I needed the added speed of SATA for HD footage.
I’ll look into alternatives and test everything before I take it on the road. Maybe if I bleed, I can post the results and help the next poor sucker.

[Edward Randolph]

It has been my understanding that all tapes are lubricated. Some use dry lube , like the Panasonic Master Quality, and some use wet lube, like the Panasonic “Pro” quality. Problems occur when you change tape brands or lube types because of the differing chemical compounds used and their possible incompatibility.
I also use the DVM63MQ in my DVX-100 and plan on using them in my new HVX-200 . I live in dry, dusty Arizona and imagine that the “dry” lube might pick up less dust. I have no verification that this notion is correct.,

[Edward Randolph]

I was told by one of the friendly and knowledgeable people in the HVX booth at NAB that when switched to “Tape” the HVX-200 was basically a DVX-100B.
If that is the case, the footage should match well, provided the frame rate, scene file settings, etc. were the same.