DR-HD100 various topics

[Daniel Weber]

Dave,

I am considering the DRHD100 for my HD100A.

Have you been happy with yours?

I have had some bad tape problems and when I get my unit back from JVC I am planning on purchasing the DRHD100 to avoid further tape problems.

I have read of some people having problems with corrupted footage. I have several big projects coming up where I will be on location and reshooting in the case of either a tape or hard drive recorder problem is not an option.

I guess that after what I have experienced with the JVC for the past 2 weeks, I am a little gun shy.

I would appreciate any feedback you might have.

Thanks,

Dan Weber

[Mekhael Trepanier]

hello im looking into a firestore unit ive done some homework on them but what some people are saying on here and what the focus website is saying are two different things

focus... DR HD 100 is what they claim to be the only model that will work with this camera

on here.... FS 4HD many people mention using it...

can i use both units the exact same way or are people who are using the fs4 having to rig something different to make it compatible.

the drhd100 are hard to find to purchase.
the fs4 seems very easy to buy and at much better prices. i can get a second hand 80g. for less than a new 40g.

please clarify this for me

thanks

MEKHAEL

[Bill Ravens]

I'm using a FIrestore FS4HD on my HD110. Straight plugin, nothing special done. I should tell you that the Firestore DTE drives are unreliable, with random dropped footage. This is true for all models, including the FS100.

[Stewart Menelaws]

Hi Mekhael

As you can see on this forum... people have chosen both models for various reasons, the biggest is probably down to budget.

We chose the DRHD100 Focus/JVC drives because they have been set up to talk to the JVC cameras, and with the number of problems there is with this type of technology (HDV) we need to try and keep technical issues down to a minimum. Or at least, it gives us a better argument with JVC technical when things are not working as they should.

Despite waiting to purchase the newer 60GB version2 software models (the one with the Quick Time wrapper) we have also experienced dropped frames.

The chaps at Focus were very helpful when we had some teething problems.

We continue to use Tape as a back up to the drives depending on what we are doing - all the best with your purchase, as with anything second hand - be careful.

Stu
www.studioscotland.co.uk

[Ian Broadbent]

I bought a FS4HD 40 gb model earlier this year. All my teathing problems so far have been down to finger trouble at my end. To date (touch wood) I have had none of the problems others have. But I still use tape as a back up in case.

I made a power tap connector and power from my switt batteries. I can get through to the reception on one battery powering both cam and firestore

I had a theory based on posts that lost files were possibly attributed to an intermittent loss of firewire data so.... Watch the firewire connector on the cam, its not that tight a fit, I squeezed the outer shield in a little - it tightened the connector enough that it is less of a worry. I havent had any lost files to date!

One gripe I had was the length of the included fire wire cable with the right angled connector - 6 inches wont reach any where!!!

Cheers n beers

Ian

[Jonathan Nelson]

I just got my first firestore from b&h this morning and I was shocked that the face was half glued on.

Is this normal?

I don't mind gluing it back together again but I just paid 1400 dollars for this piece of plastic that is far from professionally built. It reminds me of my old game boy except not as robust, lol.


So I am trying to decide whether I should return it or just glue it. The only issue I have about gluing it is that it might not hold very well.

[Daniel Kohl]

It's not normal.

That's probably not much of a help to you, though.

Your choices are obvious - send it back and wait for a replacement, or fix it yourself and swallow the bitter pill of having spent your money on a less than perfect unit.

If it were I, I would check to see that nothing else is wrong with the unit. If the plastic face is really the only flaw, and I could fix it easily, I would just fix it, and use it. Maybe you should document the flaw with a digital camera before you modify the unit, in case you have to send it back on guarantee later. It is a bummer to get flawed merchandise, especially when it is expensive. But it may not be worth the fuss to get a cosmetically better unit.

good luck.

cheers,

DK

[Jonathan Nelson]

Thanks for your input. Since this is not normal, I am going to get a replacement.

Just my luck I guess but I am glad I bought it from b&h so it should be easy to get a new one.

[Marc Colemont]

I have something similar with my DR-HD100 V1.1 and HD100.
I'm loosing sync from time-to-time, while everything is set and connected properly.
When it happens the DR-HD100 is detected by the camera showing the dedicated DR-HD1000 Icon in the viewfinder. So this means there is physical contact.
When I press REC, it shows in my viewfinder 'Triggering ...', but the DR-HD100 does nothing, and the Icon in my viewfinder doesn't become RED. Unless I press Record on the DR-HD100 itself, it starts recording. So I started double checking the synchronization settings...

In the "Control" menu it has the JVC GY-HD selected while it doesn't do what it should do. When it happens I put it to something else like 'Local' and when I put it back to JVC GY-HD it suddenly works again, as if it forgot the setting.

It looks like I start to trace down when it happens. Looks like a bug.
It happens frequently after I used the DR-HD100 as HardDrive to my computer and then put it back on my camera the first time.
It freaks me out on-site with no tapes in my camera anymore. The customer is then looking like: what, is your camera broken? It doesn't want to record?
Anyone else having this same issue? Any ideas Focus?
Is there a battery I need to change inside the unit for example which remembers the settings?

[John Mitchell]

It may not be normal, but my unit exhibits similar poor manufacture. I noticed the face of my unit does not quite align with the body.

It does not affect the function however.

I wonder if Focus Enhancements needs to look at their QC?

[John Mitchell]

When we import OMF's into our Avids of the DR-HD100 we occasionally get a problem where the clips do not properly attach themselves to the project. We end up with a bunch of projects in the media tool labelled with the clip name (usually a long date).

If we have an MXF project, strangely audio 2 gets correctly attached to the project and audio 1 and the mxf video file do not.

I'm wondering if this comes down to a user rights issue and if Focus Enhancements have a recommended setting for security on the drive itself (not even sure if this can be set)? All Avids are run with XP permissions set and simple file sharing turned off. Users must be members of the Administrator's group.

[John Mitchell]

Just a note to others who are experiencing problems getting their unit to recognise. This is the frustrating process I have been through quite a few times.

Attach DR-HD100 to computer via F/W (I start with the unit off to avoid damaging the port). Make sure you attach it to the right port.

Go to enable PC menu. I get a SUCCESS at this point.

XP does not recognise unit.

We use the unit every day and the bottom line is it works everytime with the short firewire cable provided with the unit. We have tried with numerous other cables (known good ones, brand new ones etc) and on many different PC's and nothing works. This was not always the case.

I can't give you a technical explanation except to say that if you are having problems with PC connectivity, try a short cable (it's about 6 inches long).

[Jonathan Nelson]

It might have been normal...

I got my new firestore last monday and it is in slightly better shape then the first one. Looking at it though, I noticed that the clear plastic screen is missing some paint in some areas which is noticeable when the lcd light is on. Also, there is a few plastic parts that are "squishy" and far from solid.

I just find the quality of the FS-4 to be way under par of other professional electronics around the same price range. This thing is built cheaper then your average consumer electronics. I would be embarrassed if I was focus.

I had no idea they were made this cheap, I mean, this thing is cheap! I bought blind on this one so I am more mad at myself for not checking one out before hand.

I emailed focus about it a few weeks ago but it is apparent they could care less since they never sent me a reply.

I don't see myself buying focus products again.

[Steven Thomas]

Jonathan,
Sorry to hear about your run with the Focus drive.

I'm about to buy a drive and that just convinced me to NOT buy from Focus.
These things are ridiculously expensive, they better be of decent quality.

[Dave Beaty]

I am trying to determine why our DR-HD100's are not recording the correct timecode from our HD250's. I am not sure if the settings on the DR's are correct, but it is set to use HDV TC.

On the camera, we read the correct TC, on the DR display when recording the DR shows the correct TC, yet on the DR clips the TC is way off. A 1:00:00:00 tape clip will have a file clip TC of 22:00:00:00.

Can anyone just double check the settings that works with their unit?

Thanks

Dave Beaty