PAL trouble with the FS4 and Z1. Please help! urgent!
 

Hello all, I have two new Z1 and two Firestore FS-4 HD. I am going on assignment to Germany for the soccer World Cup in a couple of weeks, and since they both advertise a NTSC/PAL capability, they seemed like a perfect match for this job.

I just received them, and as we are running some tests, the NTSC connection is working really well (at least the dv/dvcam function, since I am editing on a FCP 5 laptop, and the M2T files... well you all now!), but when I set the camera to PAL, the FS-4 doesn't record the video!
This is the situation:

-I tried downconverting from HDV 50i to DV on the Z1, I also tried recording directly on DV 50i and turning off the downconversion, but in both cases the FS-4 doesn't record. On the FS-4 I tried Quicktime, avi2, even raw, but none worked.

-On the FS-4 main screen, I can see timecode being updated (it doesn't run during recording, but everytime I start/stop recording it goes into the "please wait" bar and comes back again with the actual camera TC), but nothing gets recorded on the disk.

If anybody can advice me on this issue I would really appreciate it, I have to find a solution to these situation ASAP, or I risk losing a really big job.

Thanks. Best Regards

Andres.

did you try with a real DV camera.
I heard that the Z1 can produce sometime strange signals not totally compatible.

I tried with a AGDV100, but I need a PAL signal and I don't have any available..


A>

Could this be it?
 

"but when I set the camera to PAL, the FS-4 doesn't record the video!"

From the FS4-HD manual:

"Audio/Video/Timecode Specification
• 25Mb/s, 8-bit 4:1:1 (NTSC-DV) or 4:2:0 (PAL-DV) video
(model dependent). The HD models support 1080i and
(30/25 or 50/60) from HDV camcorders with a 1394
interface."



--> (model dependant). If I'm seen things right, if you want to work in DV you'll need an FS4 PAL version. If working in HDV, no problem.

Hope this helps, and wish you good luck.

Best regards,
Arnaldo

Thanks
 

Thanks Arnaldo, I am trying to contact the Focus people, because they advertise this unit as a NTSC/PAL switchable unit, so the FS-4 should be able to decode the PAL signal. I have been doing some heavy testing on both the camera and the HDD but still haven't been able to get the PAL signal on the disk. If this is the case they shouldn't advertise the FS-4 as a switchable model.

Best Regards

Andres

Hi Andres,

All FireStore models (with the exception of FS-2E) are NTSC or PAL only. They do not switch. The spec sheet does say (as has already been pointed out) 8-bit 4:1:1 (NTSC-DV) or 4:2:0 (PAL-DV) video
(model dependent). Where did you read that we advertised it was PAL/NTSC switchable?

Sorry, but hope that helps,

Matt McEwen

Thanks Matt
 

Matt, I am glad to hear from you directly, from what I've seen on the forums related to Focus you are always talking directly to your customers, a great asset on a world where speaking with someone directly for tech assisstance is very rare.

Now, regarding my difficulties with the FS-4 HD. I want you to please look at this B&H page (link at the bottom). Every single model from your company specifies clearly that each product is NTSC, EXCEPT the FS-4HD and the FS-4PRO!

When you access either one and go into the specifications tab the first thing you see is a box saying: Video System: NTSC, PAL

Then you look underneath and you find the following information:
Video [FORMATS]:
DV: 25 Mb/s, 8-bit 4:1:1 (NTSC-DV) or 4:2:0 (PAL-DV)
HDV: MPEG-2 (MP@H-14) HDV720p, 8-bit, 19.7 Mbps or HDV1080i, 8-bit, 25 Mbps

Then when you go to checkout you are never given an option to select either one (they don't even have a reference number for the PAL model), and even there, when you check the item that you are paying for, you still get the same information about Video System: NTSC,PAL...

So you see Matt where I am coming from with my "multiformat" FS-4? , I think it would be of great service to all videographers interested in your product to solve this misunderstandings with B&H, one of the largest, if not THE largest video retailer in the world.

I am going to call them and ask them to send me two PAL FS-4, and hopefully that will be working with my Z1 as I was hoping it would.

Again Matt, thanks.
Best Regards

A>

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...sc&fi=all&pn=2