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[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Ron Evans

Hi Noa are you using the internal memory or have you used a large SDXC card with exFAT formating ? If the latter then that is why you have just one file anyway.

Ron Evans

No, I use a sdhc card, I never did use a cardreader to transfer the files though, I"ll have a look to see on the card what exactly is on it by using my cardreader, when I look through the windows explorer there is only one folder with all files on the card, there is no folder structure like on my ea50.

[Ron Evans]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

No, I use a sdhc card, I never did use a cardreader to transfer the files though, I"ll have a look to see on the card what exactly is on it by using my cardreader, when I look through the windows explorer there is only one folder with all files on the card, there is no folder structure like on my ea50.

That is interesting. What is the directory named and are the files m2ts? If they are m2ts then there will have been a conversion somewhere in the camera. How are they named too.

Since I have PMB installed whenever I connect up any memory unit ( including an SD card from my GoPro ) PMB will launch ready to transfer the files with the only input being to direct to the folder of choice and choose files. I actually have to launch the Content manager but do so for the NX5U files.

Editing in Edius or Vegas I just bring into the bin etc from the hard drive after I have backed them up.

Ron Evans

[Noa Put]

I finally figured out what the camera is doing, I had one continuous recording on one camera of over an hour, when I connect the camera to my pc the camera appears in my windows explorer as "sony cx730" and when I double click to view the contents I see the pmhome.exe file, a "info" folder which holds only a register.url file and one more folder named as the date of recording and inside that folder there is one .MTS file that has a 16gb size which I can drag and drop to an internal drive on my pc as one big file.

However when I extract the card from the camera and use a cardreader I get the same folderstructure in windows explorer as on my EA50 with several 2gb mts files.

So the camera seems to handle to joining process if you use it to transfer the data without the use of extra software.

[Ron Evans]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

So the camera seems to handle to joining process if you use it to transfer the data without the use of extra software.

Check on the programs you have on your PC to see if you have the PMBmobile as one of your installed programs. Sony may have a different PMBmobile on the CX730 to my CX700 which needs to be loaded from the camera to do what you have detailed. I just wonder if the camera is loading the PMBmobile in the background if you connect the camera. It is of course on the camera so is not available on the card. If you record to the onboard memory and look at that in explorer I see for my CX700 the normal file directory that you see on the card plus a directory called PMBMobile that contains the software to load on the PC this light version of PMB.

Since I have PMB installed whenever I connect anything that has video or still files the program launches with the PMB window for transfer. Even for the GoPro micro SD card !!! Using the PMB is by far the easiest way of transfer for me anyway. Don't even have to actively load the program just tell it where I want the files to go.

My NX30 does not of course have this PMBMobile in the main memory. Since I already have Content Manager for the NX5u and PMB on the PC I have not bothered loading the disc that came with the NX30. Both programs see the NX30 just fine and either will transfer.

Ron Evans

[Noa Put]

No PMBmobile installed at this moment on my pc and my camera has no internal memory, I can only record to a card.

[Noa Put]

I just wonder if the camera is loading the PMBmobile in the background if you connect the camera.

On second thoughts you might be right here, I just connected the camera to my windows 8 pc that is only used for internet and as soon as I connected the camera I got a "pls wait, installing the camera" message appearing in a window on screen, it just showed for a few seconds, then disappeared and the camera was visible in the explorer but there was no indication in the installed programs window that anything had been installed.
So it might be that the camera installs a driver automatically upon first time you connect it?

[Ron Evans]

I expect it is running a light version of PMB when the camera is connected just to join files and do none of the other things that PMB does like log time in the calendar, GPS etc. Its clever though if it integrates with explorer.

Ron Evans

[Stephen Crye]

Originally Posted by Ron Evans

My NX30 does not of course have this PMBMobile in the main memory. Since I already have Content Manager for the NX5u and PMB on the PC I have not bothered loading the disc that came with the NX30. Both programs see the NX30 just fine and either will transfer.
Ron Evans

Hey Ron! Long time no chat. BTW PMB is the bomb, I can't live without it and it is one reason I'm sticking with Sony.

I'm finally going to buy and keep something - I hope. (you might recall my long battle with trying to find cam #2). I've finally decided to buy two cams. One will be a Nikon D7000 (on sale until tomorrow at B&H). I plan to use it pretty much only for intrervalometer astro and night time lapse).

The other is going to be either the NX30 or the EA50. Neither is perfect. I'm kind of leaning toward the EA50, and not worrying about the low-light problems or the lack of good run&gun ENG capability. I can always use the trusty HDR-CX500V for that. I'm really attracted to the EA50's super-sharp regular light performance and low CA in the shots I have seen at the long end of the kit lens.

Sony NEX-EA50 vs. Sony HVR-Z5U on Vimeo

This is a radical departure for me, seeing as how "I hate bokeh" ... but after 18 months of looking for a cam I need something. I can use the EA50 at wide for a second cam during symphony shooting, and get the closeups with the CX550V. Don't need 1080 60p in that environment. During the day, I need the 60p.

In a month or so here in El Paso they are going to blow up two 600' smokestacks - ASARCO - they are the tallest standing stacks in the USA. I need a good telephoto and 60p for that two-cam shoot.

So, how do you like the NX30? I can't find any decent footage on the web - do you have any? Something that might sway me from the EA50?

Thanks,

Steve

[Noa Put]

I can use the EA50 at wide for a second cam during symphony shooting

You might think twice before getting a EA50 as b-cam for indoor stage shots when using the stocklens, I have shot a dance performance last week using my two cx730 (basically the same camera as the nx30 but without xlr) and my ea50 and the footage from my cx730 is better. It has less noise and it's sharper. the image overall has more punch and nicer deeper color.
It might have been better if I"d used a 14mm f2.8 prime lens to have less noise in the image (lower iso would be needed for teh same shot) but where you could see small detail on faces, like the eyes, mouths etc on the widest angle shots from the cx730, the ea50 displayed something that seemed to look like aliasing, not sure how to describe it right in English but from a translator I"d say it was "coarse".
For stage performances my cx730 outperforms the ea50 for sure image wise, also the smoothness and speed in the zoom is much better suited to follow the action on a stage.

[Ron Evans]

Steve, video performance of the NX30 is the same as the consumer Sony's like the PJ760 and not too different from my CX700. I think you would see an improvement in noise level and detail from the CX500. I have a XR500 which is the same vintage as the CX500 and both the CX700 and NX30 have a cleaner looking video. It has better choice of frame rates and data rates, LPCM audio and full time code control like the NXCam range of Sony cameras. I like the My buttons feature that allow 3 buttons on the LCD to be chosen for actions ( in my case spot focus, Steadyshot and framing ). Image stabilizer is fantastic. You could view the NX30 as a new version of the CX500 with some extra features. It uses different batteries though but the new batteries will work on the old cameras but not the other way around. Projector is a bit of a gimmick but does work well and I will use when I am on holiday.

If you are buying the D7000 ( video is restricted to 24P for 1920x1080 by the way, there are other DSLR with better choices like the Sony equivalents like the A65 that at least have 60P and 60i as well as computer friendly 30p mp4 for the WEB also on sale at less than the D7000) why would you consider the EA50? You could get a NX30 ( for the LPCM audio that would be useful for you I think), a PJ710 and a couple of lenses ( tele converter and wide converter) for them rather than an EA50. With the DSLR you would have three cameras then for all occasions with LPCM audio for recording the orchestra.

Ron Evans

[Steven Digges]

Hey Guys,

You have me confused here. Your discussing a boat load of camera models and software.

So.. with the EA50:

I did not load the content browser yet but I am going to. I found the serial numbers on a white piece of paper that came with the camera.Labeled Content Browser activation pack.

So far I have not let the camera do long runs of recording but normally that is common for me. I shoot a lot of corporate presentations so one hour or more runs are common. So why the hell is this thing running on FAT32 instead of NTFS? There must be a reason but it is beyond me why they complicate things with a 2 gig restriction. Most external media cards come formatted in FAT32 but it is no big deal to reformat to NTFS. With "AVI type two" files the audio can shift slightly out of sync on long runs. Is that the case with .m2t?

I have been using a card reader and then dragging and dropping folders or files in windows explorer. I edit in Premier Pro CS 5.5 or CS3. The m2t files are several folders deep on the cameras card. Which FOLDER should I be dragging over to windows to ensure everything will match up? Then, do I need to drag a folder into my media bin in Premier or just the m2t files I want to use?

This file syncing thing really concerns me. I must get it right! I will try to load content browser today. Does if facilitate file transfers in a logical process? I thought it was primarily just a viewer for AVCHD files, I will check it out.

Steve

[Ron Evans]

Content Management Utility will join the mts files and rename them by the date and time they were shot to a m2ts file like 20130228102020.m2ts That is date, time and frame. With GPS on it will also record the GPS coordinates and keep a log of all your transfers if you want it too. Read the instruction because it is confusing the way that one has to set up the capture directory and change as needed. I set a new directory for each project. I always use the PMB or Content Management utility for transfer. PMB will pop up automatically if it detects a video or still file on an inserted media of any kind. Content Management Utility needs to be loaded and directed to source for transfer. Both will play AVCHD files but only Content Management Utility seems to play LPCM audio. Both correctly join files and sync audio and I see little point in not using the software that Sony has designed for transfer.

Ron Evans

[Stephen Crye]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

You might think twice before getting a EA50 as b-cam for indoor stage shots....
For stage performances my cx730 outperforms the ea50 for sure image wise, also the smoothness and speed in the zoom is much better suited to follow the action on a stage.

Thanks, that pulls me back toward the NX30. I'm afraid of the chromatic aberration and possible edge coma and poor focus, though. I was burned badly by the NX70, still feeling the pain ... The vimeo video that I mentioned in my post yesterday has very low CA and that really attracts me.

Have you looked at this vid of the NX30 - notice the horrible CA on the light pole at the beginning of the video?

TEST SONY HXR-NX30 - YouTube

Also, please have a look at these image captures comparing the HDR-CX550V with my NX70 - have you seen anything like this from the CX730?

Although I hate to post a link to another forum, I discussed the problems with my NX70s here:

Why I returned my Sony HXR-NX70U

thanks!

Steve

[Stephen Crye]

Originally Posted by Ron Evans

Steve, video performance of the NX30 is the same as the consumer Sony's like the PJ760 and not too different from my CX700....

If you are buying the D7000 ...Ron Evans

Hi Ron, please see my reply to Noa Put regarding fears of NX30 ... I would love it if you could read that post and the upload some test shots and frame grabs that would allay my fears. I know that the NX30 has the CA, the youtube vid shows it, and I hate, hate hate CA .

I just bought the Nikon D7000 about 20 minutes ago from B&H, really good price; I got the body + LowePro bag + 16 GB SanDisk + refurb 18-105 lens for $1135.00.

To be clear, I have no plans to use it much for video. I chose the Nikon for one big important reason - built in intervalometer. Sony and Canon don't have that feature and I must have it. I plan to use it almost exclusively for time lapse astrophotography , and perhaps a bit of night time lapse.

Thanks ... would love to see those sample NX30 vids. I might buy it first from B&H, if I don't like it send it back ... that would make 6 buy and trys since October 2011 ... arrgh.

Steve

[Stephen Crye]

Originally Posted by Steven Digges

Hey Guys,

So why the hell is this thing running on FAT32 instead of NTFS?
Steve

All cameras use FAT32 for the SD cards and internal memory. I agree this is stupid, who knows. Conspiracy? ;-)

Any way, use that PMB/Content manager - it is fabulous. I regularly assist Ozzie Carrillo of City West productions here in El Paso when he produces the DVDs and BluRays of the El Paso Symphony Youth Orchestras performances. ( Ozzie shoots with 3 or cams - NX5, PMWEX3 , PMW320 and FX7) and a I put my CX550V behind the orchestra on a tall tripod; it produces the "conductor cam" that shows the Maestro's face. I leave it running for 3 hours with the big beefy battery; often the files, after PMB grabs them, are 25 GB. All seamless, perfect!

Steve