We presently own two F355 cameras, along with some F75 decks and PDW-U1 drives. We're thinking about purchasing one of the EX series cameras. For archival purposes, I'm thinking it would be nice to download video from the SxS cards to one of the XDCAM-HD disks that we are already accustomed to using.

Does anyone do this? What's your established work flow?

With the optical disks, life has been real simple. The XDCAM Transfer software works GREAT with Final Cut Pro. The past day or two, I've been browsing through forums, and it seems the flash cards add quite a bit of complexity to life. Clip Browser, XDCAM Browser, Log and Capture plug-ins.....we've never needed any of this stuff, and honestly, my head is spinning.

depends...

be aware that EX1 format doesnt match the PDW-F355 (nor the PDW700) - only EX1 "SP" mode matches with 25mbit in PDW355 - but usually you use:

- 35mbit/s HQ mode in PDW-F355 (=1440 x 1080)
and
-35mbit/s HQ mode in EX1 (=1920x1080)

what does that mean?

If you want to avoid transcoding between both you can use the disks "Userdata" Folder (cant access that via PDW-F355, but with U1) as a simple backup folder. That also means XDCAM transfer doesnt see these files, but access is like using an external harddrive holding backups of your EX1 data.

The other way would be to transcode EX1 into PDW-F355 or PDW700 codec, depending if you like to play it with your PDW-F355 or F30/70.
Transcode to PDW-F355: Yes, you can play the disk in the cam or a deck, but loose some rez (1440x1080)
Transcode to PDW700 format: Keep resolution, but loose space (PDW700 is Full HD but 50mbit/s) on the disk. Disk can be used with PDW-HD1500 deck or U1 the way you already know.

Again: Its a matter to create "xdcam" playable disks or use the disk as "stupid" backup storage.

Best regards

ULi