fan noise
 

After my FS-4 is on for about 15 minutes or so, the fans turns way up...
too loud while recording interior dialogue.

I read a post from a german user saying that he got a firmware download that fixed the fan problem....and that the fan problem was fixed in the actual production units that are being sold...

i just spoke with focus tech and they said that there was no firmware update...there might be one in about a month. And they said they were working on installing a quieter fan.

Does anyone know if this download upgrade does exist yet?...i have a shoot starting this week, and foresee the fan thing being a real problem for inside stuff....

thanks.
David

If you meant me, the German user; then I have to admit that my supposition was wrong. I was repeating something that someone from Focus told me.

I was told that the fans in the production model FS-4s were going to be quieter than those in the beta unit I was testing. I don't really have the feeling that the production model's fan is quieter.

The software in the production model FS-4s kicks the fan into medium speed at around 15 min depending on a few factors, like room temperature, and how hard the unit is working. The beta unit kicked into high speed at around 15 min which is in fact louder than the production model.

I did receive a software upgrade for the beta FS-4 which made this problem a little better (it made the fan kick-in later). But this was all part of the beta testing of the FS-4. There is no software upgrade for the production models that I know of.

Sorry for the confusion.

Unlike sporting events
 

Loud fans not wanted here - I just shot a play and the fan noise was loud during the many quiet passages, clearly audible to the row or two in front of me. It makes the optional camera mount kit a joke because you would never want to mount a fan in such a conspicuous spot that "announces" the fan noise all over the auditorium.

In my opinion this issue is the single most important problem with the FS-4. The fan noise and the unclear issue of wether 4 channel audio is recorded in Quicktime mode or not, are the only things prevent the FS-4 from replacing tape as recording medium in the field.

Daniel, I would add one more thing. Battery life. 90 min. is not a lot since you will probably not turn off the power of the FS-4 every time you hit rec-pause. Furthermore, there's instances where you'll want the drive to record for the full 3 hours non-stop in certain situations. Won't happen with a 90 min. battery as the bottleneck.

And of course, the FAT32 format is IMO too restrictive as far as max clip lenght goes. The extra step of linking the clips together, while not a deal killer, certainly isn't pleasing.

The FS-4 falls in the "almost but not quite" category for me. I think I'll continue with tapes until those issues are fixed (I hear there's a 180 min battery coming, which is a start).

The Fan noise is also a very big concern for videographers that need to shoot in quiet environments and is something Focus should address. Hey maybe someone could modify his FS-4 and install a custom built water cooling solution? Now that is something I'd pay to see! ;-)

Problems still not a reason to wait
 

I would say that the noise, battery life and FAT32 are not enough reasons to avoid buying it for the shoots that are in noisy environments or locations in which you can seclude yourself, are less than 90 minutes or you can swap batteries within that time frame and your NLE can create one virtual clip out of several physical clips.

If I am in the middle of the shoot, I can check the shot and then continue shooting in under a minute. What's the tape equivalent? Rewind, play the tape and then fast foward to the end point to continue shooting. No thanks, I prefer pressing a few buttons and waiting a few seconds.

Tapes are 60 minutes and really expensive ones are 83 minutes. A 3-hour shoot would require 2 tape changes as opposed to one battery change.

Whether it's the FS-4 or DV Rack, I can't see relying solely on tape as the best course of action in light of the alternatives, issues and all.

fan noise
 

so now I'm in the middle of my feature....the fan noise does suck.
i had production go out and get me a longer firewire cord so i can try to get the unit out of the room....they got a 15 footer.....after using that i think a need a 50 footer.

Otherwise the unit is great...other minor issues aside......Believe it or not the producer lost tape 2 of the movie....i have it fully backed up for him....it has already paid for itself...even though it is just way too noisy.

David

I agree with that. However I, like many others, do need to shoot in quite environments at times and/or longer running times than 1h30 non-stop so it definitelly is enough to pospone my purchase indefinitelly until those issues are resolved.

But each has its different needs, and I do know that regardless of those problems, it is a great, revolutionary tool. I'm not trying to bring it down, but before spending 1.5 grand on this unit, I expect that it can meet all my needs as a videographer, not just a couple of 'em.

Plus you'd think there's an easy and economical solution to those problems. a longer battery life and a better passive cooling system isn't that much to ask of Focus IMO.

fan noise
 

has anything been done to rectify the fan noise problem?...or do I have to void my warranty and crack it open to do something myself, like others have done.

Thanks for any info.

hello david,

just taped a flamenco performance, and during a guitar sole, the fan kick in.....wow (mounted in the camera shoe, audio by on board mic,)
this is my second unit because of the noise issue.

greetings

Does the fan kick in when the unit reaches a certain temperature? If so you can easily rig up a cheap, quiet PC fan to mount on the unit and cool it externally - so that the internal fan never has to turn on (IF it is thermostat-regulated). I've never used an FS-4 but I have to cool both of my external hard drives this way due to the insufficiently small internal fans. A small PC fan works very well in cooling these drives. The tricky part is powering the external fan - you'll need something like a battery pack or an AC adapter.

hello dan,

i guess the fan kicks in randomly at a certain temp. this perfomance was in a small local theater with no soundboard to plug in. my other performances are noise, so it does not matter, but this one...what a disaster.
i just started learning to edit, and i guss i should record the audio on a different devise and add it in later.
there are some people her, they have done that, and shown pics, but i can't do that.

greetings

since you are shooting off of a tripod, you could have mounted the firestore away from the camera, with a long firewire cable... maybe even inside of a big padded box, to muffle the sound?

a remotely located mic would have also been an alternative... you could record the audio to the camera that way as well.

hello dan,

you're so right, but it's done.

during all my other shootings i never notice any noice, or even that the fan kicks in. normaly it lays on a tray under the camera between the tri pot legs.
have camera mounted it only twice, one outdoor event, and the flamenco performance. learned a lesson. most important, my client is ok with that.

greetings