Assuming you have uninterruptable power for the FireStore (preferably DC), and a solid, well-performing FW hard drive, and a situation where the external cabling is safe and secure, then I think you're safe to record without an iso tape in the camera.

EdwardTr

The empty shell is what is used in the service departments (except it's clear, so you can see the parts moving) and it won't cause any problems. That's how service work is performed and tested. The issue at hand here is how to start and stop recording. If you use your method the camera signal will always be recorded to the Hard Drive. That will waste a lot of the space and make for unnecessary editing in post. An empty shell may not fool the recorder in to start and stopping the Hard drive. But it certainly won't damage the Xl1 or get stuck.

Jeff

Those are two reasons that I considered running a tape in LP rather than the open door trick. One, so I could do a Start-Stop of the Firestore with the camera's button, and two, so I wouldn't see the No Tape icon flashing at me in the viewfinder all the time. I guess the XL-1S doesn't have this problem.

In the FireStore's free run mode, you could always manually control pause/record directly via the VTR buttons on the front panel.

Yes, the XL1S allows you to disable the auto standby feature.