Tapeless alternatives?
 

So, I love my Canon XH-A1. Love it to death. I love being able to shoot tapeless thanks to a FireStore.

But here's the problem -- I miss the days when I could just yank my camera, run and shoot. I loathe having a FireWire cable running around my camera constantly, and the extra weight the FireStore adds.

Is there any card recorder out there that is small and lightweight that I could hook up to my A1 and record the .m2t file to? Or am I and my broke behind stuck with this set-up? It's okay, but I'd love to lose some weight without reverting to tape.

Firestore
 

Other than saving a little capture time...........there is nothing wrong with tape! I use a laptop and Serious Magic when shooting things such as stage performances. I also made an aluminum lightweight table which I use to hold the laptop when shooting outdoors from stationary positions. I also video directly to tape when on the move. But I know of no card that will capture (save) video in any length.

Have a look at the following

Sony HVR-MRC1K CF Card Recorder - The Digital Video Information Network

particularly the thread on Awesome news for Canon users.

Actually, I've had plenty of problems with tape. No problems with my FireStore. Never a dropped frame, and once I figured out how to work with the file structure, aside from the awkward weight, it's been pretty nice.

on the subject
 

Which Firestore model are you guys using with the A1?

A few months ago I was planning to buy a Sony HVR-MRC1K for my xh-a1 but after reading about so many connection problems (it seems the HVR-MRC1K often has problems seeing the camera as a pc) I decided to go for the hvr dr60 which originally was quite expensive but since the compact flash version has been out it has dropped to almost to 60% of it's original price here in Europe making it cheaper then the Sony HVR-MRC1K if you take the 60gb storage into account. Now I use it together with the smallest sony battery available and it gives me approx 3 hours of recordingtime.
It actually is so light and small that I hardly feel the extra weight.
I wrote something about it in my blog, see here:
Sony HVR-DR60 in action|videograffiti
here you can see how I attached it
Sony HVR-DR60, attaching to a camera, part 3|videograffiti

I think that it doesn't get much smaller and lighter then this if you want to combine it with a tape based camera, also Sony is the champion when it comes to recordingtimes with their batteries. If the HVR-MRC1K would have functioned without any problem then I would have bought that one instead but it is also more difficult to attach to your camera in a placesaving way and that you are able to read all controlls. With the hvr-dr60 and the way I attached it to my camera I can monitor everything easily and the wheight has been placed back as far as possible and I can use my camera in a normal way.

I have had a major tapeproblem (loosing one hour of important footage) with my xh-a1 beginning this year which made me buy this ext device and I have not regretted it one minute. My next camera though will be Cf card based camera for sure like the hmc151 but that will be in about 3 years, until then my xh-a1 / hvr-dr60 combo will have to support my business.