World's first portable Direct To Edit recorder for hand-held digital camcorders (March 02,2005)

"We are pleased to begin production shipments of FS-4 after a comprehensive and successful beta test program," said Matt McEwen, product manager for FOCUS Enhancements. "The demand and significant back-orders we have seen for this product supports our belief that tapeless acquisition and DTE Technology are quickly becoming the accepted standard for field production."

FireStore FS-4 is available now through the worldwide FOCUS Enhancements and Canon USA dealer and distributor networks for a US MSRP of $799, although there are several weeks of back logged orders before general availability. FireStore FS-4PRO 40GB and 80GB are expected to be available in late March 2005 for a US MSRP of $1,195 and $1,595 respectively.

We are having units flown into us and hope to ship out all backorders by the end of next week! http://www.videoguys.com/FireStore.html

Gary
Videoguys.com

As of March 31st, B&H actually has the FS-4 in stock and have filled their back orders.

We've been getting units in over the past 2 weeks. All pre-orders were shipped, but we're still not getting enough units to meet demand.

Our next shipment (coming next week) should be enough to get us into a stock situation.

Gary
Videoguys.com

Sorry Gary,
Didn't mean to step on you guys like that. I should have read the post better. I was just happy to actually be able to pick one up. I completely support Videoguys as well.

No problem. It's been hell getting units from Focus. They are ramping up as fast as they can, but they ahave not been able to keep up with demand.

FS-4 is a hit all over the world! B&H and Videoguys have to be patient while units go to Europe, Asia and South America.

As I said, hopefully by next week we'll have good supplies of FS-4 throughout the USA.

Gary

just got the e-mail from b&h. my new toy, fs-4, is on the way. delv. day monday 4.

greetings

just received my fs-4 by ups.
did a quick lock at it, put the batt in,
guess what, the cooling fan is very laud, and also, when moving the unit around, the fan blades rub on something, so i guess i have to call the service center, and see how they want to handle this problem.
i wished a camera mount would be part of the unit..but

greetings

Karl, how loud are these things in a real shooting environment? If say you were shooting a short film, with audio boomed etc, would you still hear the thing in the background? Just curious as I'd love to get into tapeless recording!

Aaron

<<<-- Originally posted by Aaron Koolen : Karl, how loud are these things in a real shooting environment? If say you were shooting a short film, with audio boomed etc, would you still hear the thing in the background? Just curious as I'd love to get into tapeless recording!

Aaron -->>>

hello aaron,

i like to think that i have a defective unit, since the fan is very loud. most of my shootings are in a theater setting, and at most of them i get the audio by an on board mice. it would pick up the fan noise,..... boomed out, i say no.

greetings

<<<-- Originally posted by Aaron Koolen : Karl, how loud are these things in a real shooting environment? If say you were shooting a short film, with audio boomed etc, would you still hear the thing in the background? Just curious as I'd love to get into tapeless recording!

Aaron -->>>

hello aaron,

called the focus support number today, and spoke to one of their reps. he listens, he gave me a ra number, fedex number, and ask me to return the unit for a replacement.
unfortunely they do not have a "store", i am just around the corner and willing to pick up a new unit.

greetings

Thanks for the update Karl.

Cheers
Aaron

Hey Karl,
Just got my FS-4 yesterday and got really worried by your post. I guess you did just get a bad unit. My fan is loud on powering up the unit, but just for about 3-4 seconds and then is unbelievably quiet. I could definitely shoot with it mounted on the back of the XL-2 without worrying about the mic picking up noise.

Hope they look after you quickly. Good luck.
Rob

<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Mitchell : Hey Karl,
Just got my FS-4 yesterday and got really worried by your post. I guess you did just get a bad unit. My fan is loud on powering up the unit, but just for about 3-4 seconds and then is unbelievably quiet. I could definitely shoot with it mounted on the back of the XL-2 without worrying about the mic picking up noise. -->>>

Have you done a shoot with it? I'm pretty sure the fan will come back on periodically once you start recording.

I have let it idle in an air-conditioned office and when the fan kicks on, it is still quite audible from a few feet away.

<<<-- Originally posted by David Yuen : <<<-- Originally posted by Rob Mitchell : Hey Karl,
Just got my FS-4 yesterday and got really worried by your post. I guess you did just get a bad unit. My fan is loud on powering up the unit, but just for about 3-4 seconds and then is unbelievably quiet. I could definitely shoot with it mounted on the back of the XL-2 without worrying about the mic picking up noise. -->>>

Have you done a shoot with it? I'm pretty sure the fan will come back on periodically once you start recording.

I have let it idle in an air-conditioned office and when the fan kicks on, it is still quite audible from a few feet away. -->>>

hello david,

no, i just charged up the batts. since in my case it's not just an operating noise, it sounds like it "grinds on something. i did not want to damage the unit.
it's like you said, start up in high speed, and then off/ or much lower speed, but.....was trying it several time with no change.

greetings

Ah, I was referring to the statement about shooting with the FS-4 mounted on the XL-2. In my case, there is no way I would consider mounting it on my GL2 with the fan noise level, especially if I'm relying on my onboard mic.

Hey Guys,
OK, no extensive testing yet. I just shot for 15 minutes and finally got the fan to kick in. David, you're probably right. It might pick up on the on board mic if mounted to the back of the XL-2. I'll try it this weekend to see. I did this test on the GL-1 with the FS-4 on the belt clip. Definitely no problem there. Almost all of my stuff is shot with either a lav mic or wireless mics so it won't be a problem for me. If I use it on the Magiqcam it should be perfect. It will act as ballast on the sled and even should I use the on board mic, I doubt it would pick up at that distance.

Aaron...no way it would pick up anything on a boom mic.

All in all, it is pretty easy to use and I'm really happy. I'll post more after some greater testing though.
Rob

hello matt,

i got mixed up, thought today is wednesday, and called your comp., but learned that my fs-4 unit was received on monday, but nothing processed in the customer service computer system as of today. not even as received....wow. the guy on the phone was professional and assured me "everything will be taken care off."

have a event to tape on sunday, but i guess i still have to wait before i can use the fs-4.

i am not asking you to stop what you are doing and to take care of my unit....lol

greetings

karl

hello david,

well, wednesday is up and i still have no communication (e-mail, call etc) from the focus support center.
will call them thursday afternoon to find out what is going on with my merchandise.
i accept the fact that there are defect units, but getting slowly angry that they have communication problems within their customer service center, i rather should say : no communication.

greetings

<<<-- Originally posted by Karl Heiner : hello david,

well, wednesday is up and i still have no communication (e-mail, call etc) from the focus support center.
will call them thursday afternoon to find out what is going on with my merchandise.
i accept the fact that there are defect units, but getting slowly angry that they have communication problems within their customer service center, i rather should say : no communication.

greetings -->>>

hello david,
guess what..just came home from lunch and there is my new unit overnight...great....

so, i herbey take everything back, even there still was no communication. what matters is they have taken care of business.

powered the unit up and only "normal" start up fan noise. lets charge the batt. and try out this comming weekend.

greetings

Just wondering why these things are so expensive? the price of a laptop for a hard drive? Its not even SCSI so why the cost, $1500 for an 80gb hdd seems just a tad expensive to me seeing as you can pick 250gb for around £100.

Can you not just capture straight to a laptop whilst shooting?

<<<-- Originally posted by Sam Sharpe : Just wondering why these things are so expensive? the price of a laptop for a hard drive? Its not even SCSI so why the cost, $1500 for an 80gb hdd seems just a tad expensive to me seeing as you can pick 250gb for around £100.

Can you not just capture straight to a laptop whilst shooting? -->>>

hello sam,

i think the big issue is the size and the portability, besides the firewire connection/ lenght of recording (no tape changes). try to hang a laptop on your belt.

i bet the price will fall in the next 2 years, but then...what do i know..<G>

greetings

Got to agree Karl. The size is the best lpart. I have it mounted on the back of the XL-2. It is totally out of the way, easy to access and starts recording as soon as you hit the record on the camera. It also has a thing called Retro Cache which can constantly record the last 10 seconds even if the camera is not in record mode. The advantage is if something good happens and you weren't recording, hit the record button and the previous 10 seconds will have been captured. You can also do a loop mode that constantly rewrites the last 1 minute segment. Great for instant replays.

I've used it on 3 commercial shoots so far and love it. Quick downloads to my computer and no dropped frames. I'd love a bigger battery though. One and a half hours is just not enough. After all I don't power down the unit between takes, so the battery drains quickly, but then I have 2. If you are in the studio this is not a problem as you can run it off AC.

Laptop HD would be fine for studio shoots, but for run and gun or outdoor locations, this can't be beat.
Rob

Finally, we actually have stock! All back orders in house are shipping today - and we still have units in inventory!! http://www.videoguys.com/FireStore.html

We've got a big load of FS4Pro 80Gb units on the way to us and it too will cover all backorders! Videonics just added the following promotion on FS-4 Pro:

Purchase the FireStore FS-4Pro Bundle—featuring the FS-4Pro, FS-4Pro High-Definition Software, and the FireStore DV Conversion Suite—between May 1, 2005 and June 30,2005, and save $698* instantly.

Weighing less than one pound, the FireStore FS-4Pro Portable DTE Recorder brings Direct to Edit Technology to your handheld camcorder. With an easyto-use interface, multiple DTE recording formats, a 40GB or 80GB drive, and a removable, rechargeable battery, the FireStore FS-4Pro is the perfect DTE companion for handheld shoots. With advanced features such as time lapse, loop playback, and scene marking, the FireStore FS-4Pro provides the flexibility that video professionals demand.

FireStore FS-4Pro High-Definition Software Included free-of-charge ($299 value)
When you install the FireStore FS-4Pro High-Definition Software, your FireStore FS-4Pro will be compatible with HDV camcorders and editing systems.

FireStore DV Conversion Suite Included free-of-charge ($399 value)
Converting DV25 file formats is fast and easy with the FireStore DV Conversion Suite. In addition to converting all major DV25 formats, the software provides aspect ratio and broadcast standard conversion from DV-PAL to DV-NTSC and vice versa.

Gary