Sony Optical Disk for U1
 

Do most people use the 23.3 GB disk since the price per gig is lower? Or is there another reason to use the 50GB disk? Just getting ready to place a order and was looking for user input.

The 50GBs are bit more expensive than the 23GB byte for byte but for long assignments out of the country and when shooting 422 50mbps, I favor the 50GBs. I take half the disc stock I would normally do, and I can record 100 minutes at full res on a single disc. The translucent red color looks cool too...

Thierry.

Hi Paul – While agreeing with everything Thierry says but giving a completely opposite answer, we use the 23gb discs because –

1: For certain jobs I prefer to break down into categories whatever we are shooting – not always, but there are certain times I will do this. So for example – Interviews on one disc and scenic clips on another and the 23gb discs are usually fine for this.

2: In certain situations where the camera could be in danger of damage, I will load a new disc thereby saving anything that has already been recorded.

3: In certain situations where we may be required to hand-over a disc due to confrontation I will use a fresh disc and have a couple of spare discs to hand-over.

4: For certain jobs our clients want the discs – handing a 23gb disc over is cheaper

5: For others, they want the disc(s) stored and that may also be a cheaper alternative

6: On an average week long trip in another country we take 15/20 23gb discs, for shorter trips about 10 discs.

Of course, the fact that we purchased quite a lot of 23gb discs before the dual layer discs came out also has a bearing on our decisions.

I agree that being able to carry less discs and the ability to record longer is always beneficial, but as you can see everybody has different needs.

Regards: Stu
www.studioscotland.com

I always use 23GB discs because most of my shoots are short enuugh that I can fit the entire project on one disc. The extra capacity of a 50GB would usually be wasted. And if I'm wrong, and need a second disc, I have not wasted any money by going with the smaller discs since two 23GB cost less than one 50GB.

I suggest using both sizes so you can mix and match as necessary to suit the needs of the shoot. If you fill a 50GB disc and only need a few more minutes of shooting, then you'd rather have a 23GB to finish off the shoot.

Paul, I think your use of the discs will be for archiving SxS footage? If I was you I'd have both sizes of discs available and choose the disc capacity that best suits the project. For example, if you've got 30GB of data from a project, use a 50GB disc instead of two 23GB discs. Regardless of what is more cost efficient, it will make organizing the project easier to have it all on one disc. If you got a project wtih 20GB of data, put it on the 23GB disc. You get the idea.

Thanks for your input.

Doug you are correct I will be using the Disk for archiving from the EX1 and PMW-350. But also recording some disk off the XDCAM 422 50Mbps Final Cut timeline after recording on the Convergent Designs Nano. I know this is an additional step but I have a few clients that said they would like the footage on Sony Optical disk.

So buying as Doug suggested a stock of both disks seems to be the best path.