What? No cache recording?

[David Cleverly]

Wow. That's almost a deal-breaker for me.

Here I am about to order a new kit expressly for ENG work and I learn this? How did I not pick up on this before??

Why does this cam not have cache recording, I wonder.

DC

[David Dixon]

At the risk of sounding like an idiot - what is cache recording?

[Atticus Lake]

And which camera are we discussing?

[Mike Buckhout]

On the X70, I can tell you there is no function to record a period of time before you hit the record button.

Slightly disappointing yes, but with dual card slots you can basically always be rolling and just swap cards as needed to keep going. I have no need for that so I can't say how well it works in practice though.

[Chris Hurd]

Also known as "pre-record buffer." I thought most all pro camcorders using flash-based media had this.

[Tom Grushka]

Yeah, true. Can see how this would be useful for event recording to save media space.

But tape based cameras didn't do this either, and now cards are getting so cheap:
$$$$$ for extra 2-3 minutes on P2 or CF > $ for extra 2 minutes on SDXC, right?

Anyone tried those new $90 256 GB PNY cards yet? If they work reliably, wow.

[Christopher Young]

Originally Posted by David Cleverly

Why does this cam not have cache recording, I wonder.DC

No it doesn't Dave but with cards being so cheap and with hours of record time on board you could use the separate record function as a backup. Not quite as efficient as a rolling cache but it does work I've tried it.

Set up card A to record off the normal start / stop button on the zoom demand grip and set up card B to start / stop off the top handle record button. In a news situation where anything might happen and you don't want to miss is just hit record on card B with the handle button and let it free run. Do your normal stop / start recording on card A. Should you miss something on card A at least you know you have it on card B. Assuming your camera was pointing in the right direction of course :))

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

[David Cleverly]

Thanks Chris...good to know. :-)

Funny, though, how several-year-old cams do have this feature. You would think this would be standard by now - especially on a cam touted as "professional" and "Suitable for ENG"...perhaps in the firmware update? But that system you have explained would certainly cover it...as long as the cam WAS indeed pointed in the right direction! :-)

DC

[Paul Anderegg]

I've had many cameras with cache recording, and in ENG, the only time I found this even slightly useful was during SWAT stand-off's when I didn't know exactly when they were going to flash bang the suspect. With the cheap plentiful media now adays, I never used the feature, I just let the camera roll continuously, then every 10-15 minutes stop rolling and delete the clip of nothingness and roll again. :)

Paul

[David Cleverly]

Yeah good point Paul.

I was thinking last night "yeah, but if you let the cam roll, you'lll have to traverse hours of footage to find the shot", but your idea solves that problem.

That said, cache has saved me at times at a dance concert where suddenly the song starts and you weren't ready. Same at corporate events where someone starts talking out of the blue...it has saved me more than once in those scenarios...but then again, maybe now I would be using cheap SD cards (I only have 4 expensive P2 cards for my current cam so I button off a lot on long events to save space), continual rolling will become the norm.

DC

[Paul Anderegg]

The other things to do would be to stop the recording as soon as possible following what you were waiting for. This way, you know what you need is located at the end of the giant multi GB clip.

Paul

[David Cleverly]

Yes!

Kind of like Cache Recording advantages but in reverse...

DC

[Paul Anderegg]

I'd rather think the concept of pre-recording still holds. :)

Paul