Any update on the FS-C firestore 2.1 release. Anyone beta testing it? Still looking for 24f support recorded as quicktime.
Also any idea about using it with the new HV20. Will the update let you record 24p?

Thanks
Ryan

I've been waiting over 2 weeks for B&H to get these in stock and no luck. Anyone have any idea what the holdup is on the FS-C 60GB unit? Is it software issues?

Tom

On this site we refer *all* where-to-buy questions to our site sponsors:

http://www.dvinfo.net/sponsors

Does anybody have it yet and if so, where the hell did you buy it?

Can someone from with either Focus or Canon answer this question? I've been waiting WEEKS for a 60GB model to ship and no one from either Focus or Canon can tell me anything about when it's going to happen. Focus says it's Canons fault but now looking at B&H it looks like they are completely sold out of all of their current line of Focus products. Is Focus going out of business? What is going on here???

I'm real close to canceling my order and moving to another platform. I feel like I’m getting ripped off anyway (Battery Life, 8 min files) and the shipping delay is just adding insult to injury.

[I feel like I’m getting ripped off anyway (Battery Life, 8 min files) and the shipping delay is just adding insult to injury.]

Tom, what do you mean with "battery life and 8 min files"? Are the FS batteries short life? How short?

And about the files, do they have at max 8 minutes? Dou you know how they are organized into the FS (folder/clip/... by numbers)?

Thanks. Juliana.

Just cancelled my order with B&H. Waited over 30 days and no word/response from either Canon or Focus. I'll be looking for another option other than Focus.

Just got a message from B&H regarding this, since we have one on
back order. Said Mid May would be shipping. Great.

Release notes:

version 2.1.0.04032307 (for 60HZ systems only):
- Fixed QUICKTIME 1080/24F, 1080/30F, 1080/25F, and 720/25P
- Fixes to handle distruptions in recorded MPEG stream
NOTE: A new track will be created at the point of discontinuity.
- Upon System Reset, the default HD FORMAT is QUICKTIME
- Stores HD/DV FORMAT when switching between HD RECORDER and DV RECORDER mode
- Corrected several Disk Full errors
- Removed FC DV/HD from FUNCTION menu

Here is a link for the update:
http://www.focusinfo.com/dynassets/d...te_wManual.zip

Haven't tried it yet, but wanted to pass it along.

See Barlow Elton's review of it here: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=90587

Does anyone know if this update or another will correct the FS4-HDPro that was sold as a package deal with the XLH1 during the time of last year's NAB?

This update won't work on an FS4-ProHD, just tried it.

:(

Anyone know if the FS-c would work with the Canon HV-20?
With the new update can you record the 24p mode? I guess you would record it at 1080/60i right?
Ryan

Thanks for trying anyway.

It's a shame as we were led to believe the FS4-ProHD was THE unit for the XLH1.

We can not use the unit when shooting HD for a FCP editor. And it's a real problem as several of our client stations have gone to FCP as their editor. So instead of handing off a a Firestore to them for editing, we have to either go thru the extra steps of capturing and converting the m2t files to QT or hand off HDV tapes for them to capture - an extra step for them. ..Or just stick with 60i.

Can someone from Firestore explain why there is no patch for the FS4-ProHD?

Agreed, I feel the same. I've got three of them and am not particularly interested in tossing them out to buy FS-Cs.

If Focus would come out and say "Yeah, there's X Y Z special chip in the FS-C that allows it to do 24p HDV, so we can't port it to the FS4ProHD" I'd understand, but up until now it's seemed very arbitrary. Poking through a hex dump of the FS-C update, one gets a similar impression ...

I downloaded the update and it works like magic with my FS-C, XH-A1 and FCP.
Now if I could just get it to work with my HV20.
Ryan

Word from ZGC.com is that the FS-C 100 are shipping from Canon/Focus and should be in their hands by the end of this week. I've asked but didn't get word yet if and when the FS-C 60 will be shipping.

I downloaded the update and it works like magic with my FS-C, XH-A1 and FCP.
Now if I could just get it to work with my HV20.
Ryan

Ryan, do you really own the FS-C? Where/when did you buy it?

Yes I own the 60BG version FS-C. I bought it off of a very unhappy customer that bought it for his XL-H1 and when it didn't work great he sold it to me for $500! He didn't wait for version 2.0 and the new 2.1. I have been using it as a paperweight for 4 months while I waited for the 2.1. Now I am happy, and he is...

I just got mine shipped from zgc.com on Thursday. You just gotta hunt around.

Thanks James but you'll notice my original post was from almost a month ago and there weren’t any available back then.

Well I got mine today but I also got an e-mail from B&H saying that they're in stock. I totally recommend it. Very cool and worked right outta the box.

I recently received the 60 gig FS-C's for our A1 cameras and have been working with them before our next shoot. The problem is that when set up for Quicktime, the only file that is recorded is the audio portion. I'm capturing default frame rate in HDV. When set to Mt2, all works as expected with both video and audio captured. Am I overlooking something in either the FS-C setup or the XH-A1 configuration?

Thank you for any thoughts you may have.

Jan-Arden Peteren

Do you have the newest update. 2.1? I think only in the last few weeks have they shipped with it built in.
Are you shooting 24F? or 60i? The 2.0 won't record 24f as QT. 2.1 will work fine.
Make sure have the camera hooked up when you turn on the Firestore. Sometimes that helps.
Ryan

I know the FS-C is designed to work with Canon cameras and I have an A1, but I also have an HV20. Will it work with both these?

Thanks for the help.

I too have a XH-a1 and a HV-20. The FS-C works great with the Xh-A1 in all modes (if you have version 2.1). It also works with the HV-20 if you shoot straight HDV 60i. I could not get it to work with the 24p option however.
Ryan

Thanks for the info. I am trying to find a single solution for both cameras.

Of course I like to shoot the HV20 in 24p... hmmm. Seems they should do a firmware update? It's a popular enough camera.

I like Canon's CONSOLE too, but it doesn't work with the HV20 at all to my knowledge.

Sorry for the late reply, we've been out of the studio extensivly during the recital season. I do have the 2.1 version, and I am shooting at 60i. I will try your tip of making sure the firestore is hooked up and on before turning the camera on. Sometimes the smallest detail makes the biggest difference.
Thank you for your thoughts.

I've tried plugging the FS-C into various different firewire ports, have rebooted etc but can't seem to get the firestore to show up on my Mac desktop.

Any ideas from you guys?

Thanks,

Harry

Looking to buy the FS-C, but can't exactly tell what it comes with? Does it include a battery? On B&H it doesn't say it includes this.

Also, will the FS-C record HDV 24F footage in it's true 23.98fps? It states it will record .M2T files in a 1080i stream. But 24F doesn't add pulldown...

Thanks,
Blake

Blake:

Ours came with a battery, an AC adapter/charger, a short firewire cable, and some mounting hardware. Extra batteries can be bought.

Mark

Thanks, I figured it did, but just wanted to make sure.

Do you know about recording the 24F HDV 23.98 footage?

The FS-C does record 24F 23.98. With the newest software update, it can record the footage as either m2t or quicktime files.

I'm hoping someone in this thread will answer a question for me:

Is there a difference in the stability or functionality of the FS-C vs the FS-4 Pro HD when used with a XL-H1? The specs seem the same for both, other than the mounting hardware for the "C."

I have had so far 3 files of about 30 come out looking like this. The firestore was set to tapeless recording, every once in a while it wouldn`t record when I pushed record on the camera. Any idea what happened?

http://www.kiukle.com/temp/badfile.jpg

*edit* I just tried putting it back on a Firestore FS 4 pro and repairing it, it said it was repaired...but when dropped back in Premiere it was still messed up

heres one of the clips as well..it just dies mid clip....be warned, turn your speakers down.

http://www.kiukle.com/temp/badfile.wmv

so far I have an H1 at work with an FS 4 HD Pro with 0 problems. And an A1 with the FS-C with my first long shoot loosing 20 minutes of 60 to corrupted, unrepairable files. Not sure what that would mean.

Hi Nathan.

Check your camera firewire connection. I had the same problem with a Canon XL1-S and an FS4. The firewire cable has to be secured to the camera.

Hope it helps.

Arnaldo

I just received and promptly returned a FS4 ProHD to B&H for the exact same reason. That and it would not charge/run from battery.

I tried several different ways of connecting the unit to my mac and FOLLOWING THE DIRECTIONS to the letter. But nothing would work. I kept getting "failed" on the enable screen. I tried on both a PC and a mac.

The battery issue tells me that there is something wrong with the unit. It will work while connected to AC. But once the AC is removed the unit dies. I charged one of the batteries over night and one for 2 hours. No Joy, the both will not run the unit.

I ordered a second unit to try from B&H and I am returning this defective one. If the second one is messed up, I am back to tape. Thanks to the B&H folks for helping out.

I did call Focus and the lady I talked to said that the battery issue would require the unit to be sent back. The firewire issue might be fixed over the phone with some troubleshooting. I told her that I would rather send it back due to the battery issue.

Try giving them a call. Let me know if you are able to get it working.

I am not having a good day. I got the new FS-4 Pro HD this morning. I charged it for 3 hours. It fired up on battery power with no problems. I got home and tried to connect it to the mac. No joy. I cannot get it to connect to the mac following the instructions to the T. I tried various variations and none of them work.

At first the device would lock up when I plugged it in to the computer and after a few minutes I would pull the battery to reboot. You could not get it to respond to clicks on the enable or other buttons at all. I eventually got it to respond to the clicks. I am not sure how. But now after clicking on the enable it just reboots. It never shows on the desktop.

I even tried connecting it to the PC and it does the same thing.

Faith is fading fast. Unless someone here has advice, I am out of luck until Monday.

Okay Chris / Harry I understand this must be very frustrating....

Only thing to do is go over everything line by line again.... out of interest, when you have recorded footage can you play it back through your camera? Is the drive recording okay.

Have you set the time and date? did you format the drive befor use? (these may not have any direct effect but its worth checking) have you tried another firewire cable?

1: The unit (we are using the hd100) will get its power from the 6 pin firewire from the mac - so the battery state should not be an issue

2: What version of Mac OS are you running?

3: Connect 6 pin firewire from "computer out" on the drive to the mac

4: Switch drive on

5: Check drive menu is set HDD Mode > DD Drive > Enable

6: It may be necessary to repair clips as follows - Utillities > Repair disc > Yes

7: Icon should be on the mac desktop

All the best Stu
www.studioscotland.co.uk

>>I understand this must be very frustrating....

Stu, that is the understatement of the year. I got very little sleep last night working on this thing.

>>Only thing to do is go over everything line by line again....

I don't know about Harry but I did that. Many times.

>>>>out of interest, when you have recorded footage can you play it back through your camera? Is the drive recording okay.

Recorded about 1 minute, it did play back fine on the camera.

>>Have you set the time and date?

Date and time were set at the very begining. I did a reset later on and that changed the date and time back.

>>did you format the drive befor use?

Even though this is not in the instructions I did format the drive after trying a dozen times with no success. Formatting it did not help.

>>(these may not have any direct effect but its worth checking) have you tried another firewire cable?

I have used 2 cables that I know work as they operate my other firewire drives with no problems.

>>1: The unit (we are using the hd100) will get its power from the 6 pin firewire from the mac - so the battery state should not be an issue

Battery state was an issue with the unit I returned. It would not operate without AC power. This unit will operate with battery power.

>>2: What version of Mac OS are you running?

I am using the latest version of OS... fully updated.

>>3: Connect 6 pin firewire from "computer out" on the drive to the mac

Done and I even tried using the DV out and playing from the drive.

>>4: Switch drive on

>>5: Check drive menu is set HDD Mode > DD Drive > Enable

>>6: It may be necessary to repair clips as follows - Utillities > Repair disc > Yes

This is not part of the connect instructions. The drive should appear even if the clips are damaged. Right??

>>7: Icon should be on the mac desktop

Never happens :-( Thanks for the advice. I will try again after breakfast and I wake up a bit. Maybe Harry will have better luck.

Ok Chris - a couple more questions....

1: Can you - with no battery at all attached to the HD100 Drive, see the Red light (charge light) illuminate on the drive when you connect via firewire (computer out)?

If so... what happens when you go (or try to go) to HDD Mode > DD Drive > Enable?


2: Correct....Damaged clips will not stop the drive mounting...


Don't give up... when the drive works its a great tool.....

Stu...

Stew, It is a FS-4 Pro HD 80 GB. I am not sure if that changes your initial question.

I just tried it and red light does appear on the FS-4 as well.

Powers on... Go to the enable and the screen turns pink for a second and reboots back to main screen. No icon appears on the mac.

Same as before.

Chris - you say this is the 80 GB model (is this an older drive?)

Sorry Chris - I may be getting my wires crossed here - I thought your model was the JVC/Focus DRHD100 - although they are basically the same unit.

Not sure if you are aware - but the newer drives (or the JVC one at least) have gone from 40 - 60GB & 80-100 GB models with new software updates -

Is the version software the latest? (its in the menu)

We have had to shut down the drive now and then when it gets itself a bit confused but in the main they work very well.

Failing all this - it sounds like you have another faulty unit...

Focus where very good with us by email, sorting out issues we had at the begining...

Sorry can't be much more help here... I feel your frustration - appears to be a way of living these days with all this new technology.

Let us know how you get on.... all the best...

Stu...

Negative... It is the FS-4 ProHD. It is running version 2.0.0.0 which appears to be a higher version but, it does not matter as I cannot upgrade it due to the fact that I cannot mount it to load an upgrade bin. :-)

Another faulty unit.... That I will have to pay to ship back. I am really not happy at this point.

I spent $35 dollars on a new 6 pin firewire cable. That has not helped either.

I eventually got the hang of it and now have no problems downloading. If anyone is having problems with my particular unit made for the Canon XLH1 then you can email me and we can talk on the phone.

By the way, the unit worked almost flawlessly on our 12 day shoot. But I was glad we were running tape simultaneously, since it sometimes doesn't start recording properly so you really have to keep an eye on the TC counter to make sure it's actually running.

Harry

Harry,

I am glad that you got yours working. I contacted FE about my problems and they are doing an RMA to replace the second unit. They are out of the 80gb units so I am getting a 100GB in return. That makes up for the 2 return shipping charges I paid out of pocket. I also asked that they test the new unit before shipping it to me.

Harry, I just got an FS-C and haven't tested it yet. Could you summarize the main problem and solution you discovered? Thanks.

Ring me and I'll give you the sacred secret method. 323 851 2942.

Best

Harry

Just wanted to balance some of the negative comments with a positive one...

I've only done limited testing on my new FS-C, but it worked fine the first time I tried it. I upgraded the firmware before anything else. Then a quick shoot, transfer, and import into FCP. No problems with any of it. In fact, better than DV Rack HD, which I usually use, because DVR can't seem to produce a QT file that imports without a render line (or needs MPEG Streamclip to produce a copy without the line). The FS-C files imported beautifully as-is.