Was just shooting a few hours ago. My display showed two 16 gb cards in that it said 57 mins on each. I was filling up the card in Slot A and watched the display tell me Switching Slots soon. I let the EX1 do the auto-switch as I was right in the middle of vows. I was at 0 mins on slot A and 57 mins on slot B.

Within a second or two of the LEDs changing I get an error message on the screen that I cannot duplicate. It was not of the restore media message that one might expect. This error had a multi-digit code the I was in no position to write down, as I was trying to get footage capturing again. I ejected the card from the slot and reinserted -- no good. I then tried to power off the camera and nothing happened. The display would not go off. I had to pull the battery off to kill it. When it came back up I was able to record in slot B, but I had lost a critical 45 seconds.

Back in the shop I off loaded the 'log file' PMW_EX1_20100226_190522_0531_0104781.log

I do not see any history in the to explain or show me the error code I saw until I pulled the battery. Ideas? Help?

Were these SxS cards?

You've got more nerve than I'd have... not starting the vows with a fresh card, no matter what. I'd rather eat worms than do weddings, anyway.

Good luck with this. I hope a miracle happens for you.

Hey, Olof: Love the slider you built for me! I don't know how I got along without it this long.

These were Patriot 16gB class 10 sdhc cards in MxR express reader. I had pre-tested them and had this camera switch slots probably 5 times in the last month, without incident.

This was a parent renewal of vows that was no charge at the wedding couple's rehearsal for their wedding that is the paid job, tomorrow. I had taped and was getting used to this new camera for the whole hour prior to this crash. Just Murphy at work.

Yes. I will no longer trust the EX1 to auto switch slots for me. Never had a tape camera cost me this way.

Perhaps it would be wise to stick with genuine SxS cards when recording important events.
Just a thought.

FYI, I've had tape cameras cost me plenty over the years with clogged heads and bad tape stock. But I've never had XDCAM fail me once. In my experience, real SxS cards are rock solid. It's not worth the risk to cut corners, and in my opion, that's what the SDHC cards are doing.

I guess it would be nice if users who ever experienced a 'camera crash' could detail in this thread the circumstances leading up to it. I define 'crash' as the camera's inability to turn off at the power switch where only a battery removal recovers from the bad condition.

There are no reports of Patriot cards working reliably that I know of. You can't simply trust a card due to its class rating. I'm not sure what tests you ran but simply switching slots is not adequate. You need to run them full on 2 hours straight through to make sure the buffer can handle it a full.

MxR and MxM site makes clear which cards can be trusted. ATP ProMax, Sandisk Extreme Class 10 for example.

Listing recommendations
FAQ - MxR Expresscard Reader (http://e-films.com.au/shoppingcart/pages/FAQ-%252d-MxR-Expresscard-Reader.html)

FAQ - e-LCR (Lockable Card Reader) (http://e-films.com.au/shoppingcart/pages/FAQ-%252d-e%252dLCR-(Lockable-Card-Reader).html)

and this very thorough list from MxM
MxM Express Tested Working Media (http://mxmexpress.com/?page_id=699)

These were Patriot 16gB class 10 sdhc cards in MxR express reader. I had pre-tested them and had this camera switch slots probably 5 times in the last month, without incident.

For all to know.

The MxR makers told me to buy Transcend (about 2 months ago) and that was the biggest mistake of all. I bought just the model they said on their webpage at the time. I had to return 3 Transcend cards last month.

I ended up having to do my own research and I have found ZERO errors from all six of these Patriot cards.

What happened to me today seems to be a Sony operating system conflict. I suspect that the log lacks data on the incident because the almost all code hung and stopped operation.

Too many hands in the pie to conclusively point fingers.

The latest approved cards can be found on the MxM site. Patriot have never ever been mentioned as being suitable for EX1/EX3 use. ATP Pro is the product to go for now.

I think posts like this one really shows that using SxS is the only way to go if your shooting is important and unrepeatable. I also think the NanoFlash with CF cards is very solid.

I have now shot over 500 hrs on SxS and without a single problem. For important shoots I always bring 2 cameras, just in case.

Back in the days of tape, if you needed two cams bring 3. I had lots of trouble with bad tape stock, plugged heads, condensation on the transport, broken tape transport systems, broken door mechanisms etc.

The solid state equipment is wonderful. These days even my single camera shoots are recorded on SxS and on CF (I use the NanoFlash) on the same camera.

I may still get in trouble at some point, but with the low cost of these cameras I always have at least 3 with me these days on any serious shoot.