I have buy the following : 2X SxS 8Gb who came with the camcorder , 3X SxS 16 Gb , 2 X SxS 32 Gb and until now i have not need more but how many do you uses guys.

My workflow is shoot all the events without transfering and reformating my SxS cards , all the transfer is done after getting back to my editing suite never on the shooting scene.

This workflow have avoid probably many errors when shooting under pressure i have estimate my need at about 6 hours of SxS at 35 Mbs but now i think 8 hours maybe needed.

I don't use my SxS cards except when I need overcrank but I have
2 8GB SxS
1 16GB SxS

I also have
MxR (original)
2 32GB Sandisk Ultra Class 2 (Yes Class 2)
This gets me through all my jobs.

I agree absolutely to never offload during a shoot. Most accidents are human error and offloading during a shoot is the most common cause.

Given the current technology I'd recommend you get MxR or MxM and 4 Sandisk Extreme Class 10 32GB cards or maybe ATP Pro Class 6.

8x 16GB Sandisk Class 6 SDHC and 3x MxR adapters.

I've used the cards 141 times cards since I bought them. I log every reel and record which cards I used and how often etc, etc.

2 8GB SxS
1 32 SxS
2 16GB ATP Cards Class 6
3 16GB ATP Cards Class 10
All in MxML adaptors.

Still thinking of getting another SxS Card.

I have a couple of SxS cards, but don't use them-mostly because my MBP only has a SD slot.

2x Hoodman adapters
4x 32GB SanDisk Class 10
1x 16GB SanDisk Class 10

Zero problems with any, over/undercranking included.

1x 8 GB SxS Pro
1x 16 GB SxS Pro
1x 32 GB SxS Pro
8x MxR with 16GB SanDisk Class 4

I try to use SxS as often as I can and use SanDisk for supplemental material only, if possible. If there is really need to shoot more on SxS for important material, I copy from SxS to SanDisk in the camera, two times to two different SanDiscs - and I do check at least one copy, before I delete on the SxS.
But this happens very rarely, and I can do this in hotel at the evening after the shows. If it would happen more often or during the "action" while shooting, I would buy more SxS.

1 16GB SxS
2 8GB SxS

12 16GB SDHC with Adapters (diferent kinds Delkin, Kensington...)

and a nanoFlash for redundant recording.

I agree with Craig on save the bitrangling for later on back in studio. Another important missed step is to prepare all your cards before hand by formatting them when you prep the camera (presumably the day before) so to have NO content on the cards you are carrying. You don't want to be formatting cards in the middle of a shoot and erase material you shot earlier in the day.

One 8 GB SxS PRO and it stays pretty much always in slot A. Slot B is usually occupied by a USB adapter for my 500 GB hard drive or SDHCs.

--AOK--

I am very above what it is posted here with my SxS cards who give me a total of 128 GB and was thinking of adding 2 SxS cards of 32 GB for an estimate of 9 Hours of long event recording.

Also recording when far away from the studio this is a bonus to record a few events and only get back when all shooting is finish avoiding long travel back but my workflow maybe above many of you.

Thank-you and dont stop yet your feedbacks because with the postings done by you guys it make me think i am an alien from another planet ..... ok it is a little joke but may be i am an alien after all.

1 16GB SxS
2 32GB SxS-1

I never reach my 5 hr limit... though I don't have a laptop, it seems whenever I'm on location the producer or client always has one. I always bring EX Clip Browser with me on a memory flash card, install the software and bamm, I'm a hero! I usually dump clips at the end of a shoot anyway.

1-8GB Sony
2-16GB Sony
4-16GB Sandisk

These days I use the NanoFlash most of the time.
It uses CF cards very solid reliable cards.
2-16GB Sandisk
2-32GB Sandisk
2-64GB Delkins
I usually record 100mb/sec with the CF, sometimes 50mb/sec. And it is 4:2:2, it makes a big difference in grading. Though most people (clients) can't tell the difference, some know of the difference and insist on it.

I also have 5 16GB Sandisk SD cards with M&R adapters, but I only use those as a spare tire (Sony's term for SD cards in XDcams). I have used them a few times w/o any problems at all.

1 16GB Sony
5 8GB Sony

Often that is not nearly enough to get me through a day's worth of shooting, so I always have my PXU-MS240 with me. Sony PXU-MS240 Mobile Storage Unit PXU-MS240 - B&H Photo Video (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=659880&Q=&is=REG&A=details)
With the mobile storage unit standing by it would be impossible to ever run out of cards on a shoot. The NEXTO DI 2500 is also a good option and allows you to backup CF cards as well.

My workflow for the past few months has been to backup every card to the MS240 as soon as it is taken out of the camera even if I know that I won't have to re-fromat the card anytime soon. Just one more layer of security. I usually have clips dating back a couple of months still sitting on the MS240 at any given time.

There's a used nanoFlash bundle for 2,250.00 at B&H. I'd jump on it but I don't have the money yet.

I have 1x 32gig and 3 8gig SxS cards. Plus 1x 16 gig Hoodman Raw. I need more media because I have 2 EX1 cameras, and I want to be able to record long live shows.

6 x 8gb sxs
4 x 32gb sxs

OT: 4 x Sandisk 32gb CF for nanoflash.

All work beautifully.

2 - 8g SxS
12 - 16g SDHC cards & 4 card adapters

I use the SDHC cards all the time. I have to hand off media to all my clients as I don't self produce.
Sometimes client only brings one drive. I can hold the cards until they get the drive to the editor for copying in the edit suite.

1- 16gb sxs
3- 8gb sxs
5- mxr adapters
5- 16gb sdhc sandisk

I'm currently using:

- 2x MxM with ATP Pro 32GB (everyday use)
- 3x SxS 8GB (for overcranking and special mission-critical jobs)

BUT, all the above is just a redundancy for the CF cards I'm using with my nanoFlash:

- 2x PhotoFast 32GB
- 2x Transcend 64GB

No probs at all...

(4) 16GB SXS
(2) 8GB SXS
(1) Lexar 8gb express card left over fron the testing days works great with the firmare update.

(6) MxR Express Adapters (2)

(5) 32 gb SDHC cards Trendscend and SanDisk
(2) 16 gb SDHC cards SanDisk

(1) 64gb Trendsend (2) 32gb Trendscend (2) 16gb Trendscend and SanDisk compact flash

Two 16GB SXS
Two 8GB SXS

Convergent Design XDR with

Eight 16GB Transcend CF 300X
Six 8GB Transcend CF 300X

Jus.

Two 8GB SxS cards that came with the camera.
Eight 16GB SDHC cards in adaptors, mostly MxM. Mixture of Sandisk and ATPPro cards.

Never lost a frame and as much of my work is long concerts with low budgets using SxS cards is just too expensive.

Noticed this deal at TapeOnline for the PHU-120R
120GB of storage for $679 seems like a good deal. At that price, I'm tempted to get one and I don'[t even need it.


Sony Portable Recorders PHU-120R 120GB Hard Disk Unit | TapeOnline.com (http://www.tapeonline.com/products/sony-professional-hard-disk-unit-phu-12r-120gb)

Noticed this deal at TapeOnline for the PHU-120R
120GB of storage for $679 seems like a good deal. At that price, I'm tempted to get one and I don'[t even need it.


Sony Portable Recorders PHU-120R 120GB Hard Disk Unit | TapeOnline.com (http://www.tapeonline.com/products/sony-professional-hard-disk-unit-phu-12r-120gb)

I'd avoid it personally. The talk of "shock" and "vibration" indicate to me its a traditional hard disk unit with moving platters. Let alone all the talk of "spinning up" and all the special measures required to accommodate a form of media inherently unsuited to rough handling.

The way things are moving, SSD's are where its at. Yes they are expensive but there's no need to worry about having to shield a fragile HD unit from rough handling in the field.

A 128gb SSD is approx £200 (UK pounds) from Crucial. Why Sony aren't offering an SSD unit is beyond me. Seems like a product we would all cry out for and one that would be easy to produce.

Marcus, good points, but it depends on what you're shooting. If I'm shooting in the studio or a classroom or long-running sit-down interviews, I'd have no second thoughts about using the hard drive on a tripod. That's really what it's intended for anyway. I'd never suggest using it for run & gun hand-held shooting. No matter how reliable it was, it would still be awkward and throw the camera out of balance. That's where SxS cards rule. I'm still not willing to put any of my footage on SD cards. The risk is not worth it to me. To other people, it might be worth it, but not to me. It's a personal choice.

Marcus, good points, but it depends on what you're shooting. If I'm shooting in the studio or a classroom or long-running sit-down interviews, I'd have no second thoughts about using the hard drive on a tripod.

The thing is though, given the way things are moving Sony should already have an SSD unit. It is a no brainer. So unless I had an immediate need I'd be holding off until an SSD unit came out.

Of course if you need a unit *today* then the HD unit is fine. But if its a "nice to have" purchase, I'd hold off.

Right now one can use two 32GB SDHC cards to get nearly 4 hours of record time. I'd really hope Sony supports SDXC cards as two 64GB cards would give you nearly 8 hours of record time.

2 16GB SxS cards and 1 8GB SxS card, original cards. I have a laptop computer with a Lacie Rugged usb harddrive for dumping in the field when they're full.

I'd avoid it personally. The talk of "shock" and "vibration" indicate to me its a traditional hard disk unit with moving platters. Let alone all the talk of "spinning up" and all the special measures required to accommodate a form of media inherently unsuited to rough handling.

The way things are moving, SSD's are where its at. Yes they are expensive but there's no need to worry about having to shield a fragile HD unit from rough handling in the field.

A 128gb SSD is approx £200 (UK pounds) from Crucial. Why Sony aren't offering an SSD unit is beyond me. Seems like a product we would all cry out for and one that would be easy to produce.

Exactly my thoughts too.

The one from MxM looks much more convincing (available soon):

MxM Express SSD Recorder (http://mxmexpress.com/?page_id=15)

Exactly my thoughts too.

The one from MxM looks much more convincing (available soon):

MxM Express SSD Recorder (http://mxmexpress.com/?page_id=15)

It may be the angle the photos are taken from, but it appears the SSD is drawing power from the camera. A neat design assuming (a) this is true and (b) it doesn't kill the battery life on the camera. I have to be honest, I have no idea how much power an SSD needs. I assume it is less than a platter based device.

Now if I go and look at a picture of the Sony unit, Google images throws up an absurd contraption that requires you to mount a second battery to the top of the camera ,chiefly:

http://www.hdndv.co.kr/hdndv_data/PHU-120R-001.jpg

I'd kind of assumed the Sony unit would mount on the back of the camera and would share a battery with the camera. Apparently not. So you'll probably end up having to buy another battery which further adds to the cost.

That's right, Markus - the MxM SSD unit is powered from the camera's USB 2.0 interface.

I'll soon be testing one, and reporting back here.

Two SxS cards a 16 GB which came with the camcorder and a 32GB which I bought. I do mostly nature and wildlife stuff and I have never needed more space yet.

I use the 16 gig that came with my EX1R and a 32 gig SxS pro that I bought at the same time. Picked up 2 of the 8 gig Sandisk SxS cards before B&H closed them out; I wish I had bought a couple more at the time. For $159 that was a good deal. I also got a Kensington 7 in 1 long before I bought the camera but have never tested the SD card option as I thought I would. I wish the 16 gig Sony card would drop to a more reasonable price as $525 seems crazy when the 32 gig SxS 1 is only $580

I have 2 x 32gig cards and have found that for me, that seems to fit the bill for my shooting style. In most cases I'm shooting a single project at a time. But for those shooting multiple projects you may consider having dedicated cards for the duration of the project to maintain a continuous file name and numbering just in case you forget to change them and to avoid the hassle of changing them back and forth between projects. I plan to pick up a couple more if I get the green light on a couple pending projects to avoid those issues.

1- 16gb sxs
1- 8gb sxs
2- mxr adapters
1- 16gb sdhc sandisk
5- 16gb sdhc Transcend

I use:

2 x 8gb SxS Sony cards for overcrank
16 x 16GB SDHC various cards with Kensington adapters

3x SSD power/storage units at 80gb each for those long days in the studio or at concerts (1 each for 3 EX1's)

index (http://whitewatermedia.net/EX1SSD/) - this just for information - they are no longer for sale.

Paul

Do you think there would be a problem using the recorder for weddings and other parties. I mean with all this talk about shock and vibration do you think you have to walk on egg shells while this is mounted on your camera to avoid it from failing.....



Marcus, good points, but it depends on what you're shooting. If I'm shooting in the studio or a classroom or long-running sit-down interviews, I'd have no second thoughts about using the hard drive on a tripod. That's really what it's intended for anyway. I'd never suggest using it for run & gun hand-held shooting. No matter how reliable it was, it would still be awkward and throw the camera out of balance. That's where SxS cards rule. I'm still not willing to put any of my footage on SD cards. The risk is not worth it to me. To other people, it might be worth it, but not to me. It's a personal choice.

I just think the hard drive would be awkward to use for hand-held shooting. I'm sure it could be done, but personally wouldn't want that thing mounted on top of my camera with a battery, cable, etc. And if you have to mount a light on top of the camera too, that just makes things even worse.

Perhaps Olof has a mounting solution that will put the hard drive to the side of the camera or underneath. I'd be willing to try that type of mount, but I already know I don't want the hard drive located on the handle.

For hand-held shooting, I always shoot on genuine SxS cards. And if I couldn't afford enough cards to get me through the whole shoot, I'd do what I do right now and that is to offload cards to my PXU-MS240 mobile storage unit.

One thing I like about XDCAM EX is that there are many options for recording.

Doug the only problem I see with the portable storage unit it that for a 32 gig SxS card it takes 20 min for it to down load to the unit. when doing a party, where do you place this unit down where someone wont steal it.... I wonder if there is an extension cable for the unit so you don't have to mount it to the camera maybe you can mount it to the VSB1 shoulder brace?

Michael,

Are you asking about the PXU-MS240?
It is a stand-alone battery-operated drive with its own card slot.

You can start the copying and then put the unit into a bag, a case, or wherever you want that is safe and leave it totally unattended while copying. You could probably even put it into a large fanny back or small backpack if security was really a concern.

Hey doug
have you heard about that MxM SSD hard drive unit coming out for the sony pmw ex1r? If so what do you think about it. And how does it work?

I just checked it out Michael: MxM Express SSD Recorder (http://mxmexpress.com/?page_id=15)

Looks handy, but they don't give much info in it. No price, and no telling how much storage it has. It's definitely not like a NanoFlash in that it bypasses the compression. So you'll get the same footage you get on SxS, but still, a large capacity hard drive to shoot to could be just what the doctor ordered if you can get 100gigs on it and it comes in under a grand. Great for shooting long concerts or plays.

Two 32GB SDHC cards will give you 64GB (close to 4 hours) for around $400.

I do think SSD is likely to be more reliable than Sony's hard drives have been.

I don't see much point to external devices the record EX codec when SDHC can give you theoretical endless recording depending on the number of cards. While one card is recording you swap the other. 4 cards (128GB) can keep you going nearly 8 hours straight.

Yeah, SDHC cards are a gamble. We've read too many posts of people trying to recover lost media from card errors. This little HD would have to prove itself, but really, anyone working professionally should Stick with SxS, or get a real deal recorder like the Nano, that upgrades your capture quality. I have a Hoodman RAW card & adapter, but it's the last in the bag to get grabbed, and actualy never does. Can't risk it. Imagine shooting a wedding or some one time event. You get one chance. Sure some people will never have a problem. But some do. You could blow a whole gig's pay and a chunk of your reputation by trying to save a few hundred on business expenses. I say if this is your business, then buy the good stuff.

Hey doug
have you heard about that MxM SSD hard drive unit coming out for the sony pmw ex1r? If so what do you think about it. And how does it work?

Sorry, I don't know anything about it, nor do I have any interest in finding out anything about it. As I have said before, I shoot on genuine SxS cards only and don't feel the need to bother with other media. My workflow is safe, fool-proof, and easy. I'm not looking for anything to change that.

As Chad recommends, I bought the "good stuff" a couple of years ago and haven't spent a penny since on cards or had a single glitch. I can't afford to take unnecessary risks.

Chad
The company sent me the info below about drive size and price.



On EX1 and EX3 the max partition is 80GB which is 5 hours.
On EX1R...unlimited and new version EX3...as well, PMW320, 350 &
500...unlimited
It should be release this weekend...shipping in approx. a week's time...
The kit without the hard drive is $249 which is what you'll see on the
website when launched.
Plus the choice of your hard drive approx....64GB $150, 80GB $240 and
128GB
$280.

So EX1 owners can get 80 gigs for 500.00 bucks. Not too bad for a locked down gig where you don't have to carry the camera. It'd be nice to get a firmware update that allows for more space. Still 5 hrs will cover most situations. I would rather have 2 decently priced 64gig SxS cards. I think SxS pricing is a big scam. 800.00 for a 32 gigger is just insulting.

I wonder if you can get a larger drive with multiple partitions?

3-32 gb Sony
3-16 gb Sony
3-8 gb Sony
1-PHU-60 gb