For the feature I'm preparing, we'll use the 2500 since I also have EX3.

I BELIEVE I read it can do the two copies gag. EXCELLENT backup.

My 2nd assistant will take the "exposed" cards and shortly thereafter copy to the NEXTO/eSATA external.

For low budget, the cards are reused. For a film with a budget, I'd send the cards to editorial, keeping the copies for director review and safety.

Seems like the best of all worlds.

I have searched the CD website and nanoflash.net for info about the NextoDI, but I don't see anything. Where are you guys hiding it? :-D

Dear Steve,

We are attempting to revamp our website.

A nice place to see nanoFlash accessories is to go to nanoflash.net and click on the accessories page. But, the Nexto is not on the site just yet. I will try to change that.

If you email me with your phone number, I will be happy to call you to discuss the Nexto.
It is a great device.

Dan at Convergent-Design.com

Dan... I will do that. I'm tied up in never-ending production this week, but I'll touch base with you next week on the Nexto.

Thanks,
Steve

Looks to me like the e-sata port is for connecting the Nexto to a computer, not for additional storage.

Lance -

Indeed. the 2500 is the top dog for flexibility.

Now...if it can offload to two places at the same time...

Used the Nexto on location today and now I realize just how long 20 minutes per card can be. Painful.

We had two cameras and we both are working on edits with each others footage so we wanted to swap footage. Downloaded both of our cards into the Nexto after the shoot. By the time it was finished, EVERYONE had packed up and left. We were the only ones there,.. still waiting.

Love the Nexto but 20 minutes per card seems like an eternity when you're looking at it transfer data from cards.

Is it worth it ?
 

Hi Aaron:
Is this kind of delay really practical ? If one considers the minimum retail street price for the unit, versus it's performance, then does it ballance out for you ? I was frankly stunned at the bizarre price difference between the Nexto 2700 & the NVS2500. The only difference between the two units is one has video preview (But with no audio - Go figure that !) You now what ? For a price difference of around $1,400.00 between video preview and no preview and the one with a 500GB HDD with video preview going for $ 1,999.99 Nexto DI can keep it ! :-( I will save that doe and apply it towards uncompressed upgrade for my Flash XDR and the purchase of a nice new Convergent Design Nano Flash unit.

Dear Aaron,

I understand that 20 minutes can be painful.

In case you do not know, the Nexto units can also do incremental copies.

For example, during your first break (if any) one can copy the cards to the Nexto unit.

Then you can shoot some more, and then when are done for the day, start another copy. Only the new files will then be copied to the Nexto, saving you some time.

So, if you do have a lunch break, the Nexto can be working to save you time later in the day.

Last January, while shooting with the Flash XDR and using the Nexto, I copied each card to the Nexto as soon as each card was full. At the end of the shoot, I had only one card to copy. It completed before we were done packing up, but we had a complex shoot with lots of lights and equipment.

Also, the Nexto can be copying files on the drive home. But, in your case, this was not practical.

(Note, the rough figure of 20 minutes comes from Nexto's rated speed of around 40 seconds per Gigabyte, so this applies to a 32 GB card.)

I am not attempting to defend or promote the Nexto in this post, just offer some insight into how it may be used.

Hi Dan:
The price on the Nexto 2700 500 GB seems to be realistic. I suppose this is the sweet spot.

I would like to add that the Nexto 2700 is much smaller than the perception given by the photos. I was expecting something much larger. It's about the size of the Nano and the cases are set up for wearing on a belt.

It's a nifty little device. Bypasses the need for a laptop/reader to off load cards. We got it for the safety it affords with the wierd Leopard/occasional card over-voltage damage issue.

And at it's price point, I could see it as a great way to FedX off files to others in collabrative chain.

Hey Dan,
My reading of the NextoDI site reveals that the 40s/GB is only for the transfer. If you want to verify the file transfers, an additional 80s/GB is required. Is that correct? One of the big advantages of the Nexto units for me is that the files can be verified. But 120s/GB means roughly 2 hours/64GB card. The only solution I can see is to buy 2 of the Nexto units. At $330.00-ish USD per unit, it's not horrible... and you have a verified back-up. Of course, that may mean an extra CF card or two also. Hoo-boy...

BTW, did we ever answer the question about simultaneous write to another drive through the Nexto 2700? It would be wonderful to be able to dump the CF card to the Nexto AND write to the back-up drive at the same time. Possible?

BTW2, hope to be purchasing soon through Telecorps...

Thanks!

"BTW, did we ever answer the question about simultaneous write to another drive through the Nexto 2700? It would be wonderful to be able to dump the CF card to the Nexto AND write to the back-up drive at the same time. Possible?"

I don't think this is possible. The literature states that all the card slots become inactive when connected to a computer. This is not exactly what I think you were trying to do but it seems to indicate that when outputting from the Nexto, the card slots are not active.

In my many travels I THOUGHT I read where the 2500 can accept the CF as te source to copy to the internal drive and output via the eSATA to an external at the same time.

I have asked here about this, but so far, no comment.

On my unit, the card slots don't appear to do anything once the USB is activated. I haven't looked into to it too much though.

I thought of the Nexto as a PERMANENT storage device for projects original footage. This would give me a permanent backup of each project. Given the average size of projects so far, that would be less than $100 per project. When it fills up, buy a new one.

I say backup, but it's really a 3rd copy of the data since the working copies that I edit from are on my RAID array and that's also backed up. The only thing missing is an off-site scheme.