New FireStore FS-4 - DTE for Hand Held Camcorders

Brett Erskine · September 23rd, 2004, 02:55 AM

Matt McEwen (or anyone else that can answer my questions)-
Is the FS-4 able to handle higher bit rate streams like ones from DVCPro cameras? Also what is the maximum bit rate the FS-4 can consistantly handle without any problems recording? Can the stream be a none standard format (other than .DV, .MOV, .AVI) and still record it? Thanks.

-Brett Erskine

Allan Leonhardsen · September 24th, 2004, 01:28 AM

HI Phil,

As an answer to you question on a UK supplier. Holdan Limited www.holdan.co.uk is the UK and ROI master distributor. We have just recently taken over the distributor of Focus Product range. I must say that after receiving the first delivery of FireStore our Technical Director is all into Focus, we can't keep him in the office, constantly popping up to the Lake District "shooting" birds on FS-3.

For The FS-4 and FS-4pro. We haven't started the marketing yet, as we were waiting for the European Price structure to come into place. However, I believe that we will have a firm price within end of business 24 Sep.

It’s my honest believe that we live in an open world driven by the internet, why our prices in UK MUST reflect the rest of the world (read US).

I’m planning to run a aggregative pre-order and intro offer, and right now I'm desperate to find some POWER users that can provide our Technical department with "real life" input.

If this have your interest please feel free to contact me directly.

Looking forward to be able to provide PAL and UK input in this great forum.

Cheers,

Allan

Allan Leonhardsen · September 24th, 2004, 01:36 AM

Hi Jos,

I like to follow up on Matt answer on a Focus Distributor in Denmark. Been a native Dane, but now living in UK, I know Dansk AV very well. Torkild the Managing Director of Dansk AV is one of the “old” boys on the Danish AV scene, meaning that he is a honest and some one that you can trust. I can highly recommend calling Torkild direct and have a chat.

Cheers,

Allan

Don Berube · September 24th, 2004, 03:46 AM

<<<-- Originally posted by Brett Erskine : Matt McEwen (or anyone else that can answer my questions)-
Is the FS-4 able to handle higher bit rate streams like ones from DVCPro cameras? Also what is the maximum bit rate the FS-4 can consistantly handle without any problems recording? Can the stream be a none standard format (other than .DV, .MOV, .AVI) and still record it? Thanks.

-Brett Erskine -->>>

Hi Brett,

The short answer is "No, not yet". Currently, the FireStore family of products is designed for 25 megabit DV.

Perhaps Matt will have the time in the near future to elaborate on this.

Best regards,

- don

Jos Svendsen · September 26th, 2004, 05:37 AM

Nice to meet other danes in cyberspace - DV quadrant.

I'll check with them. From the little I have dealt with them they go in to the + category, unlike some om the older robbers in the AV-business in this country.

Måtte alle dine øl være kolde

Giroud Francois · October 2nd, 2004, 01:27 PM

sorry to come back again on this Pal model question.
A web site has taken pre-order for the FS4 long ago and i jump into. I made several call to make sure they understand the system is "model dependant" and they should expect to order a specific model for me.
If by any chance it disturbs them so much (mainly due to the difference of price) that they could finally reject my order or send me a US model, getting an US model is still technically ok to workwith my PAL camera ?
Frankly i do not care for marketing or warranty strategy, and i can probably find an universal power adapter easily, so if getting a PAL model just mean to wait longer and to pay more, I still stick to buy the US model.

Matt McEwen · October 5th, 2004, 10:37 AM

Dear Giroud,

If you have ordered a model from the US, you will need to make sure it is PAL. It will also ship with a 110V power supply and any warranty must be done in the US.

The NTSC model is not switchable to PAL.

Hope that helps,
Matt McEwen

Marcus Keeler · October 7th, 2004, 03:10 AM

The whole PAL versus NTSC price difference is a RIP, pure and simple.
While the Americans are able to control market forces, we will continue to be dumped on, and dumped on we are !

- The difference between NTSC & PAl technically is ZIP !
- The same can be said for 220v versus 110v adaptors (God forbid they use a 110-220v unit).
- Worldwide warranty plans are commonplace nowadays.

As an individual, it's impossible to fight against it, but in time, as the East opens up more and more, Europe will get it's own direct line into manufacturers and the US will lose the Europeans for ever. YAHOO !!!

I imagine a bow wave of incredulous retorts to this, but only from the US guys I'm sure.

Marcus Keeler · October 7th, 2004, 03:11 AM

"Double tap" removed...

Daniel Kohl · October 7th, 2004, 01:53 PM

Hi Marcus,

I don't think you should get too upset yet. The FS4 hasn't even hit the shelves yet. Judging from the fact that no one is writing about having used one. And this discussion seems to have started based on the price list from B+H Photo. Maybe the "PAL" version will cost the same as the "NTSC" version, and they will both be available at the same time. Maybe the cost difference between the models is a B+H thing (I have no idea). I just think you are being a bit accusation-al, a bit too soon. Maybe you are right ... maybe the marketing department of Focus, and other US based manufactures enjoy punishing video makers in Europe for no good reason. But I kind of doubt it.

Matt, I think it would be a good idea to let us know when we can expect to have a FS4, with lots of cool functions to complain about. Otherwise we are apt to start discuss the problems we think there are with the FS4 in its absence.

Are we talking about months, days or hours before the market release?

Daniel Kohl · October 7th, 2004, 01:55 PM

And what's a "double tap"? And why did you remove it?

Marcus Keeler · October 7th, 2004, 02:02 PM

Fair play Daniel, let's wait. You never know, this could be the first item to be similarly priced on both sides of the pond.....it might happen... :-)

Double tap. Well, I clicked the 'submit reply' button when I had written that post, but nowt happened, despite me waiting long enough to be able to nip off and make a coffee. When I came back I clicked again and low and behold, a double post (double tap). Typical !

LOL

Marcus

Matt McEwen · October 9th, 2004, 12:21 PM

Hi all,

We expect FS-4 to be available in December '04.

Matt

Ted Roberts · October 13th, 2004, 07:11 AM

Hello Matt, What happened to support for HDV?

Matt McEwen · October 13th, 2004, 03:49 PM

Hi Ted,

At NAB '04 we did announce our intention to support the HDV standard and we have joined the HDV forum. This is still in development and I am not quite sure as yet how and when HDV support will appear in the FireStore product line. I will definitely notify this list when we have news.

Hope that helps.
Matt McEwen

September 24th, 2004, 01:28 AM	#17
Allan Leonhardsen Tourist Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 3	FS-4 in the UK HI Phil, As an answer to you question on a UK supplier. Holdan Limited www.holdan.co.uk is the UK and ROI master distributor. We have just recently taken over the distributor of Focus Product range. I must say that after receiving the first delivery of FireStore our Technical Director is all into Focus, we can't keep him in the office, constantly popping up to the Lake District "shooting" birds on FS-3. For The FS-4 and FS-4pro. We haven't started the marketing yet, as we were waiting for the European Price structure to come into place. However, I believe that we will have a firm price within end of business 24 Sep. It’s my honest believe that we live in an open world driven by the internet, why our prices in UK MUST reflect the rest of the world (read US). I’m planning to run a aggregative pre-order and intro offer, and right now I'm desperate to find some POWER users that can provide our Technical department with "real life" input. If this have your interest please feel free to contact me directly. Looking forward to be able to provide PAL and UK input in this great forum. Cheers, Allan

September 24th, 2004, 01:36 AM	#18
Allan Leonhardsen Tourist Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 3	FireStore In Denmark Hi Jos, I like to follow up on Matt answer on a Focus Distributor in Denmark. Been a native Dane, but now living in UK, I know Dansk AV very well. Torkild the Managing Director of Dansk AV is one of the “old” boys on the Danish AV scene, meaning that he is a honest and some one that you can trust. I can highly recommend calling Torkild direct and have a chat. Cheers, Allan

September 24th, 2004, 03:46 AM	#19
Don Berube Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Boston, MA (travel frequently) Posts: 837	<<<-- Originally posted by Brett Erskine : Matt McEwen (or anyone else that can answer my questions)- Is the FS-4 able to handle higher bit rate streams like ones from DVCPro cameras? Also what is the maximum bit rate the FS-4 can consistantly handle without any problems recording? Can the stream be a none standard format (other than .DV, .MOV, .AVI) and still record it? Thanks. -Brett Erskine -->>> Hi Brett, The short answer is "No, not yet". Currently, the FireStore family of products is designed for 25 megabit DV. Perhaps Matt will have the time in the near future to elaborate on this. Best regards, - don __________________ DONALD BERUBE - noisybrain. Productions, LLC Director Of Photography/ Producer/ Consultant http://noisybrain.com/donbio.html CREATE and NETWORK with http://www.bosfcpug.org and also http://fcpugnetwork.org

September 26th, 2004, 05:37 AM	#20
Jos Svendsen Major Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark Posts: 221	Thanks Allan. Nice to meet other danes in cyberspace - DV quadrant. I'll check with them. From the little I have dealt with them they go in to the + category, unlike some om the older robbers in the AV-business in this country. Måtte alle dine øl være kolde __________________ ---------------------------- 12c41 JOS. Svendsen

October 7th, 2004, 01:53 PM	#25
Daniel Kohl Contributor Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Frankfurt, Germany Posts: 571	Hi Marcus, I don't think you should get too upset yet. The FS4 hasn't even hit the shelves yet. Judging from the fact that no one is writing about having used one. And this discussion seems to have started based on the price list from B+H Photo. Maybe the "PAL" version will cost the same as the "NTSC" version, and they will both be available at the same time. Maybe the cost difference between the models is a B+H thing (I have no idea). I just think you are being a bit accusation-al, a bit too soon. Maybe you are right ... maybe the marketing department of Focus, and other US based manufactures enjoy punishing video makers in Europe for no good reason. But I kind of doubt it. Matt, I think it would be a good idea to let us know when we can expect to have a FS4, with lots of cool functions to complain about. Otherwise we are apt to start discuss the problems we think there are with the FS4 in its absence. Are we talking about months, days or hours before the market release? __________________ Daniel Kohl Frankenstein meets XL1

September 23rd, 2004, 02:55 AM	#16
Brett Erskine Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Anaheim, CA Posts: 445	Matt McEwen (or anyone else that can answer my questions)- Is the FS-4 able to handle higher bit rate streams like ones from DVCPro cameras? Also what is the maximum bit rate the FS-4 can consistantly handle without any problems recording? Can the stream be a none standard format (other than .DV, .MOV, .AVI) and still record it? Thanks. -Brett Erskine

October 2nd, 2004, 01:27 PM	#21
Giroud Francois Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: switzerland Posts: 2,133	sorry to come back again on this Pal model question. A web site has taken pre-order for the FS4 long ago and i jump into. I made several call to make sure they understand the system is "model dependant" and they should expect to order a specific model for me. If by any chance it disturbs them so much (mainly due to the difference of price) that they could finally reject my order or send me a US model, getting an US model is still technically ok to workwith my PAL camera ? Frankly i do not care for marketing or warranty strategy, and i can probably find an universal power adapter easily, so if getting a PAL model just mean to wait longer and to pay more, I still stick to buy the US model.

October 5th, 2004, 10:37 AM	#22
Matt McEwen Focus Enhancements Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Campbell, CA. Posts: 508	Dear Giroud, If you have ordered a model from the US, you will need to make sure it is PAL. It will also ship with a 110V power supply and any warranty must be done in the US. The NTSC model is not switchable to PAL. Hope that helps, Matt McEwen

October 7th, 2004, 03:10 AM	#23
Marcus Keeler New Boot Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 12	The whole PAL versus NTSC price difference is a RIP, pure and simple. While the Americans are able to control market forces, we will continue to be dumped on, and dumped on we are ! - The difference between NTSC & PAl technically is ZIP ! - The same can be said for 220v versus 110v adaptors (God forbid they use a 110-220v unit). - Worldwide warranty plans are commonplace nowadays. As an individual, it's impossible to fight against it, but in time, as the East opens up more and more, Europe will get it's own direct line into manufacturers and the US will lose the Europeans for ever. YAHOO !!! I imagine a bow wave of incredulous retorts to this, but only from the US guys I'm sure.

October 7th, 2004, 03:11 AM	#24
Marcus Keeler New Boot Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 12	"Double tap" removed...

October 7th, 2004, 01:55 PM	#26
Daniel Kohl Contributor Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Frankfurt, Germany Posts: 571	And what's a "double tap"? And why did you remove it? __________________ Daniel Kohl Frankenstein meets XL1

October 7th, 2004, 02:02 PM	#27
Marcus Keeler New Boot Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 12	Fair play Daniel, let's wait. You never know, this could be the first item to be similarly priced on both sides of the pond.....it might happen... :-) Double tap. Well, I clicked the 'submit reply' button when I had written that post, but nowt happened, despite me waiting long enough to be able to nip off and make a coffee. When I came back I clicked again and low and behold, a double post (double tap). Typical ! LOL Marcus

October 9th, 2004, 12:21 PM	#28
Matt McEwen Focus Enhancements Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Campbell, CA. Posts: 508	Hi all, We expect FS-4 to be available in December '04. Matt

October 13th, 2004, 07:11 AM	#29
Ted Roberts New Boot Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Greer, SC Posts: 10	Hello Matt, What happened to support for HDV? __________________ Ted Roberts General Manager Micro Media, ProRay Systems

October 13th, 2004, 03:49 PM	#30
Matt McEwen Focus Enhancements Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Campbell, CA. Posts: 508	Hi Ted, At NAB '04 we did announce our intention to support the HDV standard and we have joined the HDV forum. This is still in development and I am not quite sure as yet how and when HDV support will appear in the FireStore product line. I will definitely notify this list when we have news. Hope that helps. Matt McEwen