e-HDR Hard Disk Recorder

Press News - Immediate Release - 31 July 2009

E-HDR Debuts from E-films

E-films portable Hard Disk Recording system for Sony XDCAM EX series camcorders means hours of non-stop location shooting at an affordable price

Sydney, Australia, 31 July 2009 - E-films is pleased to announce the e-HDR, the latest in a line of cost-effective accessories for Sony XDCAM EX1/EX3 users. The e-HDR allows the user to record directly to an external hard disk and sets a new standard for recording time and affordability. With prices starting from $199.95, the e-HDR is amazing value compared to other storage solutions.

The user inserts the e-HDR ExpressCard into the EX-1 or EX-3 camcorder, connects the Mini-USB cable to the hard disk enclosure – which can accommodate either an HDD or SSD hard disk (not supplied) – supplies power and presses record. The hard disk is powered by either a supplied AC adaptor or a Dolgin Power’s EX-V adapter.

e-HDR components:

* ExpressCard/34 form factor with mini-USB interface (to camera) and mini-USB interface (to hard disk)
* High quality custom “L” shaped mini-USB cable with interference suppression
* Customized enclosure compatible with recommended HDD and SSD hard disks

“High storage capacity is now an affordable reality. The e-HDR unlocks the true value of hard disk recording by allowing up to an amazing 84GB (5hrs+) recording capability at full resolution, 1920x1080 35Mb/s HD” says Ross Herewini, Product Development Manager at e-films.

E-films’ custom-designed HDD enclosure incorporates an eSATA connector for lightning-fast download of data, or direct editing from the drive itself. “We wanted to use off-the-shelf products to keep the cost down, but none of the products we sourced met our performance criteria, so we decided to design our own” says Herewini.

“What excites me about the e-HDR are the problems it solves for EX series professionals. Customers want real solutions that make production easier, and I believe the e-HDR delivers exactly the right combination of price, functionality and performance” says Jeromy Young, E-films Business Development Manager.

Orders are being taken immediately for delivery starting 10 August 2009.

About e-films

E-films began life as a video production house concentrating their efforts on the corporate and event video markets, winning many awards for their innovative video work. Leveraging this intimate knowledge of what video professionals really want, E-films now design, manufacture, and market products targeted at professionals like themselves. Dedicated to providing practical solutions for production professionals at prices that allow even the smallest production units to benefit, E-films identifies issues in digital tapeless workflow and engineers products to solve these problems.

Further product information can be found at E-Films Video Productions (http://www.e-films.com.au)

Fantastic... but what about us mere SD mortals who have firewire out (apart from the usual composite etc) on DVCAMs such as a DSR-570?

Ben

Ben,

This is an EX series specific device made to replace SxS cards.

Ross,

Nice looking product and design.

I would like to ask about the testing & reliability of the hard disc setup.

Have any "Media Error" messages come up in any of your testing?

Does formatting happen on the first try without any errors etc...?

Thanks

And what make and model of HD's did you test? Are you going to have a list on your web site?

TIA

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the question.

We haven't experienced any media errors in any of our testing using the tested HDD's and SSD's. That may be more to do with the quality of the drives that we tested with, which were

HDD

Hitachi
Western Digital
Seagate

SSD

Silicon Power
Transcend

But then again the data rates from the camera are not high compared to the rates the HDD and especially SSD's can sustain, so we wouldn't expect there to be many, if any of those kind of problems. But we haven't checked every drive in the market either.

And what we found from the MxR was that some memory was reliable right out of the box, and other memory was not, or didn't work.

With the e-HDR, because we decided to build our own PCB, and our won enclosure, testing it with the EX-Series cameras specifically, we think we are going to be very close from the get go.

Formatting comes up as soon as the enclosure as has the USB to the camera and power attached.

Just as a point of interest, would you be able to over/undercrank using the e-HDR and a SSD drive?

that has been explained already.
adapters using the USB pins of the SxS connector are all subject to the same limitation , whatever storage you can put on.
Currently out of SxS there si no storage using the PCIe signal.
even the external harddisk sold by Sony is USB and has limitation on overcranking

Ross

The picture on your website with it sitting on top of the camera...is that the AC adaptor it's coupled with or some other kind of power supply?

Dave

hey!
what kind of compression does it offer? is it equivalent of the XDR drives or the nano flash? or is it standard 4:2:0?

hey!
what kind of compression does it offer? is it equivalent of the XDR drives or the nano flash? or is it standard 4:2:0?

This is not handling compression. It is simply an alternate data repository for the camera to write to.

Thanks for your reply Ross.

I am at the point that the SDHC setup is not a reliable option for important work as Transcend & Hoodman cards have brought about media errors during shoots for me.

To use another adaptor based product I will need 100% compatability to be able to trust it.

Since writing to hard drives does not come close to the data flow ceiling, do you see them as less prone to error? As the SDHC cards are really pushed to their limits with datarate and fragmentation?

For me, this is the heart of the matter.

Your product is a great step for long event shoots.

... The e-HDR unlocks the true value of hard disk recording by allowing up to an amazing 84GB (5hrs+) recording capability at full resolution, 1920x1080 35Mb/s HD” ...



Is this a limit of the unit? Can I insert a for example 256GB SSD drive in the unit and have much more recording time?

I think Sony have put a limit on things but I'm not technical. I've read somewhere the file size limit is 84gb or so.

Wouldn't this device have the same limitations as any USB external hard drive for direct recording? I seems no different than my Western Digital My Book in that respect except that it has an Express Card to USB converter.

Also,

Where is the backup if recording to the device fails? The camera will only record to one slot or the other. Will the EX instantly switch to the other slot with a card in it if the device fails?

John

Ross

The picture on your website with it sitting on top of the camera...is that the AC adaptor it's coupled with or some other kind of power supply?

Dave

Hi Dave,

Thanks for pointing out that we had the wrong picture there.

In fact it is a picture of one of the many powering solutions we tried before settling on using Alex Dolgins adapter and the BPU-30 battery. That particular power pack for instance, didn't have a charge meter on it. And the manufacturer refused to put one in. So they didn't make the short list.

If you recheck we will be replacing that picture with the correct one.

If you go to the bottom of the Product Description page there is a link to the User Guide. Don't worry it's not too long.

Will additional drive enclosures be available? If so, how much will they cost?

Thanks.
Pete

Thanks for your reply Ross.

I am at the point that the SDHC setup is not a reliable option for important work as Transcend & Hoodman cards have brought about media errors during shoots for me.

To use another adaptor based product I will need 100% compatability to be able to trust it.

Since writing to hard drives does not come close to the data flow ceiling, do you see them as less prone to error? As the SDHC cards are really pushed to their limits with datarate and fragmentation?

For me, this is the heart of the matter.

Your product is a great step for long event shoots.

Hi Tim,

I'm sorry to hear you are having problems with your SDHC setup. We have many, many users happily using Transcend cards, 16GB and 32GB and have only had a handful of problems with them over the last nine months. I suggest you go back to your supplier for support on this issue.

"To use another adaptor based product I will need 100% compatability to be able to trust it." It's a pity you have experienced a problem right from the get go with a USB solution, as it makes it so much harder to gain confidence with it again.

I had problems with one of my Sony 16GB SxS cards, it let me down when it threw an error when the camera swapped to it during a shoot. Luckily for me I had B-Roll backup, but from that time on, I only used that card for B-roll. So I know what you mean.

Can we guarantee that it will perform in all instances under all conditions?

Well we've done many, many recordings with it, pulled out power while it was recording, pulled the USB plug while it was recording, and even pulled the card from the camera when it was recording. All went well. We didn't experience one media restore error in the recording, and I think that is due to the HDD and SSD's having a built in buffer which can handle the 8-10MB burst of data that the camera can generate, ( and which is probably overloading your SDHC setup).

The reason we went for our own cable and enclosure was precisely for the reasons you are asking. If it was under our control, then it would help troubleshoot any problem. If there is going to be a problem, then we are happy to stand behind the product, but if there are too many items out of our control, then it makes it very hard for us to sort out.

All I can tell you is we tested this solution more thoroughly than the MxR and we were happy with that.

Is this a limit of the unit? Can I insert a for example 256GB SSD drive in the unit and have much more recording time?

Hi Brian,

As Bruce points out below, this is a limit of the EX-1, it will happily format to 84GB but not beyond. Larger sizes are possible, and solutions exist elsewhere for that, but we have not been able to ensure that it will work for everyone all the time, so at this time cannot recommend it.

Wouldn't this device have the same limitations as any USB external hard drive for direct recording? I seems no different than my Western Digital My Book in that respect except that it has an Express Card to USB converter.

We originally were just going to supply the USB Expresscard, so that you could add any hard disk you like. What we found out quickly was that some enclosures would work, and some wouldn't. Some drives would work with those enclosures that did work, and some wouldn't. We didn't want to limit the enclosure / HDD or SSD to just a small number of combinations. So we decided it was easier to build our own, that worked specifically with the EX-1, then any HDD or SSD could be used.

I'm not really sure what limitations of a USB external drive you are referring to, but if you could give me more detail I'd be happy to try and address them.


Also,

Where is the backup if recording to the device fails? The camera will only record to one slot or the other. Will the EX instantly switch to the other slot with a card in it if the device fails?


Yes it does, when the e-HDR goes offline for any reason, ie if you pulled the power, or USB cable or the disk is full, the camera will automatically switch to the other slot, and continue recording.

Thanks for your thoughtful and informative reply Ross.

Sounds like the SSD solution is going to be more reliable than the SDHC approach.

Will additional drive enclosures be available? If so, how much will they cost?

Thanks.
Pete

Hi Pete,

The enclosures will be available separately, but we haven't decided on a price for it just yet, as we have just caught our breath from all the release lead-up. Can I back to you on that?

sorry for my question, but, what about WD passport drives that are only USB-powered ? wouldn't be possible to use them with your product ?

by the way I have your MxR solution and ALWAYS works great !!!!

kind regards

Hola Enrique,

The "USB-powered" is the problem. You can actually power a USB device from the camera, but when we tried it, we were worried about the current drain on the camera, and heat build-up. Each slot produces 0.5ma of power, so you would have to ensure that the USB device draws under that amount. We even built a model using both slots, to power hungrier devices. It worked, but there would be no slot fallback when recording.

Pity, it would be a real nice solution.

I'm pleased to hear the MxR's are working great for you. If you thinking of moving to 32GB recording, have a look at our updated card the e-LCR it will work Sandisk Ultra II 32GB as well as Transcend.

...all I need then is an adapter or cable from my Dtap connector (using AB dionic with the QR-EX3 adapter on my EX3) to power your HD enclosure and figure out putting the enclosure-HDD on the rear accesory shoe of the camera and will be fully portable !! is something like this out there ?? ... (don´t want to use the dolgin with an extra-battery)....


kind regards

Hmm, you need to have a 14V/5V step down voltage regulator to power the HD. But you do not need to use the extra battery. We could install a 14V input jack on the adapter, so you would use the adapter either to connect to the D-Tap 14V for your own power source, or plug in a BP-U30 battery if want an independent power source.

... the 14V to 5V adapter INTEGRATED in one HD-enclosure will be NICE !!... (or an HD-enclosure with 14V input capabilities) maybe as an EX3 special product, including a simple base plate to "keep" the product in the special EX3 rear accessory shoe ... that way you just "power" from your D-tap to the enclosure and all set !!
... maybe some others EX3 users with long lasting 14V batteries will appreciate this solution... I'll be the first one to get one !!!


Thank you Alex & Rose

Hmm, you need to have a 14V/5V step down voltage regulator to power the HD. But you do not need to use the extra battery. We could install a 14V input jack on the adapter, so you would use the adapter either to connect to the D-Tap 14V for your own power source, or plug in a BP-U30 battery if want an independent power source.

Don't you have to use the dtap to power the camera, so you can't use it to power the hd? Looking for a solution that would use one battery to power both the cam and the hd to avoid a situation like using the Phu-60, where you need to mount an add'l bpu30.

Mike, I am not sure if you are familiar with the SWIT S-8U62 battery, which is a 3d party replacement for the BP-U60. It has a 12V cable coming out of the battery, it goes to the EX1/3 12V jack to power the camera. The battery also has a D-Tap jack mainly to power the on camera light. Both the cable and D-Tap are energized. So instead of the light the D-Tap can power the HD enclosure. Our 12/5V converter plate would be in line between the D-Tap and the HD. Alternatively, if you do not want to get the SWIT battery, you would get a separate BP-U60 and plug it into the plate. This way the camera and the HD would have separate power sources.

That's great, Alex, not having used a battery like that, I thought the dtap and the 12v were the same.

Do you make just a cable that would convert the D-tap?

Alex: Could you please be more specific about the "12V/5V converter plate" ? ...I already have the battery, the Dtap connector AND a cable (that I use to power a microlite)... is it just a "cable-converter" solution ?...

kind regards

Enrique, if you look here EX-V adapter (http://dolgin.net/EX-Vadapter.htm) on the right side the EX-V5V model of the plate has some electronic circuit inside the plate, which steps down the voltage from 12V to 5V, and sends it out the cable to power the drive. In this configuration the plate is taking 12V power from its own BP battery. What we could do is install a small jack on the side wall of the plate, so you do not have to insert the battery on the plate, but connect your own 12V cable. This cable would be a D plug on one end, 2.1mm plug on the plate end. Please send us a PM if you need a bit more information.

Hi Ross

What about those of us who live in Australia? Will you be doing a deal again with Australian re-sellers which like your MxR Express cards means a far more expensive price for somebody who lives in Australia compared to customers from overseas?

Yes ive done the maths and allowed for exchange rate/freight etc and buying your products off someone like 'video guys' or whoever else, means paying a LOT more (about 50%) if you are Australian.

Of course I didnt want to pay 50% more and buy from your opposition who allthough based in Australia, dont seem to mind giving other Australians a fair deal.

Cheers

Jamie

Hi Ross

What about those of us who live in Australia? Will you be doing a deal again with Australian re-sellers which like your MxR Express cards means a far more expensive price for somebody who lives in Australia compared to customers from overseas?

Yes ive done the maths and allowed for exchange rate/freight etc and buying your products off someone like 'video guys' or whoever else, means paying a LOT more (about 50%) if you are Australian.

Of course I didnt want to pay 50% more and buy from your opposition who allthough based in Australia, dont seem to mind giving other Australians a fair deal.

Cheers

Jamie

Thanks for your question Jamie.

Can you please give me an example of how you have come to the conclusion that resellers are adding a huge 50% margin on. I would be concerned if that were the case, but without an example I can't comment.

Happy to do so Ross.

I did actually email your company in April but was directed to buy off 'Video Guys' or any other of one or two retailers who sell your product. They all sell at the same retail price so these prices no doubt apply across the board as perhaps they are working off your suggested retail price?

My post was in regard to express cards as you can see. You sell them from your website to the overseas market for $49.95. As your sales representative made it very clear, as I live in Australia, I can not buy them via your website.

$49.95US at todays OZ dollar value = approx $59 dollars.
Back in April when I emailed, the oz dollar was about .72 US so that would make the price then at approx $69 Oz.

Then and now if I bought the E-Films Express card from Video Guys (or the other Oz retailers) I only have the option of buying the Express Card with a 16gig Sandisk SDHC for $209 Australian (we can look at postage separately if you like).

Everyone knows you easily pick up a 16gig Hispeed SDHC card for around $65 - 75 dollars. I also note your Australian competitor sells the 16gig card (as an OPTIONAL extra - the same choice you offer overseas customers but not to Australian customers) at $75 so we can use their price if you like to keep it fair.

So..$209 from video guys less $75 = $134 to buy your MxR Express Card if you live in Australia. Lets convert that to US dollars shall we...That means Australians pay $112US dollars to buy your MxR Express card.

Ok...that means Australians if they want to buy your MxR Express card (and having no choice but to buy the SDHC card from Video Guys et al) are paying a little more than 50% more..they actually paying 125% more!!!! Gee I was really underestimating at saying only 50% more wasnt I!!!

Its actually much cheaper to buy Express Cards from Hoodman in USA and have them sent to me here in Australia than buy your product here in Australia. Fortunately I dont have to do that as there is an Australian manufacturer/seller who doesnt have a problem giving Australians a fair deal.

I havent made any of these prices up..they are all easily found on your website, as well as all the other prices I quoted from their respective websites. Even if you argue that Video Guys etc are putting all their mark up into the SDHC card, at the end of the day that really makes no difference to Australian buyers. We have the 'choice' to buy our SDHC card separately or elsewhere when we buy the equivalant product to yours from another source.

My question on this post was if you are planning on doing the same thing with your new products..that is do a deal with Australian retailers which will significantly impact on how much Australians have to pay for your new products compared to what overseas buyers will have to pay.

To be honest Im a little suprised you needed to ask for a specific example as it would seem to me that the difference in price would be fairly clear.

Either way, I wouldnt want you to go to any trouble, and I have since learnt that there will be alternate sources for hard disk recording solutions in the near future available in the market place so I am happy to wait and buy at a price I would consider fair.

Kind Regards

Jamie

Hi James,

Thanks for your response, and inviting me to respond.

We chose to use distributors in Australia and around the world to ensure that users like you, had direct and local access to sales and more importantly support from a reseller. We couldn’t see how that could be achieved from Sydney. And as you know in our game, if someone is having a problem, they want to go into the place they purchased the product for help.

In Australia, a distributor will not stock your product if you are selling direct in competition with them, the market is too small, which is why you were correctly directed to a reseller.

There are a number of factors to be considered when calculating prices. The first is that the exchange rates are usually fixed for a period of time by businesses, in this case it was 65c not 72c. We have subsequently recalculated for 80c. The second is that you didn’t allow for our 10% sales tax (GST). The third is that you are assuming that our resellers were pricing their memory at $75, which they were not. So your calculations are a bit off.

Secondly, in the background we have moved our manufacturing across to another company that was willing to meet our exacting standards in quality and product development. So the E-films MxR card that people are buying today is of a higher standard than our previous manufacturer could ever attain. So you are comparing different products, and asking why they aren’t the same price. Please note that a genuine E-films MxR will only be supplied through distributors listed on our site, and that we do not have OEM customers for our products.

Resellers in Australia routinely advertise items at one price, and then give a street price upon application, so a published price is no indication of the actual price a user will end up paying. I encourage you to shop around resellers to get the best deal you can, you may well be surprised the deal they will offer you.

Our distributor and resellers marketed the MxR as a combination including memory. This includes support not only on the MxR but also the memory.

After several enquiries from Australians, yours amongst them, asking that the card be supplied without memory, we responded several months ago with two resellers agreeing to stock the cards without memory.

We want to provide users like yourselves, the best products at the best prices possible, while still providing local sales and support. It’s a model that is used by businesses throughout the world, to allow them to increase sales and improve support.

We really hope to have you as a customer in the future, as we are embarking on some groundbreaking research and development, and would love to see you and all our users benefit.

Thanks Ross for your reply.

I'm not sure if 10% GST would make much difference when comparing what Australians pay for your product compared to Overseas customers.

With the internet giving buyers access to sellers all over the world, I for one buy nearly all my gear online (I also live in regional Australia so dont have local outlets) and if the price stated on the sellers website is high and another sellers is low, I will just buy from the one who has the product I want at the best price. Im not into emailing/calling re=sellers continually to get better prices for things like express cards, or other recording media etc. Perhaps thats just me!

So allthough I dont agree with your numbers, nor do I believe there is any real difference in product quality between manufacturers, I do wish you well in your business venture.

At the end of the day I guess Australian buyers (myself included) will decide whats the best deal for them and go with it!

Again, all the best with it!

Kind Regards

Jamie

I can only echo exactly what Jamie is saying. Ross had a business plan that worked well for all. Adding extra tiers into the supply chain has only served to add cost and create a fair amount of ill will amongst the locals.

The days of people wanting to buy from shop front businesses are long gone, especially for items like these. We all click to buy. Almost all my kit comes from a DVInfo sponsor in NY at around half the local cost. If I have an issue with it I contact the manufacturer.

I do work for a local business that resells goods of USA manufacture. Our sell price is based on parity with USA prices. We cannot sell for more than that. We still make a decent margin as we buy in bulk from the USA.

I simply cannot understand why a business would move from direct online sale to retail when everyone else is moving or has moved the other way.