LaCie Portable Hard Disk at DVinfo.net

Jon R. Haskell · February 5th, 2008, 08:55 PM

I have the 120GB version of this device and use it to store long video clips from my computer to fedxed to a partner. I am wondering if it could be firewired to my 110U? While it is a bus powered device, it has a seperate connector for 5VDC so that problem could be solved.

Another factor to consider is the disk speed. I note the 200GB version is a 7200rpm model. I dont know what the 120gb version speed is, but it has a maxium speed of up to 800Mbits/s using a Firewire 800 connection.

Just wanted to inquire with the group if this thing can be hooked up to the camera, or if I should stop sipping on my wine (a Pinot Grigio on chance you are interested) before I blow my camera up.

jon

Here is a link to the drive http://www.lacie.com/intl/products/p....htm?pid=10722

Robert Adams · February 6th, 2008, 02:47 AM

...wouldn't it? I too have a pair of LaCie Rugged pocket hard-drives - 160Gb and 80 Gb. Good kit.

But it hadn't even occurred to me that you could firewire them direct into the camera (or out of the camera...) I wonder if it would work?

I think my discs spin at 5400... and I expect there is proprietary software on the firestore that packages the data... so I think we'll find that it doesn;t work. and I don;t want to blow up my cam either.

So jon, drink your pinot (i'm a shiraz man, myself, though as it's morning this side of the world I'll have a coffee, thanks), and let's see what the experts have to say about this...

Tim Dashwood · February 6th, 2008, 11:31 AM

You need an operating system and software to handle the triggering and recording of the HDV signal onto a hard drive. That's what makes the Focus Enhancements DR-HD100 different from just any firewire hard drive, and is also the reason why you can't record directly to just any firewire hard drive.

If you put a laptop with capture software between the camera and the hard drive then it would work well.

Robert Adams · February 11th, 2008, 04:27 AM

Thanks, Expert. Looks like it'll be a DR HD100 then after all.

James Thirston · February 18th, 2008, 05:46 PM

I wonder what it would have cost JVC & other cam manufacturers to include a lite version of say Linux operating system on a bios chip (which I think they already do on Panasonic P2 cards) whereby you could plug in any firewire or USB drive???

Surely the next camera manufacturer who does this will make a killing!! The only negative I guess is that there would be less control in terms of quality of hard drive the end user would tether up to their camera - cheap Samsung & Maxtor HDDs come to mind.

But then I hear Sony's new CF storage device is compatible with the IEEE FW output from any HDV camera. I wonder how it captures the different HDV flavours??

JT

Randy Johnson · February 18th, 2008, 06:06 PM

personally i am waiting for Firestore to go solid state. It may not happen for a while but you would think it would have to sooner or later. I dont have the budget to buy a $1,500 hard drive with only a couple year life expectancy.

Randy Johnson · February 18th, 2008, 06:09 PM

What ever happend to the "Slingshot"? it was supposed to be a box for about $300 that would let you use any hard drive you wanted even a i-pos to record video.

Joseph A. Benoit · February 18th, 2008, 09:15 PM

Hello Randy
why would you think that DR HD100 would only have a Life span of 2 years.

joe

Randy Johnson · February 18th, 2008, 09:21 PM

Well I guess it depends on your work I do weddings every weekend in my season sometimes more than one a weekend. Its a hard drive used in the field I cant see it lasting much longer. Am I wrong? Has anyone been using them longer than a year or 2?

Brian Luce · February 18th, 2008, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randy Johnson

personally i am waiting for Firestore to go solid state. It may not happen for a while but you would think it would have to sooner or later. I dont have the budget to buy a $1,500 hard drive with only a couple year life expectancy.

You can get a FS4 for $640.

James Thirston · February 18th, 2008, 10:52 PM

>> Its a hard drive used in the field I cant see it lasting much longer. Am I wrong?

I'd have to agree with you Randy, I do weddings full time too and judging by the the torture my cameras endure in the rush of the day I can't see a HDD lasting very long. I've lost count of the times I've tossed my DVXs into the back seat of the car trying to get to the different venues on time.

However, if your gig is working mostly in controlled environments with a crew, a hdd is likely to last longer.

But then there's always the scary thought in my mind that if a hdd dies or has a head crash due to shock or mechanical failure, your stuff is totally gone (you know those disk platters are not made out of alloy any more - not like in the old HDDs), at least with tape you could try splicing onto a new spool :)

Brian Luce · February 19th, 2008, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James Thirston

>>

But then there's always the scary thought in my mind that if a hdd dies or has a head crash due to shock or mechanical failure, your stuff is totally gone (you know those disk platters are not made out of alloy any more - not like in the old HDDs), at least with tape you could try splicing onto a new spool :)

I don't own firestore but always thought that the great thing is it provides redundancy. You're recording an event on two mediums. a built in back up. Brilliant. Seems like you suggesting an either/or situation. If I was doing weddings I'd jump on firestore.

Randy Johnson · February 19th, 2008, 09:25 AM

Do the FS-4s work with a GY-HD100? JVC STRONGLY recomends the 100. Firestore was supposed to e-mail me back with my questions but they never did. That tells what kind of company they are right there. I know you get more interactiveness with the 100 but all I want to do is record from the cameras trigger, have a tape back-up, I wold like that 6 second buffer and to be able to record in either 720p 30 or 24F in native HDV. Id like ecord confirmation too but I dont think I get that with the 4.

Marc Colemont · February 19th, 2008, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randy Johnson

Well I guess it depends on your work I do weddings every weekend in my season sometimes more than one a weekend. Its a hard drive used in the field I cant see it lasting much longer. Am I wrong? Has anyone been using them longer than a year or 2?

It are the same drives as been used in notebooks. So why would it only last 2 years?
By the way SDD drives are coming up soon. This will also makes it safer and are shock-resistant. They are in both IDE and S-ATA flavors available., which means they are directly replaceable with a HDD drive. 100% data compatible and uses Flash technology which is twice as fast as a normal drive. They are currently about 10 times more expensive as a 2,5" harddrive. Prices next year are expected to come down to twice the price of a HDD.

Randy Johnson · February 19th, 2008, 06:26 PM

Well generally a laptops drive isnt running constantly like when your capturing video also most of the time its not being thrown around while its writting.

February 5th, 2008, 08:55 PM	#1
Jon R. Haskell Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Westfield, IN Posts: 44	LaCie Portable Hard Disk I have the 120GB version of this device and use it to store long video clips from my computer to fedxed to a partner. I am wondering if it could be firewired to my 110U? While it is a bus powered device, it has a seperate connector for 5VDC so that problem could be solved. Another factor to consider is the disk speed. I note the 200GB version is a 7200rpm model. I dont know what the 120gb version speed is, but it has a maxium speed of up to 800Mbits/s using a Firewire 800 connection. Just wanted to inquire with the group if this thing can be hooked up to the camera, or if I should stop sipping on my wine (a Pinot Grigio on chance you are interested) before I blow my camera up. jon Here is a link to the drive http://www.lacie.com/intl/products/p....htm?pid=10722

February 6th, 2008, 02:47 AM	#2
Robert Adams Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Harare Zimbabwe Posts: 162	that would be cool... ...wouldn't it? I too have a pair of LaCie Rugged pocket hard-drives - 160Gb and 80 Gb. Good kit. But it hadn't even occurred to me that you could firewire them direct into the camera (or out of the camera...) I wonder if it would work? I think my discs spin at 5400... and I expect there is proprietary software on the firestore that packages the data... so I think we'll find that it doesn;t work. and I don;t want to blow up my cam either. So jon, drink your pinot (i'm a shiraz man, myself, though as it's morning this side of the world I'll have a coffee, thanks), and let's see what the experts have to say about this...

February 6th, 2008, 11:31 AM	#3
Tim Dashwood Wrangler Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 3,637	You need an operating system and software to handle the triggering and recording of the HDV signal onto a hard drive. That's what makes the Focus Enhancements DR-HD100 different from just any firewire hard drive, and is also the reason why you can't record directly to just any firewire hard drive. If you put a laptop with capture software between the camera and the hard drive then it would work well. __________________ Tim Dashwood

February 11th, 2008, 04:27 AM	#4
Robert Adams Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Harare Zimbabwe Posts: 162	as expected... Thanks, Expert. Looks like it'll be a DR HD100 then after all.

February 18th, 2008, 05:46 PM	#5
James Thirston Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: NSW, Australia Posts: 64	If only... I wonder what it would have cost JVC & other cam manufacturers to include a lite version of say Linux operating system on a bios chip (which I think they already do on Panasonic P2 cards) whereby you could plug in any firewire or USB drive??? Surely the next camera manufacturer who does this will make a killing!! The only negative I guess is that there would be less control in terms of quality of hard drive the end user would tether up to their camera - cheap Samsung & Maxtor HDDs come to mind. But then I hear Sony's new CF storage device is compatible with the IEEE FW output from any HDV camera. I wonder how it captures the different HDV flavours?? JT

February 18th, 2008, 06:06 PM	#6
Randy Johnson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Newark, Delaware Posts: 1,067	personally i am waiting for Firestore to go solid state. It may not happen for a while but you would think it would have to sooner or later. I dont have the budget to buy a $1,500 hard drive with only a couple year life expectancy.

February 18th, 2008, 06:09 PM	#7
Randy Johnson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Newark, Delaware Posts: 1,067	What ever happend to the "Slingshot"? it was supposed to be a box for about $300 that would let you use any hard drive you wanted even a i-pos to record video.

February 18th, 2008, 09:15 PM	#8
Joseph A. Benoit Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Coconut Creek FL Posts: 291	Hello Randy why would you think that DR HD100 would only have a Life span of 2 years. joe

February 18th, 2008, 09:21 PM	#9
Randy Johnson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Newark, Delaware Posts: 1,067	Well I guess it depends on your work I do weddings every weekend in my season sometimes more than one a weekend. Its a hard drive used in the field I cant see it lasting much longer. Am I wrong? Has anyone been using them longer than a year or 2?

February 18th, 2008, 10:52 PM	#11
James Thirston Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: NSW, Australia Posts: 64	>> Its a hard drive used in the field I cant see it lasting much longer. Am I wrong? I'd have to agree with you Randy, I do weddings full time too and judging by the the torture my cameras endure in the rush of the day I can't see a HDD lasting very long. I've lost count of the times I've tossed my DVXs into the back seat of the car trying to get to the different venues on time. However, if your gig is working mostly in controlled environments with a crew, a hdd is likely to last longer. But then there's always the scary thought in my mind that if a hdd dies or has a head crash due to shock or mechanical failure, your stuff is totally gone (you know those disk platters are not made out of alloy any more - not like in the old HDDs), at least with tape you could try splicing onto a new spool :)

February 19th, 2008, 09:25 AM	#13
Randy Johnson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Newark, Delaware Posts: 1,067	Do the FS-4s work with a GY-HD100? JVC STRONGLY recomends the 100. Firestore was supposed to e-mail me back with my questions but they never did. That tells what kind of company they are right there. I know you get more interactiveness with the 100 but all I want to do is record from the cameras trigger, have a tape back-up, I wold like that 6 second buffer and to be able to record in either 720p 30 or 24F in native HDV. Id like ecord confirmation too but I dont think I get that with the 4.

February 19th, 2008, 06:26 PM	#15
Randy Johnson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Newark, Delaware Posts: 1,067	Well generally a laptops drive isnt running constantly like when your capturing video also most of the time its not being thrown around while its writting.