Warning to Sony VX2000 & VX2100 owners who use an HDD at DVinfo.net

Gary Burlingame · January 31st, 2007, 01:02 AM

If you own either of these cameras and attempt to continue recording with an HDD (like a Firestore or a Citidisk) while you are changing tapes in the camera, be forewarned--your audio will disappear completely for 10 seconds or so while the old tape is ejected and a new one is inserted. This has nothing to do with the HDD or the firewire cable because you can experience this problem even when an HDD isn't connected. Just plug a pair of headphones into your VX2000/2100 and you'll immediately notice the "sounds of silence" when you eject a tape . These cameras' bigger brothers, the Sony PD170 (and I assume, the PD150, but I wasn't able to actually test one) do not have this problem so you don't have to worry about losing audio while changing tapes in them.

So if you own a VX2000 or a VX2100 be sure to either backup your audio on another device (like a minidisc or an I-River) if you will be changing tapes during a continuous shoot or else don't change tapes at all (risky because if the HDD or IEEE cable malfunctions you may not have any usable video once your tape runs out). There may be other camcorder models out there that display this same problem so it's definitely a good idea to test yours first before using any HDD/tape combos.

Boyd Ostroff · January 31st, 2007, 07:34 AM

Actually the Z1 (and I assume FX1) does the same thing. And IIRC, my PDX-10 also does this....

Giroud Francois · January 31st, 2007, 09:46 AM

and this written in some manual (the one of the DU1, i think)

Eric Stemen · February 4th, 2007, 07:26 PM

Thanks for the info.

Boyd Ostroff · February 4th, 2007, 07:59 PM

Gary: Please don't post the same thing in more than one forum, it's against DVinfo policy to cross-post. I've merged your two threads together here.

Gary Burlingame · February 9th, 2007, 01:16 AM

If you own a Sony VX2000 or VX2100 and are recording with an HDD (like the Firestore or Citidisk) and are also backing up your footage with tape (which most HDD manufacturers strongly recommend that you do), be forewarned that if your tape runs out and you have not replaced it within 5 minutes your VX2000/2100 will shut down automatically and you will no longer be capturing any footage to your HDD. This is especially problematic if you will be running the camera unmanned at a longer event like a wedding or a bar mitvah. The Sony PD 170 (and I assume, the PD 150, but I wasn't able to verify this) do not behave this way--they will continue to record onto an HDD long after the tape runs out because these cameras continue to remain on in standby mode. If the VX2000/2100 will be unmanned and you know ahead of time that your shoot will run longer than an hour then you can either choose to not use tape at all (risky!) or else record in LP mode (also risky) to get more recording time from your tape.

January 31st, 2007, 01:02 AM	#1
Gary Burlingame Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Bellevue, WA Posts: 36	Warning to Sony VX2000 & VX2100 owners who use an HDD If you own either of these cameras and attempt to continue recording with an HDD (like a Firestore or a Citidisk) while you are changing tapes in the camera, be forewarned--your audio will disappear completely for 10 seconds or so while the old tape is ejected and a new one is inserted. This has nothing to do with the HDD or the firewire cable because you can experience this problem even when an HDD isn't connected. Just plug a pair of headphones into your VX2000/2100 and you'll immediately notice the "sounds of silence" when you eject a tape . These cameras' bigger brothers, the Sony PD170 (and I assume, the PD150, but I wasn't able to actually test one) do not have this problem so you don't have to worry about losing audio while changing tapes in them. So if you own a VX2000 or a VX2100 be sure to either backup your audio on another device (like a minidisc or an I-River) if you will be changing tapes during a continuous shoot or else don't change tapes at all (risky because if the HDD or IEEE cable malfunctions you may not have any usable video once your tape runs out). There may be other camcorder models out there that display this same problem so it's definitely a good idea to test yours first before using any HDD/tape combos.

February 9th, 2007, 01:16 AM	#6
Gary Burlingame Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Bellevue, WA Posts: 36	More info about using an HDD with the Sony VX2100 or VX2000 If you own a Sony VX2000 or VX2100 and are recording with an HDD (like the Firestore or Citidisk) and are also backing up your footage with tape (which most HDD manufacturers strongly recommend that you do), be forewarned that if your tape runs out and you have not replaced it within 5 minutes your VX2000/2100 will shut down automatically and you will no longer be capturing any footage to your HDD. This is especially problematic if you will be running the camera unmanned at a longer event like a wedding or a bar mitvah. The Sony PD 170 (and I assume, the PD 150, but I wasn't able to verify this) do not behave this way--they will continue to record onto an HDD long after the tape runs out because these cameras continue to remain on in standby mode. If the VX2000/2100 will be unmanned and you know ahead of time that your shoot will run longer than an hour then you can either choose to not use tape at all (risky!) or else record in LP mode (also risky) to get more recording time from your tape.

January 31st, 2007, 07:34 AM	#2
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,787	Actually the Z1 (and I assume FX1) does the same thing. And IIRC, my PDX-10 also does this....

January 31st, 2007, 09:46 AM	#3
Giroud Francois Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: switzerland Posts: 2,133	and this written in some manual (the one of the DU1, i think)

February 4th, 2007, 07:26 PM	#4
Eric Stemen Major Player Join Date: May 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 378	Thanks for the info.

February 4th, 2007, 07:59 PM	#5
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,787	Gary: Please don't post the same thing in more than one forum, it's against DVinfo policy to cross-post. I've merged your two threads together here.