Well, as Ned and I discussed at the local FCP meeting last night, I wouldn't rush to use this solution on paying gigs until things are more certain. You don't want to be the one explaining to the client that the shot is gone because you used an 'inexpensive' solution to record with.

I think this is really cool and has huge potential!

-gb-

has anyone tried the sandisk express card reader?

Just a thought regarding the expresscard compactflash adapter...

The expresscard interface is useful due to it's potential high speed data transfer. Indeed Delikn push the adapter for use with UDMA cards. The UDMA is up to 2 times faster than standard (non UDMA) cards. So the expresscard CF adapter may work best if used with a UDMA CF card. Anyone tried that?

On another note... this is not a setup I would want to use on my EX1. That CF card hanging outside the body is very vulnerable.

John.
I tried the Delkin Expresscard 34 CompactFlash adapter yesterday with RiDATA 32GB 233X CF.
The EX1 would not recognize this combo and throws an error message (Unkown Media type. Please Change) as soon as you power up. If I remove the CF card from the adapter, it does not show an error message (For whatever that's worth). I had an old 512MB 66X CF card kicking around which threw the same error message.

It appears the card does not work with the EX1.

With the EX1, If I can get the AFX 7-in-1 or the Kensington 33407 7-in-1 adapter to work with hight speed SDHC, such as the EXtreme III 30MB/S 16GB I just ordered, this would be awesome news.

I'll know about the SDHC and expresscard adpater combo in about 2 weeka or less. The Extreme III 30MB/s card will take almost 2 weeks to ship.

With the EX1, If I can get the AFX 7-in-1 or the Kensington 33407 7-in-1 adapter to work with hight speed SDHC, such as the EXtreme III 30MB/S 16GB I just ordered, this would be awesome news.

Indeed it would because yesterday, SanDisk also introduced a 32GB Extreme III CF card claiming to operate at 30MB/s for $299 US. To ship in October.

Posts tagged Extremeiii at Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/tag/extremeiii)

Very eagerly awaiting the fruits of your experiment in the next couple of weeks!

Just recevied the Kensington adapter. I had a Transcend 16Gb Class 6 SDHC card already. Short tests gives me this:

720/50p: ok
720/25p: ok
1080/25p: ok
720/25p at 50 or 60 fps: media error after 10sec

Note that this is only a few minutes recording. Right now I have the camera running at 1080/25p and hope fill up the entire card. I'll get back with the result.


As I said before the above was done with with short recordings. The bad news is that when I put the camera to record for an hour or so, parts of the recordings were corrupted. No error messages in the camera, everything seemed ok, but when I tried opening it up in the computer the one of the mp4 files in the recordings was so corrupted windows couln't read the file or delete it. Had to reformat the card to get rid of it. I tried several long redordings (from 30min to 90min) and I got at least one corrupt file on about half of them. I tried both 1080/25p and SD 1080/50i and I got corruption on both of them. Since the camera splits long recording in max 3.6GB files the whole recording was not lost. By the way, does anybody know why the split is 3.6GB then around 200MB then 3.6GB then 200MB (long, short, long, short) and so on?

It might be that I have a faulty card or adapter, but I have used the card before and have had no problem. So maybe the adapter, but I would strongly advise to test this setup with long recordings and check the result in the computer before using it on an important shoot.

It would be very interesting to se hear if someone else get different result with same setup. If I get the chance I will try with other SD card soon.

I use an EX3, missed that info last time.

I'm pretty sure the best bet is the transcend 8gb cards, as the 16gb are slower. 8 Seems to be the best balance.

At my dealers site the 16GB card was rated higher (12MB/s) than the 8GB (6MB/s) card. I'm sure thats wrong information, but since I already had it, I wanted to try it.

Also is it only the card that is the limiting factor? I wounder if the USB interface these adapters are using is fast enough. Because the the class 6 specification of minimum 6MB/s should be enough to cover SD 1080/50i in theory.

Admittedly, I am not sure what the technical differences are between Secure Digital and Compact Flash, besides size. But I realize that some people wouldn't want a CF adapter and card hanging out of their cameras.

While reading this thread, I've been googling trying to learn more, I've found in the Red One forum's people are somewhat in the same predicament. Looking for cheaper media. It would seem they (Red peoples) discovered that Red are using Lexar 8GB UDMA 300x CompactFlash Cards Found here (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/553942-REG/Lexar_CF8GB_300_381_8GB_UDMA_300x_CompactFlash.html) on B&H for $75 ($155 with a $80 mail-in rebate offer).

Cost breakdown of their CF cards vs. our SxS:
-- SxS: 8GB - $500 ~ 16GB $850 -- (also found B&H discontinued the SanDisk 8GB)
-- RED: 8GB - $199 ~ 16GB $550 -- proven to sustain a 4K data rate.
-- LEXAR: 8GB - $75
note: Regarding the Red 16GB cards, they have yet to determine the manufacturer, or an alternative.

That said, I think the Red (or Lexar) CF cards coupled with the correct CF to PC Express adapter, you'd have a winning solution. Albeit, not as aesthetically pleasing as a door closing Secure Digital solution... but there would be some noticeable savings.

For those searching the Secure Digital path, I found this (http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/02/14/panasonic-unveils-worlds-fastest-32gb-sdhc-memory-card/) and this (http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=OWI&q=Panasonic+32GB+SDHC&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title) on a 32GB Panasonic SDHC card claiming to get 20mb/s.

Hope this helps more than hurts,
Andrew

Andrew I agree.
I did try a Dakin expresscard to CF (which claimed it was PCIe based) and it would not recognize the card. Maybe it was the RIDATA 233X 32 GB CF card? I did have an older 66X CF card kicking around and the EX1 would not recognize the Dakin expresscard>CF adaptor with thi older CF either.

Please check out my new thread labeled "FAST SDHC Memory for the EX1".

It involves us all running tests using the FREE same speed test software and reporting data rate numbers.

Sorry for the long rant, but this MAY be extremely helpful is getting us closer to finding a MUCH cheaper memory solution for the EX1. Please read on, I need your help to find the fastest SDHC cards possible

I've been trying to find the fastest SDHC memory possible to use with the AFT PROExpress-7 ExpressCard Reader.
PROExpress-7-Atech Flash Technology (http://www.atechflash.com/products-proexpress7.html)

Why this expresscard adaptor. Easy, the SDHC memory cards fit in the adapter AND allows the EX1 memory compartment to close!


OK, I've been having "almost success" with some cards.
Why "almost"? Well, I've been able to capture 20 minutes of 1080 24P without any errors recording and playback. Here's the issue. the success rate is intermittent.

My thought RIGHT NOW is that the majority of the issue is the slow RANDOM ACCESS time from these SDHC cards. Also, the sustained data rate must be kept high for READING and ESPECIALLY WRITING data.

What I'm finding is that several cards I've tested are reading sustained data rates with no issues and maintaining around 18MB/s.
The problem is, the WRITE speed runs from 3.7MB/s to 10.6MB/s (NOTE: this was using the ADATA 8GB SDHC TURBO CLASS 6 card. This card does not perform (at least based on the CLASS 6 designation) as advertised. CLASS 6 states the minimum data rate should not fall below 6MB/S.

Interesting, I tried the SansDisk Ultra II CLASS 4 (min. 4MB transfer rate).
The sustained (MB/s) READ and WRITE speeds were consistant (At least during my tests) and maintained between 16.8 to 17.4 WRITE and 18.19 to 18.21 READ data rate.

Having seen that, I was surprised that the card does occasionally error when used in the EX1. Here's the deal, my thought is it's not JUST the sustained data rate, but how well it writes and reads randomly when asked to.

My conclusion is based on several factors. One, the card works best with no errors when formated and recording without stopping. If I start and stop recording times quickly, an error can occur. Two, I am using memory data rate testing software which evaluates sustained and random data writes and reads.

I was able to test the SxS memory card as a comparison.
Here's the results:

ADATA 8GB SDHC TURBO CLASS 6:

Sustained data rate: Read: 18.64MB/s to 18.69MB/s Write: 3.72MB/s to 10.68MB/s
Random 512K file: Read: 17.96MB/s to 18.69MB/s Write: 2.70MB/s to 3.10MB/s
Random 4K file: Read: 3.57MB/s to 3.91MB/s Write: 0.033MB/s to 0.035MB/s


SanDisk Ultra II SDHC CLASS 4:

Sustained data rate: Read: 18.19MB/s to 18.21MB/s Write: 16.02MB/s to 17.40MB/s
Random 512K file: Read: 17.34MB/s to 17.44MB/s Write: 2.69MB/s to 2.85MB/s
Random 4K file: Read: 3.13MB/s to 3.31MB/s Write: 0.027MB/s to 0.031MB/s


Sony SxS PRO 16GB:

Sustained data rate: Read: 27.53MB/s to 27.57MB/s Write: 20.52MB/s to 20.68MB/s
Random 512K file: Read: 27.51MB/s to 27.54MB/s Write: 7.45MB/s to 8.41MB/s
Random 4K file: Read: 6.45MB/s to 6.46MB/s Write: 0.132MB/s to 0.148MB/s


As you can see, the SxS random write is between 2 to 3 times faster than the SanDisk Ultra II CLASS 4 card. I'm sure no one is suprised with these results. Also the data is based on one test. For all I know, and I imagine so, the SxS card within the EX1 performs even faster than these results show.

But, this MAY give us a baseline for finding the fastest SDHC cards possible. As I mentioned earlier, the SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s card "might" just work. I'm hoping its random read/write is faster along with the claimed data rate improvement.

If anyone can help us out here, it's SanDisk. The results on the Ultra II CLASS 4 SDHC card are better than the CLASS 6 card ADATA.

I won't have the new Extreme card until 2 weeks.

PLEASE download the following Drive Speed Software (PC based, although there maybe a mac version up there too?). It's real easy to run. Just unzip and run the executable. There's no install program, only an executable. Since each tests runs five times, you need to write down the numbers as it runs. This way we can see the min-max data rate range.

Download (Win 2000, XP, VISTA):
http://dl.crystaldew.info/CrystalCPUID

Their Site: Crystal Dew World - Download Center (http://crystalmark.info/download/index-e.html)

PLEASE try your SDHC cards (Transcend (I'm wondering about this card) ect...) and post the results like I did with the above. If you want, take my above results and paste into your message and we can keep a running log of tried SDHC cards.

Also, use only on SDHC cards. PLain old SD cards will not work with the EX1/AFX Express card.

BTW, If none of this crap works good enough in the end. It was worth a shot.
But, SInce I was able to capture over 20 minutes of 1080 24P without an error, it would be stupid not to try to find the fastest memory possible.
We are real close.

AFT PROExpress-7 ExpressCard Reader.
PROExpress-7-Atech Flash Technology (http://www.atechflash.com/products-proexpress7.html)

I've just ordered my PROExpress reader from Newegg. Also ordered a Panasonic 8GB SDHC from B&H. All told, I spent $107.18 (($31.98 on the reader and $75.20 on the card))

Details to follow as soon as I have all the bits in hand.

Thanks Andrew,
If you're up for it, download the Drive Speed Software. I posted the link above.
Run the test on the Panasonic SDHC card and post the results.

which is the best bang for the buck, 8gb Lexar SSDs, or a pair of Kensington readers
and Transcend 8gb Class 6 cards? I am leaning toward the SSDs.

Transcend 16GB SDHC TURBO CLASS 6 and Kensington adapter:

Sustained data rate: Read: 18.82MB/s Write: 12.38MB/s
Random 512K file: Read: 18.68MB/s Write: 2.09MB/s
Random 4K file: Read: 4.28MB/s Write: 0.019MB/s

Does anyone know if there is any mac speed test software, I have a l lot of cards , Transcend 8 and 16gb class 6, Lexar 4gb 133x class 6, and Sandisk 4gb Ducati 20MB/s but no way to test them. Also I can't find the PROExpress-7 reader in China so I can't test in the camera.

Transcend 16GB SDHC TURBO CLASS 6 and Kensington adapter:



Sustained data rate: Read: 18.82MB/s Write: 12.38MB/s
Random 512K file: Read: 18.68MB/s Write: 2.09MB/s
Random 4K file: Read: 4.28MB/s Write: 0.019MB/s

Thanks Marten!

Marten, are those numbers the final values when the test finished?
The software runs each test, sustained and random five times.

I had to write each one down as it ran. This way you can capture the min to max range of each test. The numbers at the end are the highest of each test five run

Are you up for running that again with a min-max range?

Does anyone know if there is any mac speed test software, I have a l lot of cards , Transcend 8 and 16gb class 6, Lexar 4gb 133x class 6, and Sandisk 4gb Ducati 20MB/s but no way to test them. Also I can't find the PROExpress-7 reader in China so I can't test in the camera.

Amazon UK has it. Can you order from there?

I would not run out an buy the PROExpress-7 yet.

I'd wait until we have more users try the drive speed test software I posted above.
Based on the SDHC card drive speed tests results, I can try the best cards with the EX1 and save everyone the headache and wasted $$$ for cards and adaptor that may not work in the end.

Brians list updated:

SIGG 11/1 EXPRESS READER 11in1 ExpressCard Reader
WILL NOT WORK WITH THE EX1 firmware 1.11

Kensington 7 in 1 Media Reader for ExpressCard Slot" model number 33407EU
W/ 8Gb Transcend class 6 SD cards
WORKING WITH EX3 SP AND HQ MODE EX1?

Lexar 8GB SSD Express Card
WORK WITH EX1 firmware 1.11 AND EX3 SP MODE ONLY

Lexar 16Gb SSD Express Card This card is slower than the 8gb
WORK WITH EX1 firmware 1.11 AND EX3 SP MODE ONLY error message no lost of data


Transend 8gb 16gb SSD Express card
WILL NOT WORK WITH THE EX1 firmware 1.11 or EX3

EXPRESS CARD TO COMPACT FLASH ADAPTER
WILL NOT WORK WITH THE EX1 firmware 1.11 EX3?


SONY MSACEX1 MEMORY STICK(R) DUO EXPRESSCARD(TM) ADAPTER
WILL NOT WORK WITH THE EX1 firmware 1.11 EX3?


A-DATA 16GB Expresscard Flash Drive.
Will not work at all with EX1 firmware v1.1

I tried a Sandisk EXIII 8GB SD card with a 12in1 expresscard reader. Did not work. It said unknow media before I even inserted the SD. Anybody tried the sony EX MemoryStick adapter?

Oyvind,
Could you please let us know the exact expresscard adaptor and SDHC memory card that failed?

Although not SDHC, I thought some might find this interesting.

Today I received a Transcend 16GB 300x UDMA CompactFlash card. I have the Delkin ExpressCard34 UDMA CompactFlash adapter, so I gave them the Disk read/write test.

Here are my results...

Sustained data rate: Read: 44.54 to 44.61 MB/s Write: 33.39 to 34.92 MB/s
512K Read: 24.84 to 25.81 MB/s Write: 22.60 to 23.08 MB/s
4K Read: 0.484 to 0.529 MB/s Write: 1.093 to 1.114 MB/s

Have to say I was surprised by the low values on the 4K read/write. But then, how many 4K files do we write with this camera, so probably not an issue.

The key here is that the Delkin adapter uses the PCIe bus, not USB and the CF card is UDMA. I don't think there is an equivalent to UDMA in SDHC.

Oh, in case anyone is interested, I performed the test using the HP 2133 mini-note PC (1.2GHz), Windows XP Pro SP3.

Thanks John.

The 4K random read looks a little bit odd, but (based on THIS same test) all the write values are faster than the Sony SxS cards.

I believe I tried the Delkin expresscard to CF adaptor and it fails with a media incompataibility type error in the EX1.

I was using different compact flash memory. Did you try yours in the EX1?

Based on your numbers, it sure looks like it would work with the EX1. Well, assuming you can get it to work with the EX1 and also work at those data rates.

I have an EX1 with the updated 1.1.1 firmware (just updated). I also have the Kensington SD-ExpressCard adapter 33407US. Brand new out of the package, I inserted the new (and presumably unformatted) Transcend 8GB SDHC card into the Expresscard adapter, and the Expresscard adapter into the EX1.

The EX1 asked if I wanted to format the card...

Oh boy, YES!

It formatted.... 10% 20%...79% and just stayed there. For minutes. Other camera functions worked but I could not do anything about the stuck formatting.

Finally I tried to turn the power off on the camera. Nothing. Wouldn't turn off. Oh, no.

I then removed the power by disconnecting the battery.

Restored power. EX1 came up! Sigh of relief...

Maybe it was a glitch, I'll try formatting it again...

Try to switch to slot B containing the card. Can't do it. The EX1 doesn't even recognize there is a card in there.

Maybe I'll try to reformat the card in a computer.

Take out the SDHC card, put it into a USB SD adapter into my Mac. Mac doesn't recognize the card.

Put the card into another device (Panasonic SD1 camcorder) try to format the card, SD1 complains can't format the card.

So...

Either the card was defective (as I didn't try formatting it in a non-EX1 device), or the EX1 - Kensington adapter combo 'bricked' it. I have a few other SDHC cards but... not sure how many I want to experiment with. Also on this thread I don't know if I've seen anybody explicity saying they were able to format the card in an EX1 and Kensington adapter.

Also the Kensington adapter with SDHC card doesn't allow for the EX1 SxS door to close, another inconvenience.

So, my questions are:

Any got this combo to format even (let alone record)?
Any other Adapter and Card that works that also would allow me to close the SxS door?
Are there diminishing returns with this endeavor?

Keith,
I ve been there... exact same error testing different memory.
There's nothing wrong with your memory short of it's to slow for the EX1.

I've had some memory almost work fine and enable me to record 20 minutes of 1080P
without an error.


I have the NEW SanDisk Extreme III 16GB 30MB/s coming in maybe by thursday.
I'll report back.

Steven,

Thanks for the reply...

However, actually there is something wrong with at least the Transcend 8GB card I tried to format in the EX1, as it stopped at 79% and wouldn't go further and hung my EX1 so I couldn't even power it off. When I removed the battery to get the EX1 out of that state the Transcend card was hosed. I mean it would not function in any device I tried. Either nothing recognized it or wouldn't format it.

Do you have a EX1 and the Kensington Expresscard adapter and have you successfully formatted a SDHC card with it? If so then I will try again with another card. I'm also going to be getting the Sandisk Extreme 16GB 30MB/S card soon. You first!

No I have an AFT 7-in-one adapter and I've seen it stop at exactly 79% on a different SDHC card. I do not have a transcend to try.

Like yours, it would not power off. I ended up pulling out the adapter which freed up the camera.

IMO, it's not your card or adapter. The speed of the Transcend SDHC card is to slow.

Has anyone tested this:

SANDISK EXTREME IV CF 8GB or 16GB cards?

SanDisk Extreme IV CompactFlash card is now available at a new level of performance at 45MB/s read/write speed. SanDisk Extreme® IV CompactFlash memory cards are the new, industry leading choice for professional photographers who demand one of the fastest, most rugged, most reliable cards on the market. They feature the tested durability and professional-level services that have become synonymous with the SanDisk Extreme product family.

Paul

No, I have not had a chance to try it on the EX1 yet. My EX1 is in Bangkok, while I am currently in Florida. My firmware is 1.02, so I need to have the firmware upgrade before I can try. I'll have to see if I can find someone in Bangkok to do it, and I need the battery drain issue fixed too. I head back Oct 1, so I'll head off to a store in Fortune Mall that sells the EX1 and see if they can point me to a Sony repair facility that can handle the upgrade.

Delkin makes (made?) two expresscard34 to Cf adapters. They can be told apart by the color of the CF end. One is white plastic and that one uses the USB bus, while the other adapter is black plastic and it uses the PCIe bus. Mine is the black one.

While I am curious to see if it works, it is not something I would actually want to use. It is just too vulnerable.

The one I tried had the black end and was the PCIe based one.
Again, it may of been the memory card I tried.

I posted the details of the CF card in one of these threads.

We need to find an expresscard adaptor to CF that works on the EX1 first.

No I have an AFT 7-in-one adapter and I've seen it stop at exactly 79% on a different SDHC card. I do not have a transcend to try.

Like yours, it would not power off. I ended up pulling out the adapter which freed up the camera.

IMO, it's not your card or adapter. The speed of the Transcend SDHC card is to slow.

Steven, maybe I made a mistake by removing the battery from the EX1 while it was in this state, I didn't just pull the card out. The problem is... now the Transcend SDHC card is totally unusable, not just in the EX1 now but in every SDHC device I tried (computer, cameras). My question is to you on the SDHC card where you pulled it when it froze on the EX1 at 79%, did the card work for you in other devices at that point or was the card essentially destroyed?

BTW, I did order the AFT 7-in-one adapter adapter and just received the Sandisk Extreme III 30MB/Second edition. Dare I try it with my Kensington Adapter or am I asking for trouble, this card is about $150 as opposed to the ridiculously cheap Transcend 8GB ($20?).

Has anybody gotten the Kensington Expresscard adapter to work with the EX1? I have a feeling there might be something in the adapter that is different. For example some people have complained that the Kensington adapter keeps the Mac from sleeping if inserted while trying to sleep the mac (I experienced this), whereas it's not a problem with the AFT adapter - so there are some differences in how the host computer/device sees the cards somehow, it's not just a straight line from card to Express socket, there is some circuitry in-between.

Thanks Keith.
When the 79% happened with my AFT expresscard and SDHC, I was able to reformat the card with my PC. I tried it again... and same 79% lockup. I reformatted the card and returned it.

If you want to wait for me to try BOTH the AFT and Kensington with my extreme, I will be trying this tonight. It's up to you.

Thanks Keith.
When the 79% happened with my AFT expresscard and SDHC, I was able to reformat the card with my PC. I tried it again... and same 79% lockup. I reformatted the card and returned it.

If you want to wait for me to try BOTH the AFT and Kensington with my extreme, I will be trying this tonight. It's up to you.

Steven

Since you're willing, I'll let you try it out and let me know how the Kensington + Sandisk Extreme III SDHC card works. Thanks for all the great info and help. Ultimately if it does work I'll use the AFT adapter since it's lower profile will let me close the SxS door but I don't have the AFT yet).

Latest Update for EX1 only (No EX3 to try):

GOOD NEWS SO FAR!

First of all:
It's important to understand that I've only done one 3HR session of testing.
Please do not run out and buy this combo until I've had time to run it through longer testing.

Read on...


The only bad news is I could not get the AFT PROExpress-7 expresscard to work with the new Extreme III 30MB/s. It had a media error. Oddly, the very first time I tried the combo, it asked to be formatted, then failed with the media error. After that, It never gave the format option again, even after formatting the card on the PC and trying again.


Here's my CrystalDiskMark data rates for the NEW Extreme:

SanDisk SDHC 16GB Extreme III 30MB/s

Sustained data rate: Read: 19.06MB/s Write: 15.81MB/s
Random 512K file: Read: 18.76MB/s Write: 3.703MB/s
Random 4K file: Read: 3.581MB/s to 6.46MB/s Write: 0.036MB/s

Since all the values were very close to each other, I did not write down a min max range.

My understanding is in order to actually get the new SanDisk Extreme III manufacture data rate claim (30MB/s), special device firmware must be programmed. The new Nikon D90 has just that. In fact, SanDisk designed the new Extreme III (30MB/s) for the D90.

Having said that, I did notice that the cards data rates are very repeatable. Also, the 512K random data rate at 3.7MB/s is the highest I've measure and seen for SDHC cards.

I'm not sure how high the Sony EX1 data rate may momentarily burst when using HQ mode, but based on the sustained 15.81 MB writes and 3.7MB/s 512K file random writes it appears it may be fast enough for all HQ modes. The sustained data writes were very repeatable. This along with a bit quicker random writes, may of been the ticket.

It is not fast enough to run S&Q modes, but Sony's new SxS video capture hard drive is neither.

Here's the ONLY problem, it works with the Kensington Expresscard which with the SDHC card inserted will not allow the EX1 memory door to close. It only misses it by a mm or so... bummer.

Having said that, for 16GB:

1, Kensington 7-in-1 Media Reader $ 36 (USD)
1, SanDisk Extreme III 16GB 30MB/s version $129 (USD)
______________________________________________
Total USD: $165.00 (USD) !!!


Not bad for being able to record EX1 HQ modes.

Again, I'd wait until you hear more from me. I want to test it everyday for a week or so.

So far, I've been trying different record modes. I had one run recording over 40 minutes no issues..
Also, I've been starting and stopping recording after only a second or two. This has made my previous memory cards/AFT reader fail.
Also, for some reason 1080i would fail easier.

Right now, after three hours of testing, I have not had one error (knock on wood..LOL).
It's looking good...
Now, only if the damn memory door would close!

Look for further updates.

Hi Steven

OK, I waited for you to test my combo, EX1+Kensington Adapter+Extreme III 30MB edition, so I went ahead and tried it.

Put card into EX1 "B" slot, EX1 asked to format, formatted in an instant.

Switched to card B for some 1080 30P format shooting, Worked flawlessly as far as I could tell. For a lark I tried using Slow Motion, 720 24P cranked down to 60FPS. "Media Error" on the LCD. Couldn't use the card, so switched to card A where I still had the SxS 8GB, pulled out the Kensington+Extreme, turned of slo motion, and it went back to working flawlessly. Shot about 5 minutes or so without a glitch, didn't seem like the EX1 knew it wasn't a SxS card.

So, while the door doesn't close, if it's in slot B, it's not the end of the world. I can see Is there another Expresscard/SDHC adapter that might allow the slot to close and also works?

I can see this working for gigs where you can do the slomo shots if you need them on Card A, and use card B for the normal motion shots (hell you get 1 hour out of a 16GB card). A hell of a lot easier than swapping cards into your laptop in the middle of a shoot, and of course about 1/10 the price of SxS. Only drawback is the door and the fact that the SDHC cards are kind of tiny and easy to lose (I have before... bummer).

Thanks for the testing Steven, let me know how it goes and if you can find out how to turn the card into turbo mode with the EX1!

this is exciting!

Very intriguing. Good for Sony they put nothing into SxS to prevent this sort of bargain hunter's hack from working. Or maybe they never expected anyone to try? :)

-Noah

Thanks Keith...

It seems to work well. At least my first tests.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing about using the SxS for slo-mo when needed.

I'm now looking forward to the soon release of the new Extreme 32GB 30MB/s SDHC.

It will be less than $300

Very intriguing. Good for Sony they put nothing into SxS to prevent this sort of bargain hunter's hack from working. Or maybe they never expected anyone to try? :)

-Noah

Noah...
It appears the maybe Sony's new PHU-60K drive may be the reason we are able to get this to work. In fact, right now, it appears this memory/SDGC card combo is working just like their drive (No S&Q mode ability)... Actually, maybe even better. Time will tell. I've read the PHU-60K thread where some are having errors.

Dear Mr Moreau,

May I be so bold? perhaps you could pop over to AFT in Fremont and explain the communication problems with their AFT reader and the EX1, I'm sure it would be in their interest to sort this glitch out, and get us all up and running, I've mailed them, but I'm kinda on the other side of the pond !!

Sorry to be so forward, but AFT are the only guys so far who make an adapter that fits
into the EX1 properly.

You can find their contact info on the web no problems.

Thanks

Paul Newman

Hi Paul

You can call me Keith, when I get the AFT card I can try to start a dialog with them. Basically they would just need to get a Kensington, to compare behavior and circuitry. However, I'm not hopeful that any prompting will create an easy fix, as this things are mostly likely 'hardwired' to behave a certain way and it might not be easy to upgrade a unit to work better in something as specific as an EX1 when it works fine with other devices such as Macbook Pro or other Expresscard compatibile units.

In the meantime, have they responded to your emails?

The odd thing is the AFT does work in the EX1 with some SDHC memory other than the new Sandisk Extreme III 30MB/s.. The problem is, it has occassional memory errors.

If it worked with the new Extreme III memory, it would be by far the best solution.

You're right, they would need to understand why the Kensington works with the new Extreme and not theirs.

Having said that, the AFT might work with the Extreme memory in a computer, but not the EX1... for some odd reason.

The odd thing is the AFT does work in the EX1 with some SDHC memory other than the new Sandisk Extreme III 30MB/s.. The problem is, it has occassional memory errors.

If it worked with the new Extreme III memory, it would be by far the best solution.

You're right, they would need to understand why the Kensington works with the new Extreme and not theirs.

Having said that, the AFT might work with the Extreme memory in a computer, but not the EX1... for some odd reason.

Hi Steven, perhaps, since you seem to be the only one right now that has the AFT and the Extreme, you could test it on your Expresscard compatible computer (if you have one) and see if does work well. If it errors on the computer then that would give AFT something to go on and further incentive rather than trying to reverse-engineer to an EX1 specific problem for marginal rewards for AFT, like they will be selling like 10 AFT adapters for the few EX1/EX3 owners out there that might to use this solution?

Thanks Keith.
I do not have a expresscard in my computer. Well, short of the SxS Sony reader.
I don't believe that combo would be the best to test.

OK, when I get my AFT I'll test it in a couple Macbook Pros I have with the Expresscard slot and the Extreme III SDHC cards, I'll keep everybody posted.

I have the Kensington adapter on order so can't do testing yet.
But I want to say thanks for all your testing and sharing info!

Paul congrats on the Kensington.
Look into buying the SanDisk Extreme III 16GB 30MB/s SDHC memory.

So far so good...

Kensington 7 in 1 model k33407us. Transend 8gb SDHC model ts8gsdhc6. Tested with EX1 all modes SP and HQ 28min each mode no errors.

Brian, is it possible to overcrank with your combo in S&Q mode?

Kensington 7 in 1 model k33407us. Transend 8gb SDHC model ts8gsdhc6. Tested with EX1 all modes SP and HQ 28min each mode no errors.

Brain,

Does it absolutely require firmware 1.11 or will it work with firmware 1.05?

John