Dear Friends,

Our latest firmware release, 1.0.141, posted today, includes a Pre-Record Buffer feature.

There is a menu option to activate this feature, or leave it off.

If it is on, and the Flash XDR has been receiving a valid video signal, then when a recording starts, we will start the recording with the 4.5 seconds of video that occurred prior to the record button (or other trigger) was pressed.

This feature is very nice for events which start without warning, live events when something unplanned happens, and for shooting nature.

Please note that the 4.5 seconds is fixed, and that this feature is not available at any bit-rate above 160 Mbps. At the highest bit rates we just run out of memory space to implement this feature.

This feature will ship with the initial nanoFlashes.

Great feature!
However, I imagine it uses a bit more of power, when the pre-buffer is activated in the menu. So we have to take care when we use it. Could you give us an approximate idea of the extra power consumption of this mode? Thank you.

According to the CD info furnished with the upgrade, the additional power needed is 1.5 watts.

Dear Ronan,

The Flash XDR used to draw 14 to 16 watts.

I we have reduced the power to 12 watts typical, but with all options running, please plan on up to 15 watts.



Power consumption figures for the nanoFlash:

In Record: 5.6 watts

With Pre-Record Buffer active, the power draw is the same, 5.6 watts

In Playback 4.6 watts

In Standby 0.2 watts (I usually quote "under 0.3 watts")

(Standby mode is entered whenever you are using the HD-SDI input and there is no signal on the HD-SDI input, such as when your camera is turned off.)