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?

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.

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.

...the SCHC cards, the adapter you have to use sticks out a couple inches...Oh no, not nearly that far. More like a couple of millimeters is all.

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 (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/951199-post15.html)? 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.

Maybe the pic you saw was the Compact Flash version (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/951199-post15.html)? 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-xdcam-ex-cinealta/130757-sdhc-substitute-sxs-cards.html

Hope this helps,

man, that almost sounds too good to be true. but if its working well for others. it might be better to get two 8gb SxS from BH and then get the rest as SDHC...that could definately save some money.

thanks for the links

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.

There's no rumor, unless you're trying to create one. ;)
Also, if they disable the USB support via expresscard, it would render all existing PHU-60K capture drives useless.

Having said that, soon it won't matter (at least for me) I'm planning on buying the NanoFlash which uses inexpensive compactflash cards. The 4:2:2 100mbps long-GOP codec is simply amazing. The NanoFlash list at $3.5K. Hopefully we will see them near $3K. Sony needs to pay more attention to these upcoming drives. They may want to jump on this bandwagon. This device is not much more than two of their 32GB SxS cards. Cineform is also working on one (or more) too.

There's no rumor, unless you're trying to create one.
Also, if they disable the USB support via expresscard, it would render all existing PHU-60K capture drives useless.

Having said that, soon it won't matter for me. I'm planning on buying the NanoFlash which uses inexpensinve compactflash cards. The 4:2:2 100mbps long-GOP codec is simply amazing. The NanoFlash list at $3.5K. Hopefully we will see them near $3K.

i was reading about the XDR, and just heard about the nano, seems pretty sweet. and a great addition, rather then spending 60k on a full size HD camera.

Ian, based on the samples I've seen. It's going to bring the EX cameras into another level of performance.

whats the difference between the nano and the XDR, isnt it 50mb/s vs 100mb/s?

oh, nevermind, I found the info.

can someone post a link to the kensington adapter?

Ian, didn't you read my previous reply (#15 in this thread)? Everything you need to know, including the link to the Kensington adapter, is there: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/958333-post794.html -- hope this helps,

man, for some reason it wasnt showing up on my computer. I knew you had posted it, but then I couldnt find it, so I thought I was just going crazy.

thanks AGAIN...hahaha.

whats the difference between the nano and the XDR, isnt it 50mb/s vs 100mb/s?

A more likely possibility will be Sony's firmware update for the EX line to output 50Mb/s to SXS cards since they have the headroom to support this. However, such a move will be driven by competition when the time comes.

Convergent has already confirmed in these forums that Nano/XDR are using the same Sony codec chips found in our EX cameras. So a firmware update to support higher data rates would surely be a welcomed rumor for the folks who have purchased Sony's SXS cards-- which certainly hold the potential for some future proofing.

For the time being I'm inclined to agree with Steven that the USB support via Expresscard will remain in tact for the existing PHU-60K drive.

Having said that, soon it won't matter (at least for me) I'm planning on buying the NanoFlash which uses inexpensive compactflash cards. The 4:2:2 100mbps long-GOP codec is simply amazing. The NanoFlash list at $3.5K. Hopefully we will see them near $3K. Sony needs to pay more attention to these upcoming drives. They may want to jump on this bandwagon. This device is not much more than two of their 32GB SxS cards. Cineform is also working on one (or more) too.

How does this work with the Ex1/EX3? I gather this is some sort of external recoding device? If so, how does it connect to the EX3? Does the EX3 output 4:2:2?

A more likely possibility will be Sony's firmware update for the EX line to output 50Mb/s to SXS cards since they have the headroom to support this. However, such a move will be driven by competition when the time comes.

If Sony can actually do this wouldn't now be the time?

So from what I'm reading here, will it (soon) be possible to capture 4:2:2 HD on the EX1/3 either in an outboard device or internally to the SxS cards?

Do you think 4:2:2 will make much of a difference?

Do you think 4:2:2 will make much of a difference?

Considering that some broadcasters will only accept 4:2:2, it can make a big difference!

There was another thread in the EX forum that showed the difference. Try a search in this forum for "4:2:2" and it should come up.

EDIT: Here's the thread:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/sony-xdcam-ex-cinealta/130855-hdsdi-out-420-a.html

How does this work with the Ex1/EX3? I gather this is some sort of external recoding device? If so, how does it connect to the EX3? Does the EX3 output 4:2:2?



If Sony can actually do this wouldn't now be the time?

So from what I'm reading here, will it (soon) be possible to capture 4:2:2 HD on the EX1/3 either in an outboard device or internally to the SxS cards?

Do you think 4:2:2 will make much of a difference?


there is a thread in the tapeless section dedicated to flash XDR, which is by convergent designs.

It looks like you take a BNC from the SDI out on the ex3 and run that to the SDI in on the nano/xdr and then record straight to the cf cards at 4:2:2. pretty sweet.

As an alternative we invested in Synchrotech's PCIe to ExpressCard Drive Read-Writer EXP54-CR-PCEIF1 with somewhat mixed success. It gives us a built-in Express Card slot that goes direct to a PCIe card slot. It is twice the speed and half the cost of Sony's USB card reader. There are significant pitfalls as well: SxS cards are all we've tried, but hot-swapping cards has not worked for us. It seems to read when the computer boots and that's it. To read a second card we have to reboot. Major pain in the neck. To be fair, they did warn us in their directions that there could be problems with this. (Of course you have to own it to read the instructions). There may be a way to force the computer to repoll the devices but I haven't fooled around with it that much. It was also fussy in terms of which card slot it went into. I had to do a fair amount of card shuffling to get things working. And, of course, it takes up a PCIe bus so I had to find a motherboard that had enough slots to support this, my video card, an Aja card, and a RAID controller.