Hey Andy,
Thanks for the valuable information. It seems like Panasonic has kept quiet about this issue as no one has mentioned it to me before seeing your post and I have asked a lot of people about these cards coming out. Seems to me if Panasonic is saying delivery is at the end of May but the the cards will not function fully until they release a firmware upgrade which is anywhere from 1 to 3 months after the cards are available they are not putting their best foot forward.

Hi Barry,

Some folks in News and simmilar demanding areas will insert and withdraw many times during a days work, sure some shooters will never withdraw , so maybe if the tests assumed that 30.000 would be enough, well, Hmmmmm.
I personally would have run the tests to the point of some sort of failure, much like any tests on products these days to determine a realworld lifespan.
Also in the realworld there are issues encountered that can't be duplicated on the "test bench", that may also have a great bearing on longevity.
News crews in my experience generally use smaller cards (8g-16g)as they can have more cards per camera for a days shoot, and off load times are faster than dumping a full 32or64gig for example, and helps to make the camera op to shoot "tight" knowing they have say a 15min limit @ DV50, or 30min Limit for DVCpro25.

Andy, Great piece of info re these new E-series cards, I see that my camera (SPX800)is one that dosen't need firmware, that's nice to know. Interesting that most products on pana's list that are good with the new E-series cards are the older units.

Cheers

I just got my 301 today, I ordered and paid for four 32gb E cards, it has been delivered with A cards so I am very happy bunny!

Hi Gary,

well done, Just make sure they don't want to "swap the cards over" when the e-series hits the shelves.

cheers

Hi Andy,

I read your blog and then spent the next hour or so trying to track down your source for the VFR statement. I think you have it misstated.

From our Compatibility Sheet: Without the upgrade, P2 camcorder and recording equipment may experience error messages when recording over multiple P2 cards (Spanned Recording).
These “REC Warning Error” messages may appear in the P2 camcorder’s viewfinder or the P2 recorder’s LCD screen during Spanned Recording when utilizing the following modes:
a. INTERVAL REC MODE (in DV or DVCPRO)
b. LOOP REC MODE (in DV or DVCPRO)
c. NORMAL REC MODE (in DV or DVCPRO)

Note that all of these are Standard Definition Modes.

d. VARIABLE FRAME RATE RECORDING/NORMAL in the 12p or 15p VFR settings in DVCPRO HD
720/24pN, 720/25pN or 720/30pN (AG-HVX200/AG-HVX200A, AG-HPX170 and AG-HPX500 models only)


This is the part you had me chasing after, as on your blog it sounded like it was in all VFR modes and cameras and it is not. And even better it isn't the more common side of the VFR use, more people do overcrank vs. undercrank. Good news is that it is a quick fix and that fix isn't that far away.

Best regards,

Jan

I think it's important to point out a few similarities that P2 shares with it's sibling flash memory, CF cards. Most would say that it's nearest neighbor is the SD card because P2 media is built around SDHC modules however, a standalone SD or SDHC card doesn't use standing-posts for it's connectivity but rather flat-side connectors, which by the way is NOT considered to have a long service life and is in fact a consumer-grade connector.

As someone who's always been a quick adopter of new technology I drooled at the prospect of dropping 35mm film canisters for CF-memory flash media when shooting stills. Believe it or not I still have one of the very first mass-produced pro DSLR's produced by Canon (the 1D) and it's had it's internal post connections gone through literally tens of thousands of insert/remove cycles with standard CF media. Never once has there been a failure related to it's CF media connections.

P2 uses the same style of physical connectivity (albeit with a larger post-panel) which is one of the main reasons why my company was one of the first adopters of P2 technology for commercial purposes; I KNEW that connector-type would stand up to as much use as I or my crew could dish out.

I often talk with the west-coast repair facility for Panny and to date they've never had a service call related to card connectivity - with exception to those who abuse the card slots by slamming in the cards like they were slamming a door shut.

As for required firmware to have the cameras become compatible with newer, faster media that has been the case ever since the "R" series 16GB cards were announced. Consider it a bonus that the entire P2 system allows for such user-upgradability rather than expensive trips to the repair shop just to keep working.

Honestly I've never understood why so many choose to fuss over these minor details. The entire P2 system including the physical media has proven itself beyond expectations both by my production company and others who've adopted it and remains the most robust, user-friendly and well thought-out system offered by any manufacturer. Not since the days of D2 or D5 has any company produced such a well-rounded product line.

Get the cards, get the firmware updates and use it like there's no tomorrow - just don't "spank" your cards home and you'll be rewarded with literally years of reliable "take it to the bank" service. If you need to spank something I know this chick in LA... (big laughs).

Robert,
I would love to get the cards and the firmware update but they are not all being delivered or ready for my camera yet. Not sure I want to buy cards and then wait for a firmware update to se get the same functionality I expect with the older cards

Thanks for the correction. I've updated the blog as well. We have E-Series cards in stock now by the way. So give us a call if you are interested.