FS-1 vs FS-3
 

what is the main differences between the 2 ? The FS-3 is more expensive but the fs-1 seems to do pretty much everything that the fs-3 does

Hi Hugo,

Sorry for the late reply.

The basic differences between FS-1 and FS-3 are as follows...

Camera Mount - FS-3 and DR-DV5000 were designed for mounting to camcorder's with V Mount, Anton/Bauer, NP or PAG plates. These batts also power the unit and your camcorder simultaneously. FS-1 was intended for portable and/or desktop use.

Removable Drives - It is possible to use the removable FSHDD-1 FireWire drive OR external drives with FS-3 and DR-DV. FS-1 only uses external drives.

Retro Record Features - FS-3 and DR-DV's retro record features allow you to cache a retro time period of video to a data buffer (10 seconds) or disk (up to the capacity of the drive), so that when you finally press record, you have a retro time period of XX mins/secs/hrs added to the beginning of the clip...basically you never miss a shot.

Scene Marking - It is possible to mark clips while you record or playback to up to 10 pre-named folders on disk for easy access when editing using FS-3 or DR-DV.

Timecode - FS-3 and DR-DV allow you to record external TC, or set Rec Run, Regen or Free Run TC. It is also possible to set a TC start value or a User Bit value.

Extra Shock Protection - As FS-3 and DR-DV are more likely to be used in high shock environments, the FSHDD-1 FireWire drive includes internal shock protection, a 10 second shock buffer and a scan disk feature which will repair any file errors if they should occur...although with all the protection, this is very unlikely to be needed. FS-1 relies on the external disk drive itself for anti-shock performance.

These are the main differences...there are many others. The core functionality of all FireStore products however, is to record clips to external FireWire disk drives in native NLE file formats using Focus Enhancements' Direct to Edit (DTE) Technology.

Chris Hurd reviewed FS-1 here on dvinfo.net...here is link,
http://www.dvinfo.net/articles/camaccs/firestore.php

...and Ken Tanaka also recently reviewed FS-3...
http://www.dvinfo.net/canon/articles/article88.php

Hope that helps,

Matt McEwen
Focus Enhancements