OK, thank you.

I've heard hardly any stories of SDHC cards recording properly at the time, but going faulty later. At least they allow you to "download and keep", as opposed to "download and erase".

There are plenty of Media Error stories with the SDHC cards. I've had my own. Flash cards wear our, and Multi-Layer Cell (MLC) cards are lower quality. Most of the errors seem to be centered around switching between two different cards while recording and from pressing record before the CF write light has turned off. I can't say if that is the only problem. So, I would guess that it is better to use identical card types and capacities to deal with the card switches. Also, faster cards may reduce the time used to write the media, but I can't say for sure. I will say that I had trouble with both of my Transcend 16GB (green stripe) SDHC's and not my Sandisk Extreme III 30MB/sec 16GB SDHC.

One issue that occurs to me is that some are not backing up cards. Instead now that many NLEs offer the ability to import shots directly from the cards the 'old school' paranoia is not being followed. To me this is very risky regardless of what type of media is used. It's certainly more risky when the cards which were rented have to be returned.

During a shoot there's many things going on. Director wants to check the shot and with tapeless this can be done very quickly and in some ways safer. Importing the shot straight into an NLE is a very quick and powerful way to work on set, one could even do a quick check on a key for the director. The real danger I see in this is a shot can get missed.

From someone who works in rentals perspective I wish for the day when there's a 100% reliable cheap media available for any of the tapeless cameras. If someone leaves a tape in a camera it's easy enough to know what to do. Files left on cards are not such a simple matter.

I'm seriously reconsidering using SDHC cards for future work.

I've had one Transcend card that has been nothing but trouble, I don't use it anymore, that was a few months ago.

I was on a shoot a couple of weeks ago and had a class 3 SanDisk card jam up on me with about 30 minutes of footage on it. I'd used this card for months without problems, now it isn't recognised by either my EX3, card reader or computer. It is completely dead.

I was lucky that here wasn't anything crucial on it, but I still had to go to my director and let her know that there had been "a problem".

I'm going to bite the bullet and buy some SxS cards, sure they're ludicrously expensive, but if something goes wrong again at least I don't have to tell my client that I lost their footage because I was cutting costs on memory.

" if something goes wrong again at least I don't have to tell my client that I lost their footage because I was cutting costs on memory."

A better investment of a few grand is a parallel recording device such as a Nanoflash which itself offers parallel recording to two separate flash cards.

I finally enquired about what SD cards are in my e-LCR adapters (bought already assembled 16GB ones) and discovered they are Sandisk Ultra II 16GB cards. Now I believe from memory that Ultra II are Class 4.

I haven't had any issues to date (touch wood)

correction: the card that failed on me was a Sandisk Class 4.

And whilst the nanoflash is appealing, it feels like more of a hassle to carry around an extra piece of gear on my camera.

I haven't heard of any reliability issues with SxS cards, does anyone know of any problems?

Now here's something interesting....

At the weekend I ordered up some MXM cards. They arrived today and after some quick tests on the face of it they appear to be faster than the MXR's.

Put a new ATP card into the MXM, overcrank to 50fps and you'll get 3 minutes of recording (90 seconds real time) before the camera bombs out. Try that with the same card in an MXR and the camera quits after 22 seconds (12 seconds real time).

Faster chips in the adaptor? Either way it looks like there is more headroom.

All the tests were done with near identical moving images in the viewfinder.

Hope to do some more extensive tests soon.

Thanks for that Marcus.
Was that 50fps with a 25fps timebase?
That's very impressive!

Thanks for that Marcus.
Was that 50fps with a 25fps timebase?
That's very impressive!

25 fps timebase, so yes I was very surprised. OK so it still bombed out after a few minutes but the fact it worked at all was surprising.

And it is the adaptors, not the SDHC cards because it was the same card in both.

When I get time I'll test this fully. But on the face of it there appears to be more headroom on these new adaptors. And headroom is a good thing for normal recording because I believe (and correct me if I am wrong) the camera writes in short bursts.

And kudos to MXM who got the cards quicker to me from Australia than it's taken a UK retailer to send me a new stills camera!

correction: the card that failed on me was a Sandisk Class 4.

And whilst the nanoflash is appealing, it feels like more of a hassle to carry around an extra piece of gear on my camera.

I haven't heard of any reliability issues with SxS cards, does anyone know of any problems?

I've never had a problem with an SxS card. In that respect they're worth the price.

I do have MxR adapters but hold them in reserve if I should run out of capacity with the SxS cards. So far that hasn't happened.

As for recording to an external device, it's OK if you're in a controlled environment. But if you're out in the field, literally, and are running around with the camera handheld, you run the risk of dislodging the cable between the camera and recorder at the worst possible time.

Also, there's yet another device that requires battery power, and one more piece of equipment, in addition to audio gear, to be concerned about.

Now here's something interesting....

At the weekend I ordered up some MXM cards. They arrived today and after some quick tests on the face of it they appear to be faster than the MXR's.

Put a new ATP card into the MXM, overcrank to 50fps and you'll get 3 minutes of recording (90 seconds real time) before the camera bombs out. Try that with the same card in an MXR and the camera quits after 22 seconds (12 seconds real time).

Faster chips in the adaptor? Either way it looks like there is more headroom.


Marcus,

Are these MxM adapters their new lockable ones? Did you buy them separately or as a kit - adapter with ATP card in it? I hope, they test the assembly before shipping...

Marcus,

Are these MxM adapters their new lockable ones? Did you buy them separately or as a kit - adapter with ATP card in it? I hope, they test the assembly before shipping...

The cards are MxM lockable. I bought 2 adaptor cards and 1 ATP.

The ATP card was not pre-installed and came in the same packaging as my Amazon card.

I'd much rather test myself than put blind faith in someone else testing for me. Many of our cameras are running different versions of the firmware. I recall reading that some people have even found speed inconsistancies between Slot A and B. Test the cards and adaptors with your own cameras so you know how they will react in the real world.

I'd much rather test myself than put blind faith in someone else testing for me. Many of our cameras are running different versions of the firmware. I recall reading that some people have even found speed inconsistancies between Slot A and B. Test the cards and adaptors with your own cameras so you know how they will react in the real world.

Makes sense!..

I just received my MxM lockable adaptors and fitted them up with 32gig Sandisk Extreme 30MB/s class 10 SDHC cards.
They so far seem to go like a rocket !!
Will give them a full test this weekend

harb

I don't have the EX1 (r) yet, but recognize the same problem with Transcend cards.
I use the 16gb ones for a photocamera. Once in a while the file system of the disk will just corrupt out of the blue. Resulting in 'unknown media'. Solution is to format and repartition in windows. I learned it usually happens after the first 0-30 photo's. After that it seems safe to continue. (never had it fail on me after that point, knock knock)

But it seems Transcend sdhc cards are not really consistent.

Here's a nice simular story: Please help - Transcend SD card shows up empty after expensive shoot : Sony EX Series XDCAM (http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/142/866401)

But i wonder why that guy goes cheap for a thousands of dollars production. :-)))

Many of us have never had any kind of issue using SD cards in EX camera. Personally I have 8 x 16GB Transcend and they've been faultless.

The all appear to be a similar type of card from the outside at least, all check out OK on the serial number checker too.

I think the issue is that the cards have a spec target wider than the EX handles. This means you have to test the cards individually. If the card tests good, it's good and vice versa. It seems a few cards may go bad though but that seems rare.

There are several things to do to test but the first step for me is but two matching cards in the two slots and record straight through without stopping. You should have NO MEDIA ERRORS. If there's an error, return the card.

You want FLAWLESS, not mostly works.

test as much as you like, my card was working "flawlessly" for at least three months before it corrupted completely.

as a professional I suppose I'm just risk averse - I won't be using SD for any critical shooting.

Same here. I'd had my Transcend/MxR's for a few months and they had tested perfectly. Then, prepping for a shoot one day and making sure the cards were empty, one of them took a dirt nap and was not recognized by the camera no matter what I did. It's back at Transcend now and they are replacing it, but I'll never trust either of them on a paying job.

Same here. I'd had my Transcend/MxR's for a few months and they had tested perfectly. Then, prepping for a shoot one day and making sure the cards were empty, one of them took a dirt nap and was not recognized by the camera no matter what I did. It's back at Transcend now and they are replacing it, but I'll never trust either of them on a paying job.

As has been pointed out, the Transcend cards are not to be trusted. It's probably not the SDHC solution at fault here, but a change in the Transcend manufacturing process earlier in the year.

All my Transcend cards have been put to one side and I'm now shooting only on ATP Pro cards.

Marcus, are you shooting on Promax or Promax 2 cards ?
The Promax 2 cards are SLC, which is better.
Where do you get your ATP cards from ?
I'm also thinking about the new Sony memory stick adaptor but i'm wondering if that'll work without a further firmware upgrade.
I'm shooting at the moment with the Transcend and MXR's, no problems so far but sometimes i worry about it.

Thanks.
Paul.

Marcus, are you shooting on Promax or Promax 2 cards ?
The Promax 2 cards are SLC, which is better.
Where do you get your ATP cards from ?
I'm also thinking about the new Sony memory stick adaptor but i'm wondering if that'll work without a further firmware upgrade.
I'm shooting at the moment with the Transcend and MXR's, no problems so far but sometimes i worry about it.

Thanks.
Paul.

I'm shooting onto the standard Promax. The last time I looked the Promax 2 only went up to 8gb.

Amazon UK stock the Promax cards but they hiked the price up recently.

You are now better off going to the MxM website as they sell both the 16gb and 32gb versions of the cards. Also take a look at their new lockable adaptor cards. On first impressions the cards appear to be faster than my MxR's which can only be a good thing (see further up this thread).

I ordered my cards last weekend and they turned up Wednesday. From Australia! The only thing to watch out for is the courier will sting you for import duty and VAT (in my case £24 which was for 2 adaptors and 1 16gb card although I can claim the VAT portion back).

Is there any difference now between the MXR and MXM adaptor ?
I've read somewhere that there's an actual size difference.
I have 2 of the early MXR readers, i've never had any problems.

How are EX users getting on with the Hoodman cards ? Are they still deemed reliable ?
Thanks, Paul.

I own 2 Hoodman cards...which I got 2 months ago. Well, last month one of them failed on me and I called Hoodman and they replaced it free of charge.

Since then, I have had no problems and I use the Kennington SxK adapter. But I also use the Transend red strip 16gb cards...and so far no problems, but I have noticed that the red to green time is a little longer....like 7 to 10 seconds.

HTH

Marcus (or anybody), did we determine if the color of the stripe on the Transcend (red or green) cards was the determining factor of which was the most reliable? Both of mine were purchased early in 2009 and are red stripes.

Marcus (or anybody), did we determine if the color of the stripe on the Transcend (red or green) cards was the determining factor of which was the most reliable? Both of mine were purchased early in 2009 and are red stripes.

I know of people using older red stripe cards that have had trouble free operation pretty much since the SDHC solution was discovered. The determining factor with the Transcends seems to be manufacturing date or manufacturing location. Either the manufacturing process was changed slightly to reduce costs or perhaps there's more than one factory being used and the cards are slightly different (although still within Class 6 spec). Either way, it's a lottery for EX1 users.

I'm not sure if SLC v MLC matters since Sony seem to have green lighted MLC use for their new SxS cards and adaptors. You are still looking at being able to make lots of write cycles. Cautious users might want to renew their cards every couple of years.

Paul, I will use the MxM lockable cards and the 16gb ATP card. The ones Marcus is using at the moment. I havent recorded much with them yet (using SxS cards) but no problems so far.

I cant say much about the Transcend cards, No error messages with them at all but for some reason I have more faith in the MxM ATP combo.

I think i'm going to hold off spending any money on cards for the time being until the proper Sony adaptor, the MEAD-MS01, gets released, then i'll get the recommended Sony memory sticks aswell, i reckon about £300 will get me enough to shoot for a day.

Interestingly, on the Sony site which show's the adaptor it says that existing EX1's and EX3's will need a firmware upgrade which is internet downloadable.

Sony : MEAD-MS01 (MEADMS01) : Features : United Kingdom (http://www.sony.co.uk/biz/view/ShowProduct.action?product=MEAD-MS01&site=biz_en_GB&pageType=Features&imageType=Main&category=OptionBoardsModules)

Paul.

I think i'm going to hold off spending any money on cards for the time being until the proper Sony adaptor, the MEAD-MS01, gets released, then i'll get the recommended Sony memory sticks aswell, i reckon about £300 will get me enough to shoot for a day.


Remember this is Sony prices we're talking about :-)

I think the firmware update will probably relate to the camera being able to measure the write limit for each card. It might even address the way the EX1 writes to the cards.

The Sony adaptors are probably the way to go but many of us need to shoot now and can't wait or rely on unreliable Transcend cards. We also are yet to find out the pricing.

I think i read somewhere that the new firmware stops the camera recording again until the light goes green, even if the user hits the record button,it makes sense to impliment this in a firmware upgrade, it takes the operator error out of the equation.
I'm aware of waiting for the light though so i wouldn't risk doing a home firmware upgrade just for this safety feature.
I'm aware that we're talking "sony" prices with the adaptor but it's still cheaper than the sxs route, also i think that there's gonna be more piece of mind than with Transcend and the other adators.

Paul.

I'll be shooting a conference/speech on economics today with the SanDisk 32g Extreme (class 10) cards today. I'll let you know if there are any problems. This class of card should have 0 problems ... ! Anyone with experience on these cards ... let me know.

I've been having a play with the ATP/MxM combo.

The headline is that the ATP/MxM lockable will overcrank at 48 fps for ages. In fact I got it to 20 minutes before I had to move on.

The same ATP card in a standard MxM gives a Media Restore after 29 seconds at the same frame rate with the same material in the viewfinder.

I've done a write up here:

Further Adventures with SDHC and the EX1 | Media2u Video Production Blog (http://www.media2u.co.uk/blog/?p=53)

I'll add to it as and when I get time. I really want to try and fill a card at 48fps if I can.

For UK users wanting the ATP cards and an adaptor, the MxM/ATP bundles certainly seem to be the way to go.

I also put one of my "bad" Transcends into the MxM. No difference in performance. A bad card is still a bad card. But the ATP's do get a write speed boost in the MxM adaptors it seems.

I'll be shooting a conference/speech on economics today with the SanDisk 32g Extreme (class 10) cards today. I'll let you know if there are any problems. This class of card should have 0 problems ... ! Anyone with experience on these cards ... let me know.

I have a pair of them at the moment......
I have yet to fill them and do the full 32gig test, but so far they have been great..... put them in using the MxM lockable cards, shut the door..... I like that part.... the camera liked them and away we went.....all a bit painless so far.
Let you know if that changes at all.

I got an error message yesterday on a shoot, does anyone have a link to a list of error messages for the EX1?

The error message came up after making a short 30 second or so recording, and the camera locked up. I only noticed it when the camera refused to start recording on the next shot.

I had to power cycle it, and then it asked to restore media. Nothing was lost.

(It was a lingerie shoot, so I expect you guy won't be interested in me posting any screen shots to help sort the problem out ;-) )

Duncan, I'd be willing to troubleshoot that footage for you. Did I mention I live alone? ;)