SR11 Memory stick issue
 

I have had my SR 11 for about 3 days now. Just getting some time to use it and get familiar with it. Biggest issue I have so far is with the 4G Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo. When I go to use it I get a message saying that the camera may not be able to record or play back correctly with this stick. I have tried re-formatting and re inserting but the message is still there. I have recorded and played back from the stick and all seems fine except for the message. Any thoughts?

Hi Tom -
And the source of the MS Duo? Would that be eBay? That's a tell tale sign of a Chinese knockoff. LOTS of experience with these, 99.9% of the 8GB MS Duos currently listed on eBay are fakes, I worked with eBay for a while to eradicate them, but they are worse than the demon ants around my locale - you think you've killed them and they come back and bring all their friends...

Sony actually has a warning posted about the 8G Duos, it's the largest single counterfeited item in their catalog. Even with their size, they can't put the scammers out of biz...

Here's the skinny... while you MAY be able to record data to the knockoffs, do a test and typically they only hold half the rated data (remarking smaller cap sticks is one variation of the scam I suspect). IF it does hold 4G, be aware you may or may not be able to recover video files. I've found both the first situation (8G only holds 4G of data, then errors out), and the latter, where I was able to write 8G of data, but then the cam could not read any of it (single long clip to fill the stick).

Long story short, go buy a 4G through an authorized reseller/retailer - they are only about $35 on sale, and you don't save enough on the knockoffs to make it worth the grief. 8GB I'd suggest you watch for Sandisk - somewhat cheaper, you must patch PMB to access, but the cameras seem to like them, no errors or problems. Beware that it's quite possible the Sandisk product will be knocked off as soon as the Chinese scammers smell money. I understand Sandisk has had a lot of knockoff problems in the past.

Oh yeah, to ease your mind, your cam is performing as designed, it's supposed to gag and choke when fed a fake stick...

Thanks for the info
 

Dave, thanks for the information. I bought my stick with the camera. (one of the forum advertisers) The stick and the packaging both say SONY. I thought I had the real deal, the only thing I see that is suspect (aside from the warning message) is the trade mark of "Magic Gate". I may get in touch with the website on the warranty info and see whats up, and look for a new stick to try.

Update: just loaded the PMB software and it doesn't seem to be able to find any stills that were recorded to the stick....hummm?

Called 1 800 Sony
 

Called Sony tech support, guy said that this was normal ????
Going to look for another stick to try.

New Stick Works Fine
 

Picked up a new stick, works just fine. This is also a SONY but the package and the stick have a Mark2 designation on them. This new package has a label showing the AVCHD use. The first stick does not. I gather the new stick is faster read/write and the original is not really the right choice for a AVCHD camera.

I haven't found it necessary to use a MKII stick - it's not a requirement. I have a mix of MS Duos, and the "suspect" ones give the error you describe. Genuine ones do not... period.

The knockoff sticks have inflitrated the supply chain fairly extensively, so it's unfortunately possible to get a fake from a vendor who got suckered too...

If you've got access to eBay, there are several guides, aussieram goes into great detail on how to spot the fakes. This isn't a new phenomenon, and sadly will probably continue. My 99.9% knockoff in reference to eBay listings for 8GB MS Duos was not an exageration - using the search terms I do yields some 1200+ listings currently. When eBay cracked down on the obvious Chinese con artists (and still didn't get them all!), that same search yielded 100-120 listings... and many of those were still for knockoffs if you examined their photos carefully. It's a BIG business. Finding a GENUINE Sony 8GB stick on eBay is almost impossible... you have to sift through so many fakes, it isn't worth the bother! You can only surmise from this that the fakes are rampant in the sales channel.

The knockoffs are reasonably well done, with full logos and everything (IOW, when is a "Sony" not a Sony? when it came out of a chinese mfr plant... and says Made in Japan right on it!), BUT the latest Sony cams spot them somehow and issue a warning - it's a dead giveaway. I've got sufficient experience with these to know you've got a fake in the first stick, and as you've discovered, the second works perfectly and is genuine.

FWIW, I spent quite a bit of time with Sony tech support... friendly, but not terribly knowledgeable when it comes to things like this. Yes, your camera IS operating normally, as is your second MS Duo, the first stick too is operating "normally" for a knockoff, which means it is malfunctioning, and the camera recognizes it.