Ex1r questions

Alister Chapman · March 25th, 2011, 01:17 PM

XDCAM EX was never designed to work with SD cards. It was discovered by me and a couple of others however that it was possible to get the USB interface in the express card slot to work with various adapters and other cards. Then when third parties started releasing custom adapters Sony also released their own, following market pressure. To do this they had to modify the cameras firmware to get some degree of stability.

As I always say, you pay's your money, you make your choice. The number of posts on this and other forums with people having issues with SD cards far outweigh the small number of SxS problems. Most of the SxS problems, when you dig deeper are operator error, people pulling out just the mp4's or not reconnecting spanned clips. It is extremely rare to find a true faulty SxS card. If your doing amateur productions then SD is fantastic, as a backup or reserve for unexpected situations it also has a place. But as a professional camera operator I am not prepared to take a chance with my clients valuable, sometimes irreplaceable material. It's like buying a Porsche and then fitting the brake pads from a Yugo. Over the several years that you are likely to own your EX how much will a couple of 32Gb SxS pro cards cost? What value do you give to peace of mind? there is enough stress in this industry and on a shoot as it is. The last thing I want is a little niggle in the back of my mind about the reliability of my media.

Tape is very different. A bit of corruption or a few drop outs on a tape might spoil a shot. A bit of corruption on a solid state media card might make everything un recoverable.

Ray Pegram · March 25th, 2011, 04:11 PM

Hi All,
This may seem like a silly question but as I already have some sony memory stick pro HG cards for my NX5 I was thinking of getting an adapter for my EX1r that takes them. I have been using SXS cards and so far no issues for my wedding business but want more memory for the times at the end of the night to get the throwing of the carter etc.

Has anyone used those in SxS adapters? if so what was ur opinion.

Many thanks

Marcus Durham · March 25th, 2011, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alister Chapman

Most of the SxS problems, when you dig deeper are operator error, people pulling out just the mp4's or not reconnecting spanned clips. It is extremely rare to find a true faulty SxS card..

Which is also true of SDHC once you remove unsuitable cards from the equation. Card mishandling is the biggest problem with these cameras not the media itself.

I'm going to bow out here as my thoughts are well known on these issues and SDHC solutions are perfectly stable and reliable if implemented and used correctly.

Dave Sperling · March 25th, 2011, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray Pegram

Hi All,
so far no issues for my wedding business but want more memory for the times at the end of the night to get the throwing of the carter etc.

Ray,
My opinion -- in weddings there are no re-do's. Start with 5 hours of SxS cards. If it turns into a marathon, then go to your backup data. As stated earlier, if you use SDHC cards, go with ones that are fast, reliable, and fully tested by you. Within my comfort level, I'd always rather be using SxS cards, and I'm even happier when I'm running a backup recording to a Nanoflash at the same time. I started buying SxS cards when they were more expensive, I've spent almost as much on memory as on my EX1 (I now have 160GB of SxS), and I've never regretted it for a second.

March 25th, 2011, 01:17 PM	#16
Alister Chapman Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Bracknell, Berkshire, UK Posts: 4,957	Re: Ex1r questions XDCAM EX was never designed to work with SD cards. It was discovered by me and a couple of others however that it was possible to get the USB interface in the express card slot to work with various adapters and other cards. Then when third parties started releasing custom adapters Sony also released their own, following market pressure. To do this they had to modify the cameras firmware to get some degree of stability. As I always say, you pay's your money, you make your choice. The number of posts on this and other forums with people having issues with SD cards far outweigh the small number of SxS problems. Most of the SxS problems, when you dig deeper are operator error, people pulling out just the mp4's or not reconnecting spanned clips. It is extremely rare to find a true faulty SxS card. If your doing amateur productions then SD is fantastic, as a backup or reserve for unexpected situations it also has a place. But as a professional camera operator I am not prepared to take a chance with my clients valuable, sometimes irreplaceable material. It's like buying a Porsche and then fitting the brake pads from a Yugo. Over the several years that you are likely to own your EX how much will a couple of 32Gb SxS pro cards cost? What value do you give to peace of mind? there is enough stress in this industry and on a shoot as it is. The last thing I want is a little niggle in the back of my mind about the reliability of my media. Tape is very different. A bit of corruption or a few drop outs on a tape might spoil a shot. A bit of corruption on a solid state media card might make everything un recoverable. __________________ Alister Chapman, Film-Maker/Stormchaser http://www.xdcam-user.com/alisters-blog/ My XDCAM site and blog. http://www.hurricane-rig.com

March 25th, 2011, 04:11 PM	#17
Ray Pegram Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Ulladulla - Australia Posts: 56	Re: Ex1r questions Hi All, This may seem like a silly question but as I already have some sony memory stick pro HG cards for my NX5 I was thinking of getting an adapter for my EX1r that takes them. I have been using SXS cards and so far no issues for my wedding business but want more memory for the times at the end of the night to get the throwing of the carter etc. Has anyone used those in SxS adapters? if so what was ur opinion. Many thanks __________________ Ray www.coastalweddingvideos.com.au