HXR-NX5e Nightmare

[Marco Howard]

10 days ago i recieved my new NX5e. i switched from canon xh-a1s to sony because i
wanted to record tapeless.
last saturday i filmed a wedding. I used 2 transcend 32gb class 10 cards.
i did not want to record the whole wedding on one card, so i decided to film the first
part on one card and the second part oft he wedding on the other card.
both cards recorded in slot A and wore formated before in the camera.

the next day i took the second card out oft he camera and wanted to transfer the files
to my computer, by using a card reader. I recorded something about 150 files and only 31 of them
are ok. i can open them with windows media player, vlc media player, premiere and sony vegas.
the rest oft he files seem to be distorted or broken. they are shown as AVCHD files but i can not open them with any application. the size oft the broken files seems to be correct, but there is no
information like data rate.

yesterday i put the first card in to camera. the card, i recorded the first part oft he wedding.
on the screen appeared a error message, that some managementinfos of hd video are missing
and if i wnat to recover them. that will take 21 seconds. press yes or no?
lookes like this card has he same problem. I just took the card out oft he camera without
pressing yes or no.
i’m realy disappointed with the sony nx5e. is there anyone out there who had the same problems?
is it a card or camera problem? i contacted sony and the told me to use only sony cards.
the clients went on vacation and will be back in 2 weeks. I don’t know how to explain them i have no
usable footage.
is there a chance to repair the broken files?
want my xh-a1s back:-(

kind regards from germany
marco howard

[Dave Blackhurst]

You need to download the files with whatever program Sony provides to stitch them back together. It's likely the files are fine and intact, but that longer clips are divided and the segments typically will not play back without being re-attached into the larger files.

Sounds to me like you tried to download the files and are now missing some of the associated files that tell the camera how to re-assemble the clips... hopefully the camera can repair the damage.

This is part of working with these solid state recording cameras - you have to learn and observe the workflow.

[Tom Hardwick]

Originally Posted by Marco Howard

i’m realy disappointed with the sony nx5e.

Now it's not often you see those words in print Marco. It is one amazing camera.

First thing to do is look at your instruction book and set the camera up to read the files into your computer. Use Sony's CMU facility that was part of the NX supplied software and follow every move to the letter. I'm pretty sure you'll find nothing's corrupt or missing.

tom.

[Ron Evans]

Have to re enforce what Dave and Tom have said. Always use the CMU software to transfer files to the PC. Always format cards and delete files in the camera. There is a database repair function on the mode menu page if that is your problem then the camera will fix the database. But first load the CMU software and try and transfer the files to the PC. If the camera is identifying a DB problem then you may choose to let it fix the problem. I have not had any of these problems with my NX5U with either SD cards or the FMU that I also have with my NX5U.

I would never go back to tape.

As an example I did a theatre show last evening with the NX5U, SR11, two XR500's and the CX700. Show was 2 hours and 35 mins. That would have been a nightmare changing tapes for a start. Because of the time of the acts I would have needed 4 tapes for each camera !!! I have large batteries for all the cameras so in fact did not need to do anything other than start and stop until the end of the show. The Sony software transfered the files over from the cameras as just two clips one for each of the Acts of about 1 hour and 15 mins. I transferred all the files from these cameras to the PC just about 1 hour 30 mins. With tape changing that may have taken me over 14 hours of tape capture !!!!! I used the CMU for the NX5U took 12 mins to transfer, the others used the consumer version the MBS and took 13 min for the SR11 and the XR500's the CX700 is a lot slower at about 30 min for the 2 hours and 35 min video.

Ron Evans

[Marco Howard]

hi tom, ron and dave,

thanks for answering.
i tryed to transfer the clips with the sony software to my computer.
the problem still exists. only a few clips are ok. the rest is shown as broken.
i tryed to let the camera repair the data bese fileles, but i did not work.
i can't playback the recorded files in my camera. i have this problem with both
transcend cards.

yesterday i recorded some files on panasonic 16GB class 4 card.
no problems. i could view the files in my camera and transfer them with the sony software.
i did the same with 16GB class 6 card from san disk, no problems.
looks like the problem are the 32gb class 10 cards from transcend.

yes, i have to leran and observe the workflow.
what do you think aboaut purchasing the FMU128 and some sony sdhc cards and record
simultan on both.
do the cards always have to be class 10?

marco

[Claire Buckley]

Hi Marco.

I avoid the 32GB cards. I use 16GB Class 6 (extreme) SanDisk. Fully loaded (2 cards in the camera) you'll get 90mins x 2 at the highest res setting. For me, 3 hours of recording media is more than sufficient, but I take along 2 more cards just in case.

I feel the 32GB cards are often problematic judging by the number of past comments I've read. In addition, at least rotating a number of cards, you are less likely to lose ALL your material if there is a problem compared to relying upon one 32GB card.

Like others have said, don't use a card reader - transfer the material to your scratch disks using the camera's USB connector via the supplied Content Management Software.

Good luck :)

[Anthony Mozora]

i have also made a swith from canon xha1 to nx5 and believe me I will never go back again.........

anyway to your problem now........

1)Did u format the cards with the camera before using them?
2)Did u try to transfer the videos via the Sony Utility software?
3) buy the FMU128unit. will cost u a bit but will make ur life much better!

On the very first day I got my NX5, I insert a transcend card like yours but I forgot to format the card with the camera and during my first fliming( wedding ceremony) and suddenly the camera got a restart and promped me a MEDIA FORMAT IN SLOT A error and the camera coulnt read or transfer the card. even the pc... anyway I managed to find the videos with a data recovery software but it was my fault because I didnt format the card earlier..........

anyway I am not very sure if the transcend cards are recomended by Sony for the Nx5. ( we should check this option also)

[David Wayne Groves]

I have 2 Transcend 32Gig cards and have had many before these and they have performed flawless, I use class 6 cards without any problems, so a class 10 card is not required, I believe the sony specs recommend a class 4 and up....

[Ron Evans]

Marco, if they don't play in the camera and the DB repair doesn't work then I would try and use a FAT32 file recovery software with the cards in a reader attached to the PC. Keep the cards as you may find a way to recover the files with one of the FAT32 file recovery programs there are many so try a few.

I use 32G Patriot cards in both the NX5U and my Sony CX700 and they seem to work OK. My preferred memory is the FMU that is great . It's expensive but it works. With an FMU you could also record a safety on the cards too one of the advantages of the NX5U.

Ron Evans