I recently bought an EX1 with the Hoodman SxS adapters and Transcend 16GB Class 6 SDHC cards. I have 8 sets. It is not operating reliably. I get very frequent Media Restore errors. Sometimes after every shot. The red light stays on about 8 seconds after I've stopped recording. So it seems to me that the SDHC card is not operating fast enough.

Did I get a bad batch of SDHC cards (I got 8 of them) from Amazon? I ordered 4 plain cards and 4 with a USB adapter, so they couldn't have been sequentially produced.

Any help would be appreciated. I'm about to ditch the whole SDHC thing for lack of reliability.

You MUST wait until that red light goes off. It's still writing the TOC and it's normal for it to take a few seconds to turn green.

I guess you know each SDHC card has a serial number printed on it. Go to the Transcend web site and register them so you are covered under their warranty. This will also make sure you have real Transcend cards and not fakes. - That would be my first step. If they continue to give you problems maybe Transcend would replace them since they should be able to accept the data rate that this camera outputs when shooting a standard frame rate.

I marked each card with an easy to see number and I also put number each card holder so potential issues could resolved by recording which card and holder combination had a problem and then change the card or holder to determine where the problem might be.

I had one problem Transcend 16GB card out of my eight. I no longer use that one with the EX3.

The delay after stopping recording is at least 8 seconds. I do wait for it to turn green. Sometimes it cuts off in the middle of recording though.

It has happened with at least 4 of them so far. I checked a few serial numbers and they seem legit. The other thing I noticed is they seemed to work the first time I used them. Then after transfering to Final Cut they start to exhibit the problem. Could it be something OS X puts on the card when you mount it? A .DS_Store file?

I tried formatting one and that didn't make a difference. Maybe I need to format it twice or three times before using it again. Also, I've been recording 1080 30P. Should that format create any problems?

You MUST wait until that red light goes off. It's still writing the TOC and it's normal for it to take a few seconds to turn green.

Do you mean wait to eject or wait to record again?

The one way I've found that I can reliably recreate the problem is by recording, stopping the recording, and start recording again before the red light turns green. Every time this results in the second clip being lost and a media restore error. Sometimes the media restore error happens immediately on stopping the second recording. Sometimes it happens during recording a third clip or at the end of the third clip.

Wait to record or eject. If you try to record before that light goes green you will get an error and will damage the TOC needing a media restore.

If you eject you will damage the TOC.

The red light means the card is still being written. It does take a few seconds for the buffer to finish writing after stopping a record.

Do you mean wait to eject or wait to record again?

The one way I've found that I can reliably recreate the problem is by recording, stopping the recording, and start recording again before the red light turns green. Every time this results in the second clip being lost and a media restore error. Sometimes the media restore error happens immediately on stopping the second recording. Sometimes it happens during recording a third clip or at the end of the third clip.

The delay after stopping recording is at least 8 seconds.
That seems strange to me.
I get a consistant 3 sec delay no matter if Sandisk or Transcend SDHC, or Sony SxS.
Are you shooting long takes, or more like 10-20 sec shots?
Do you get the 8 sec delay with SxS cards as well?
If it's happening on short takes on SxS cards, I would be suspicious it's a camera problem rather than a card problem.
Certainly 30p, 60i, 720, 1080, etc. should not be an issue re the problem you are having.

I have been using 10 MxR + 16gb Transcend class 6 cards since early this year without any problems at all. The short wait for the TOC to complete is not a problem as long as you know about waiting for the LED to change from red to green. I either continuously run or use SxS cards if I think a situation needs short fast shots. I was fortunate to find this site before buying an EX1 and so know the "rules" for shooting with SDHC approved media. Thanks to all who give their time to further our knowledge.

An 8-10 second write delay is too long and prone to user error. That delay has been the source of most of my problems, but I'm not sure it's the complete problem. I also had a case of a truncated clip that cut off halfway through.

Does everyone else have this long of a delay? When I use SxS cards the delay is more like 3 seconds. Also I can start recording again before the light turns green without problem in that situation.

I tested the speed of the Transcend card in a USB adapter on my Mac and it's write speed always ends up around 10 MB/sec. So it doesn't seem to be a problem with write speed of the SDHC card.

I'm ordered an MxR card from Australia and will test that when it arrives to see if I get a shorter write delay. I'm also going to order a Hoodman SDHC card when they come available. It's SxS until I'm convinced SDHC is reliable. Better start saving for the $1600 for 2 32GB SxS cards.

I'm starting to suspect the Hoodman adapter now.

I'm pretty sure Hoodman only guarantees their adaptors when used with Hoodman cards.

I use Hoodman cards & adaptors and I've never had an issue. Of course, I was pretty anal about only putting Sony tapes in my old cameras, too. Never had an issue with them, either.

I hope you get your problem resolved. It sucks having issues that drive you crazy like that.

Also my firmware is 1.12_0534. Does anyone else have that version while getting 3 sec. write delays?

Brett,

I bought Hoodman cards and they work flawlessly. After hitting stop, the light stays red for about 5 seconds. So I bought some Transcend cards from Amazon, they are legit cards, I checked the website. Both the ones I bought take 11 seconds for the light to turn green after hitting stop!!! Plus I get write errors quite frequently. I ALWAYS make sure the light is green before hitting play. These are the Class 6 Transcend cards direct from AMAZON, not a 3rd party vendor. I bought them about 3 weeks ago. Maybe they have changed since the reports over a year ago? Many have no issues, my recent order is not much good I'm afraid.

I know they are double the price, but I will only buy Hoodman cards from now on! They have worked flawlessly in the Hoodman SxSxSDHC adapter.

I also recently updated my Firmware, so I'm not sure if it's something to do with that or not?
However, the Trandscends are NOT trustworthy for me. I'll maybe use them for backup and writing from card to card in the field, that is all.

Brett,

I bought Hoodman cards and they work flawlessly. After hitting stop, the light stays red for about 5 seconds. So I bought some Transcend cards from Amazon, they are legit cards, I checked the website. Both the ones I bought take 11 seconds for the light to turn green after hitting stop!!! Plus I get write errors quite frequently. I ALWAYS make sure the light is green before hitting play. These are the Class 6 Transcend cards direct from AMAZON, not a 3rd party vendor. I bought them about 3 weeks ago. Maybe they have changed since the reports over a year ago? Many have no issues, my recent order is not much good I'm afraid.

I know they are double the price, but I will only buy Hoodman cards from now on! They have worked flawlessly in the Hoodman SxSxSDHC adapter.

I also recently updated my Firmware, so I'm not sure if it's something to do with that or not?
However, the Trandscends are NOT trustworthy for me. I'll maybe use them for backup and writing from card to card in the field, that is all.

I bought some of my Transcend cards from Amazon and some from Newegg. All work flawlessly in my Kensington adapters.

Now I guess it is possible that recent ones have changed internally, but have you considered that maybe the Transcend cards don't work as well in the Hoodman adapter as opposed to another adapter as others have suggested?

John

I bought Hoodman cards and they work flawlessly. After hitting stop, the light stays red for about 5 seconds. So I bought some Transcend cards from Amazon, they are legit cards, I checked the website. Both the ones I bought take 11 seconds for the light to turn green after hitting stop!!! Plus I get write errors quite frequently.

This is exactly my situation. I ordered the Transcend cards right around the same time. Unfortunately, Hoodman had been out of stock of SDHC cards for a long time. But I just ordered one from them. They were also very helpful on the phone. Once I get it I'll test it out and I also ordered an MxR card to see if the Transcends work with that. I'll report back when I try everything out.

The take home lesson is DO NOT try to use newer Transcend cards with Hoodman adapters. It does not work reliably.

I bought some of my Transcend cards from Amazon and some from Newegg. All work flawlessly in my Kensington adapters.

Now I guess it is possible that recent ones have changed internally, but have you considered that maybe the Transcend cards don't work as well in the Hoodman adapter as opposed to another adapter as others have suggested?

John


Very possible! As a matter of fact, I hope it is that reason. Then I can get an MxR adapter and use the transcends I bought. I read post after post on here saying all the adapters are the same, but maybe they aren't? All I know is this combo (hoodman adaptor/Transcend card) doesn't work reliably at all. I look forward to your findings Brett!

John, How long does the light stay red after you hit stop with the Transcends and MxR adapters? It seems to be a good indicator of problems as both Brett and I are getting +10 seconds?

I have 2 MxR adapters and two 16gig Transcend cards. I just recorded a series of shots with 720/30p files ranging from 10 sec, 20, 30, 1:00, 5:00 and 10:00 minutes in length. The write time (red to green) was 4-1/2 to 5 sec. on average for all file lengths....fwiw.

Dave,

Very interesting! I'm, going to order some MxR adapters. Sounds like its worth a shot. Does it make any sense why there would be a difference in the adapters? Sure doesn't to me!

Where are folks getting MxR adapters anyway? Is there a DVinfo sponsor?

Dave,

Does it make any sense why there would be a difference in the adapters? Sure doesn't to me!



Here is why I think it does:

The experimentation done by the dedicated members of this forum after it was discovered that firmware 1.11 allowed the use of SDHC cards instead of SxS cards went on to over 1200 posts.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/sony-xdcam-ex-cinealta/130757-sdhc-substitute-sxs-cards.html

It was clear from this that after so many adapter and card combinations were tried very few worked. Thus it would appear that tiny little differences in either the card internals or the reader internals led to incompatibilities and failure. The change in the Delkin adapters are a clear example of this. It would appear that even a slight internal change in either an adapter or a card even though they may appear the same on the outside could lead to problems IMO.

John

FWIW, I have a Hoodman adapter and Hoodman 16gb card.

On a recent event I started recording for a long record time and got a "media error" after about 15 minutes.

The exisiting footage was there, but the recording stopped with the error message.

This is random as I tested these cards a few months ago and everyhting was fine.

I was recording at 720p60.

In a way, all of the SDHC setups can not be fully trusted as I have had similar errors using Transcend 32gb + M&R adapters.

The Transcend errors ocurred upon the switch between cards when one was full.

SxS or Flash XDR seem like the best way for payed work.

I got the Hoodman SDHC card today. It has a 4-5 second delay at the end of recording which is about half of what the Transcends were doing. I tested write speed from my Mac and it was 13 MB/sec compared to 10 MB/sec for the Transcends.

I also did a test where I started recording a couple seconds before the red light went out. It recorded fine, but I'd want to test it more times to see if I accidentally do that in the field what is the likelihood that I'll loose footage.

Still waiting on the MxR to arrive and will test it after vacation.

To me the 4-5 seconds is workable. 8-11 seconds was not. I'm still concerned about reliability, but won't know about that until I use it for awhile. It might be a situation where I use SxS cards mostly, but when I need a little extra recording time or can't download a previous days shooting, I have my SDHC cards available.

On a recent event I started recording for a long record time and got a "media error" after about 15 minutes. ...The Transcend errors ocurred upon the switch between cards when one was full.

It would be interesting to know if anyone else has had similar problems with the Hoodman setup. One time is a fluke, more than one is an issue.

I also had some troubles with card switching. It seems like card switching is in the same category as starting to record before the red light goes out. You can try it, but don't expect it to work. It's probably safer to stop recording, wait till the light goes green, switch cards and start recording again.

It seems like card switching is in the same category as starting to record before the red light goes out. You can try it, but don't expect it to work.

I've got 16 Transcend cards, and regularly have shots spanning cards - current record is 5 cards (don't ask...). Copy the BPAV folders to a hard disk and XDCAM Transfer recognises the sequence and joins them all up with nary a hitch.

OTOH, a colleage who's just bought an EX1 with MxR adaptors and some Transcend cards from Amazon.co.uk had a problem on Thursday which meant two lost shots. It sounds like problems are surfacing with newly purchased cards. Is there a bad batch or a change to the card spec, I wonder?

I got my MxR card and tested about 4 Transcend SDHC cards. The result - the delay after stopping the recording ranged from 7-11 seconds. This is not appreciably different than when I use the Hoodman adapter, maybe a second faster in the best case scenario. With the Hoodman card I consistently get 4-6 second delay with either the Hoodman or the MxR adapter.

While I didn't get any Media Rebuild Errors on this brief test, I think it is likely given the slower and variable performance with the Transcend cards that it would happen at some point. I don't presume to tell anyone how to interpret this. But, my reaction is that I will not use these Transcend cards in any capacity for fear of unreliability with MxR adapters(I already know they're unreliable with Hoodman adapters). And I will not be wasting any more money on Transcend cards. I will be buying more Hoodman cards. They are worth every penny in my opinion because they actually test them for this specific use.

Thanks for this input Brett! I was thinking of getting some MxR cards, but if the results are the same as with the Hoodmans (more or less), then I agree, the Transcends aren't worth it!

What happened? Must be the newest Transcends aren't made to the same spec as the older ones? Lot sof other people reported great results with them.

I just ordered a couple more Hoodmans. Several more days of use and my original hoodmans are chugging away, no problems yet, and 4 second write times...they may cost more, but they are worth it!

The couple of times I had problems with shots spanning two transcend 16gb cards (got the incomplete media notice) I shortened the first clip by a couple of frames in xd transfer and no more problem. Not great, but it worked and as it was b-roll...

I have done some tests with media.

Test One:
Time for green light to come on after stopping recording:
SxS card – 4.0 seconds
Sandisk Ultra II 16 GB SDHC C4 – 6.2 seconds
Transcend 32Gb SD HC C6– 8.0 seconds

Test Two:
Time to swap from one slot to the other while recording using the same media.
SxS card – 4.0 seconds
Sandisk Ultra II 16 GB SDHC C4 – 8.0 seconds
Transcend 32Gb SD HC C6– 16.0 seconds (Note: light goes out after 8 seconds but then comes on after 2 seconds for a further 6 seconds).

These results are an average of 10 tests of each type. Camera used: Sony EX1 & 3. Card reader MxR.

Ian Semmens

Hello
My first purchase of Transcend 16GB SDHC cards had V3.1 printed on the rear of the paper insert.
The last batch had V3.2 printed on rear and slightly different printing on front.
I am not sure if this relates to the insert or the SDHC card.
Has anyone matched this difference to card performance or reliability.
I have not tested the V3.2 cards yet.

Update :I filled a V3.2 card today. Played it back and deleted the three clips with no problems.
Malcolm

Malcolm,

What card adapter are you using? The Hoodman or an MxR? It seems to make a difference for some.

I got a couple MxR adapters and four or five Transcend 16GB cards, and they actually worked — most of the time. When I was learning and testing the EX3, I used one and got the "restore media" warning, but the media couldn't be restored. I assumed that I had done something wrong.

Then on an actual job (after I had already used a Transcend card for an entire interview) I got the "restore media" warning, but luckily at the very beginning of an interview. Again, the media couldn't be restored.

Is the system reliable? If you mean can you count on them, I'd have to say no. I've put the MxR adapters and Transcend cards on a shelf, never to be used again.

The S x S cards, on the other hand, have given me no problems whatsoever.

they actually worked — most of the time.

Not the sort of review you'd want to read on a parachute or airbag. Or a video recording medium for that matter.

I'll add that a colleague with a Compact Flash recording device attached to a Z7 had a spate of problems with various brands of CF card though of course he had a tape backup.

I wonder how folks with JVCs and the new breed of video SLRs that record direct to SDHC are getting on? Is it the cards? Is it a software thing? How close does this solution push the available technology?

With two Sandisk cards and six Transcend cards I have not been had one single failure with any of them using my six Kensington adapters under any circumstances. The six Kensington adapters are pre-loaded before any shoot.

I wouldn't trade the Kensington adapters for any amount of money in the world and can easily live with the card door not closing when I shoot rather than risk having any of these issues described even once.
If some day I have to shoot in a sandstorm I'll use my SxS cards.

Don't forget, the purpose of both the Hoodman and MxR adapters was simply to allow the door to close - that's it. Not worth it IMO, but on the other hand those excellent Kensington adapters are no longer available so you don't have much choice if you don't already own Kensington adapters.

Of course, if Sony would get off their monopolistic high horse and reduce the price of their proprietary SxS memory cards to a "reasonable" price level none of this would be an issue.

John

I have not been had one single failure with any of them using the six Kensington adapters under any circumstances.

Don't get me wrong - I've not had a single failure with any of my 8 MxRs, 2 Kensingtons, and 16 Transcends. The only problem I had was with 2 sandisk SDHC cards having their write-protect tabs snap off, making them totally fubar albeit in a safe fashion.

And ditto - you could not prise that kit out of my dead hands. But I'm a bit icky about buying any more cards at the moment. I love my MxR kit, but right now not sure if I would be persuading anyone to buy in during this 'batch' or 'year' (is 2009 a bad SDHC 'vintage'?), though I have done exactly that with a colleage, and yes he had problems (though it may be the card - Marcus, can you post here yet?).

The only thing I'm a bit wary of is that dull lazy mentality that concludes 'all SDHC cards are bad, anyone who uses them is a moron' meme that can infect the hive mind.

To add to what Matt says,

TEST THE CARDS FIRST.

But the cards in (two if possible) and let the camera record straight through NON STOP including the slot switch. If they fail at all then the cards aren't reliable. If they can record end to end then try one more time end to end.

After that do some shorter records and periodically delete clips.

If you do that and don't get a media error then you're good to go.

I have two 32GB Sandisk Ultra II Class 2 (yes Class 2) and they've been spot on reliable since I bought them in January 2009.

Malcolm,

What card adapter are you using? The Hoodman or an MxR? It seems to make a difference for some.

I am using MxR. I only have Transcend cards.
MxR, MxM and Hoodman were supposed to be all from the same manufacturer.
I understand MxR have switched manufacturers at some point.
Don't know how you distinguish between early and later models.
I don't shoot enough to really test the cards but am becoming nervous about using them for a paying job. Might invest in more SxS.