Sony F900 and compatible external "fire store" type device?

[George Tasick]

We may be shooting a documentary (actually two for the same company) in Dubai, UAE and then Macau, China over the next 2 months and while I was pushing for XDCAM cameras for the ease of file transfer, we got a really good deal on two Sony F900s so we're going to use those.

I was informed that the F900 didn't have any fire wire out (surprising) and that all capture from the HDCAM tapes was technically analog ... via component cables. We're going to shoot close to 80 hours of tape and I'm dreading the capture time on all that footage (though likely an intern will do it.)

In an effort to quickly backup the footage on site and eliminate the need to capture all our tapes each night, I was curious to find out if there was a camera-mountable "fire store" type device that could connect to the component outputs on the F900 and encode the audio/video in real time as we are recording to tape?

I'm really psyched to use the F900 because it's such a great camera but it would also be nice to avoid the tape transfer if possible.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[George Tasick]

I found this device Convergent Design | and it looks exactly like what want.

Has anyone had any experience using this with an F900 or other full sized camera?

Good? Bad?

[George Tasick]

OK, I know I seem to be solving my own question here but this nanoFlash looks like exactly what I want.

I'm still curious to hear form users of this product.

My question is now, can the recorder capture higher frame rates through the cameras lens than the camera can record to tape? Can this little box turn a regular camera into a real high speed camera?

[Perrone Ford]

I do not own the Nanoflash. I have edited footage from it, and am actively pursuing buying one. It is an excellent product from all owners I've spoken to. I am hoping to start on a documentary this year, but I am holding off production until I can purchase one of these.

I don't believe it will turn the F900 into anything it is not already. But it certainly is a HECK of a lot better than writing to HDCam Tapes! If you can purchase the unit, I certainly say do so. I'd like a couple of them to be honest.

[Jay Morrissette]

The F900 is worthy of the best possible recording format.

For 80 hours of footage I would invest some time and money to make sure you are using the best codec in terms of quality and post workflow.

I would also look at the Aja Ki Pro which uses Apple the Prores HQ (which is said to be about the same quality as HDcam SR).

HD Cam decks have SDI outputs so it won't be analog, but you will be transcoding from one codec to another.

You can also consider a RED camera or Silicom imaging SI2k since they are designed to be tapeless. I don't know if those will look as good as the F900, but, they can look amazing.

~Jay

[Dan Keaton]

Dear George,

We have many F900 user's who are successfully using the nanoFlash.

If your F900 has HD-SDI out, then the nanoFlash will work with it.

If not, then the Miranda box will add an HD-SDI out to the original F900.

Our XDCam options, at various bit rates, are better in quality than the original HDCam, and it is all tapeless.