Any news on the Sony PMW 500

[Paul Cronin]

Hi Simon,

Sounds like a good move. I have set up a time at Abel for some demo shooting with the 500 and 350 to make sure again before I decide. My choice now is the 500 for the CCD.

As for SxS cards I have only used the Sony SxS Pro cards with my EX1, EX350 and would be sticking with those. I have 6 - 16GB and a couple of 8GB. I would buy two 32GB to add for travel. Also I have placed an order for a Ki Pro Mini to go along with my Nano. I am sure over a few month I will have a favorite, and who knows maybe both are worth having in the kit.

Did you go for the used lens? I am looking again at the Fujinon ZA17x7.6 BERM with CAC. This is what I used on the 350 and F800 with great success. I think it is the best 2/3” HD lens deal on the market new.

Look forward to hearing about your purchase and progress with the camera.

[Simon Denny]

Hi Paul,

I would love to hear your thoughts after testing mate. The lens I'm checking out this week, If it's a no go I'll look at the ZA17x7.6 BERM with CAC again.

Cards I'll have to investigate further as my knowledge with what is on the market is limited. Any thoughts on the limited life span SXS cards? are they worth the purchase?

Cheers

[Paul Cronin]

HI Simon,

I will send you an email on the timing of my test, then post findings here.

The lens is great, I tested it against some top glass last spring. It is the same optics as the HA just slightly different build. Look into it.

I don't know off hand the life span of the SxS Pro or other cards. But I do know the Pro cards have twice the life span as the new ones that came out with the 500. I never like to skimp on storage it is not worth it to me or my clients.

[Mike Marriage]

The SXS-1 cards are "supposed" to have less cycles than the SXS pro Cards. I believe the life span is still around claimed to be 5 years with a daily cycle, so probably at least 10 years in the real world. Considering SXS-1 are identical on the other specs, being 1/2 the price of SXS Pro made them a no brainer for me. In 10 years, all these cards will be valueless. I wouldn't be surprised if they SXS-1 and SXS Pro cards are identical in all but colour.

Anyone have trouble with SXS-1? Touch wood, mine have been fine.

[Paul Cronin]

Mike I am sure you are right, the new SXS-1 cards are the way to go. If it is 5 years of daily use who knows what we will be shooting on at that time. Same card different color, interesting thought.

[Paul Cronin]

I did not know there were SXS -G1 and SXS-G1A. Different cards for different cameras. The G1A handles the 50Mbps 422.

Sony SXS cards

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Simon Denny

Thats what I'm thinking, although If I shoot 4.2.2 at full bit rate I'm wondering if the SDHC cards can handle the data rate. I'll have to look into this further as I'm just approaching this problem now.

That's why I suggested shooting to SxS, then "copy all clips" to SDHC. (Rather than shooting to SDHC direct.) Even if the performance of the SDHC wasn't adequate for direct recording, a lower max write data rate should only slow down the copy process. With no extra equipment other than the camera needed.

[Alister Chapman]

You can't use anything other than SxS cards for 50Mb/s. When in 50Mb/s mode the 500 requires that the media is formatted using UDF which overcomes the fat file size limitations. You can't format SD cards using UDF, so you must use SxS if you want to store or record 50Mb/s 4:2:2. or any of the XDCAM HD modes.

[Simon Denny]

Alister, you are a wealth of knowledge, thanks for the update. Is there a SDHC card out at the moment that can handle the data rate? Apart from the SXS ones.

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Alister Chapman

You can't format SD cards using UDF, so you must use SxS if you want to store or record 50Mb/s 4:2:2. or any of the XDCAM HD modes.

Are you sure about that, Alister? According to wikipedia ( Secure Digital - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )

Like other flash card technologies, most SD cards ship preformatted with the FAT or FAT 32 file system on top of an MBR partition scheme..........However, because the card appears as a removable hard drive to the host system, the card can be reformatted to any file system supported by the operating system.

Which would give me hope that it may be possible after a re-format.....? Yes, there are lots of other things which could stop it working, but if I had access to a PMW500, I certainly think it would be worth experimenting to see if a reformat is possible.

The wikipedia link seems to suggest that whilst FAT/FAT32 is normally used with SDHC, it doesn't always have to be the case?

As far as data rate goes, then SDHC *SHOULD* have the theoretical speed to handle 50Mbs, (at least at Class 10) but there will be far less of a safety margin than for 35Mbs. Hence the original suggestion of shooting to SxS and copying all clips, rather than just shooting to SDHC direct.

[Paul Cronin]

Originally Posted by David Heath

As far as data rate goes, then SDHC *SHOULD* have the theoretical speed to handle 50Mbs, (at least at Class 10) but there will be far less of a safety margin than for 35Mbs. Hence the original suggestion of shooting to SxS and copying all clips, rather than just shooting to SDHC direct.

David I don't think it is worth the risk for the small savings. The SXS-G1A that Mike suggested looks like the best option for shooting 50Mb/s 4:2:2 on the 500.

[David Heath]

Shooting 50Mbs direct to SDHC is exactly what I'm *NOT* suggesting doing. Rather shooting to SxS, then in camera copying to SDHC afterwards. Datarate bottlenecks are crucial in real time recording - not in file transfers.

That's assuming (after what Alister says about formatting correctly) it's possible anyway.

[Paul Cronin]

Sorry David I misunderstood your post.

[Ned Soltz]

While testing the 500, I attempted to format SD card in UDF and was unable to do so.

Ned

[David Heath]

Thanks Ned. Oh well, it was worth a try...... :-)