AVCHD Acquisition Workflow
 

I am considering stepping up to AVCHD aquisition with one of the SDHC cams (HM-150, AX2000,NX5U, etc). Don't know which one yet. I have gotten some sample footage and editing will not be a problem. If you wanna know, I shoot a lot of documentary footage and shoot along the lines of about 3 hours at a clip.

My question is: If I shoot and capture on SDHC cards, what type of workflow would y'all recommend as best?
A. Purchase a bunch of SD cards and swap out as needed. (At least 4-6 hours worth)
B. Get a storage device like the Nexto or sommat and offload to there and swap out cards.
C. Offload a full card to my laptop and swap out cards.

I know that whatever I do, I'll have to copy the files over to my editing machine anyway. I'm just considering all options such as time, cost, backup, safety, etc. before I make a move. Thanks for your thoughts!

If you decide on the NX5 look into the HDD for it. At the highest rate it will hold about 11 hours of footage. Right now there is a rebate on the HDD which makes it a very affordable solution. I think the rebate is $500. This was shown on the B&H site.

True Dat
 

True. If I did go with the NX5U the SSD option is very viable. If I go with something else, even the AX2000, the SSD is not available and I'd have to look at other options. Like I said, just "feeling out" the situation. Thanks for the feedback!

If you aren't in a hurry, I'd suggest waiting long enough to find out what Canon will be offering. We should know within a couple months or so.

Btw, 4-6 hours worth of SDHC cards boils down to as few as two 32GB cards - not exactly a whole bunch.

I do plan on upgrading sometime in the next few months (May-June timeframe) so the Canon offering will definitely be looked at. Your thoughts on just buying extra cards are actually right on the mark. I'm thinking this is the easiest, quickest, and cheapest in the long run.

I guess what I'm looking for is what others have done and their reasons for their choices. I think it's a good thing to not reinvent the wheel if at all possible. Thanks for the input!

Personally, if I were to get an NX5U right now, I'd get the 128GB recording module thingy. At $250 after the rebate, it doesn't cost much more than a couple 32GB SDHC cards anyway.

I would personally not put more than 2 hours worth of video on any single SDHC or MS Pro Duo memory card. This means that at a video bitrate of 17 Mbps (with audio recorded in 2-channel stereo in AC-3 format at 256 kbps), three 16GB cards can hold nearly 6 hours of video at that bitrate. Or, if you choose to use 24 Mbps for the video bitrate, two 32GB cards or four 16GB cards can hold a total of just under 5.5 hours of video.

The max bitrate averages 21Mbps for the video (24Mbps is the peak bitrate, not the average). According to Sony's brochure, with a 32GB card, you can record about 2 hours and 50 minutes at the highest quality, including uncompressed audio. If you do use AC3 for audio, it's about 3 hours on a 32GB card at the highest video bitrate (the NX5U does allow that combination). The video bitrate is variable, so there will be slight variations from the estimated recording time.

Yes, I noticed this with my "16Mbps" CX100 as well. The average bitrate at that setting is just over 15Mbps.

I'm interested in buying a professional video camera this year. What are the advantages/disadvatages of AVCHD like the new Sony HXR-NX5U ? Am I better off going with a non compressed format? I am looking for low light ability for weddings. I'll be editing in Final Cut Pro and burning Blu-ray. I have a new eight core Mac Pro.