SxS card reader?
 

I dont need a card reader for the ex3, right, I can just hook up the camera via firewire and pull the video off the cards?

Yes, you can connect the camera to the computer. But the SxS card reader sure is faster when it comes to offloading the files.

really? how much faster? and bh was pitching me the sony one, for 250 bucks, there are cheaper ones right?

I haven't timed it, but the reader is considerably faster--worth the cost, to me, anyway.

Two-fifty is the going price. I've not found it any cheaper. Hey, it's Sony and only Sony makes 'em.

great, thanks!

I haven't found the sony reader to be much faster, it's still connected via usb the same as the camera would be so there's the usual usb bottleneck.
If you put the sxs card into an express card slot on the pc then that's a different story, very fast.
When i was using the sony reader i was getting about 6 x transfer speed.
With the sxs card in a sxs slot on my laptop, i was getting over 10 times speed, (3 mins to offload an 8gb card).
Nowadays though i'm using the sdhc card so i use the sdhc>usb reader, it's about as fast as the sony reader, and cost me £5, and doesn't require mains power like the sony reader does.

Paul.

ok, another question then. when recording, and card one fills up, and it starts storing on card two, can I take out card one while its in record mode and dump the card?

That's the beauty of it all. just make sure you are pulling the right card :)
Also when you are done offloading, clear the card while it is in our computer, so you won't have to do it in camera.

Yes, you can. Ian, you should really consider the SDHC solution that many (most?) of us are using currently. We are saving our one or two SxS cards for overcranking and using the SCHC cards for recording. They are much cheaper, as effective and reliable, and you can put them in a simple SD card reader to transfer what you've recorded. This is a beautiful solution and enhances the value of these cameras greatly.

from what I have been reading about the SCHC cards, the adapter you have to use sticks out a couple inches, and you cant close the door, is that true? also, I have only been reading about it for a little bit, but it sounds like the rumor is sony might update the firmware to lock that option out...and if that is even remotely true, by the time I get the camera, that option probably wont be on the table. BUT, if it is, then I will definately consider SCHC for shoots where I dont have to worry about breaking that adapter off.

Oh no, not nearly that far. More like a couple of millimeters is all.

ahh, maybe the pic I saw was an extreme version.

but you probably still cant close the door right (not that its a HUGE deal)?

Maybe the pic you saw was the Compact Flash version? That would account for a couple of inches.

Anyway it's just the EX1 door that won't close on the SDHC adapter combo. The EX3 door closes just fine.

yup, that was the one.

so I would need to get SDHC to express adapter, and then I can record to the SDHC cards? simple as that?

Just about as simple as that -- as long as it's the Kensington
adapter and Sandisk or Transcend SDHC cards. Jay Gladwell
and Alex Raskin did a great job summing everything up in
these two posts:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/958333-post794.html

and

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/958342-post795.html

or browse the entire 60-page, 880-post thread at

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/sony-xdca...sxs-cards.html

Hope this helps,