Focus Enhancements FireStore FS-4 at DVinfo.net

Tom Fruzynski · April 18th, 2006, 07:00 PM

Has anyone used the FS-4 product with wildlife videography ?

I would appreciate hearing of ones expierences in the outdoor enviornment and its durabilty.

Thanks,
Tom

Ken Diewert · April 18th, 2006, 10:12 PM

Tom,

Over on the XLH1 forum, Micheal Devlin was raving about using it. I'll try to post a link

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=65115

Michael Devlin · April 19th, 2006, 06:46 AM

We have used the Firestore with the XLH1 outdoors on a boat in rough seas. No problems. We use the hot shoe mount kit to put it right on the camera and shoot both handheld and tripod. The hot shoe mount kit restricts you to the smaller (standard) battery size which is unfortunate. You can also use it with a belt clip (or clipped to the tripod) and a slightly longer firewire cable.

Note that a standard rain cover does not fit when the Firestore is mounted on the shoe, so some improvisation is required when it gets nasty (or again the belt clip works).

We have dropped the Firestore (not overboard though!), banged it around, and occasionally connected it up incorrectly. But it keeps on ticking.

While we tested the FS-4 at 24F, we have really only used it in 60i for actual shooting. It seems to work well with Avid. We just connect to the laptop (which mounts the Firestore as a drive) and then import the files into Avid as native HDV or DNxHD.

Ken Diewert · April 19th, 2006, 09:14 AM

Mike,

Why the FS over tape? I assume it's because the FS works as a external drive when capturing.

Can it capture HD? While recording to tape? Is there a difference in image quality from FS to Tape?

Thanks,

Ken

Scott Vystrcil · April 19th, 2006, 10:47 AM

Ken,

Yes it can capture in HD. As an .m2t file. You have to purchase either the HD version of the Pro HD version or if you already have one then there is a HD upgrade. Not sure what the upgrade costs, so it may be cheaper to buy the non HD and have it upgraded.

Michael Devlin · April 19th, 2006, 01:46 PM

Hi Ken, Scott is right. We use the HDV version of the FS-4 and all we do is HD. I never tried tape (just not a tape kinda guy being from the software world) so I can't comment on the relative quality. We just use the FireStore to capture and then immediately transfer to a computer or laptop with RAID storage.

About 70% of the time we are actually capturing the HDSDI into Avid (to DNxHD 220mbps 10-bit). Works great if you are near a well-rigged boat or vehicle (or studio), not so well if you are backpacking. We only use the Firestore (or the optical disc on the F350) when the situation requires untethered operation (without cables or computers).

We are relatively new to this business and still learning (which is why DVInfo is so cool), so you should take that into account in considering our experience. I would not claim to be an expert, but I must say we have had only good results with the FireStore.

Mack Fisher · April 19th, 2006, 06:44 PM

too me when shooting it makes more sense to use tapes, recently I went on a trip and shot 10 hours of footage at a time. Yes a firestore is huge but still I like having no limit on how much I can shoot.

Also Im using a Mac based editing studio and they dont like m2t files, and I dont wanna waste time converting everything.

April 18th, 2006, 07:00 PM	#1
Tom Fruzynski New Boot Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Landing New Jersey Posts: 13	Focus Enhancements FireStore FS-4 Has anyone used the FS-4 product with wildlife videography ? I would appreciate hearing of ones expierences in the outdoor enviornment and its durabilty. Thanks, Tom

April 19th, 2006, 06:46 AM	#3
Michael Devlin Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Zephyr Cove, NV & Anchorage, AK Posts: 82	Firestore We have used the Firestore with the XLH1 outdoors on a boat in rough seas. No problems. We use the hot shoe mount kit to put it right on the camera and shoot both handheld and tripod. The hot shoe mount kit restricts you to the smaller (standard) battery size which is unfortunate. You can also use it with a belt clip (or clipped to the tripod) and a slightly longer firewire cable. Note that a standard rain cover does not fit when the Firestore is mounted on the shoe, so some improvisation is required when it gets nasty (or again the belt clip works). We have dropped the Firestore (not overboard though!), banged it around, and occasionally connected it up incorrectly. But it keeps on ticking. While we tested the FS-4 at 24F, we have really only used it in 60i for actual shooting. It seems to work well with Avid. We just connect to the laptop (which mounts the Firestore as a drive) and then import the files into Avid as native HDV or DNxHD. __________________ Mike Devlin www.dangerouspassage.com

April 19th, 2006, 09:14 AM	#4
Ken Diewert Trustee Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Vancouver Island, Canada Posts: 1,200	Advantages of Firestore Mike, Why the FS over tape? I assume it's because the FS works as a external drive when capturing. Can it capture HD? While recording to tape? Is there a difference in image quality from FS to Tape? Thanks, Ken

April 19th, 2006, 10:47 AM	#5
Scott Vystrcil Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: McKinney, TX Posts: 116	FS-4 HD/Pro HD Ken, Yes it can capture in HD. As an .m2t file. You have to purchase either the HD version of the Pro HD version or if you already have one then there is a HD upgrade. Not sure what the upgrade costs, so it may be cheaper to buy the non HD and have it upgraded. __________________ Scott A. Vystrcil Equipment - Sony HVR-Z1U--Firestore FS-4 Pro HD (40GB)--Cartoni Focus F101 Editing - Canopus Edius Pro 4, Intel Pentium D 940 (3.2 GHz), 2GB, 74GB SATA 10K, 160GB SATAII, 300GB SATA, nVidia GeForce 6800 (256MB), Dell 20 in widescreen flat panel (2007WFP) http://watersedgefrisco.com http://vystrcil.com

April 19th, 2006, 01:46 PM	#6
Michael Devlin Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Zephyr Cove, NV & Anchorage, AK Posts: 82	Hi Ken, Scott is right. We use the HDV version of the FS-4 and all we do is HD. I never tried tape (just not a tape kinda guy being from the software world) so I can't comment on the relative quality. We just use the FireStore to capture and then immediately transfer to a computer or laptop with RAID storage. About 70% of the time we are actually capturing the HDSDI into Avid (to DNxHD 220mbps 10-bit). Works great if you are near a well-rigged boat or vehicle (or studio), not so well if you are backpacking. We only use the Firestore (or the optical disc on the F350) when the situation requires untethered operation (without cables or computers). We are relatively new to this business and still learning (which is why DVInfo is so cool), so you should take that into account in considering our experience. I would not claim to be an expert, but I must say we have had only good results with the FireStore. __________________ Mike Devlin www.dangerouspassage.com

April 18th, 2006, 10:12 PM	#2
Ken Diewert Trustee Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Vancouver Island, Canada Posts: 1,200	Tom, Over on the XLH1 forum, Micheal Devlin was raving about using it. I'll try to post a link http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=65115

April 19th, 2006, 06:44 PM	#7
Mack Fisher Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 158	too me when shooting it makes more sense to use tapes, recently I went on a trip and shot 10 hours of footage at a time. Yes a firestore is huge but still I like having no limit on how much I can shoot. Also Im using a Mac based editing studio and they dont like m2t files, and I dont wanna waste time converting everything.