I will buy a HVX200 and I need some help

[Denis Danatzko]

Am considering external storage/capture myself, including both FS-100 and CitiDisk. but am wary. The Shining web site includes this claim about the CitiDisk:

"connects directly to your DV camcorder and captures your DV footage to its miniature high performance hard drive and to tape simultaneously; straight from your camera's FireWire port, in your choice of file-formats (.MOV, .AVI, .DV, etc)"

(I have an HVX200 and seem to recall reading somewhere that recording can only be while a tape has been inserted. If that's true, then there seems little, or at least limited, advantage to using an external storage device. Since I have none yet, I can't yet prove or disprove the claim).

A PDF describing the CitiDisk item includes this:
"CitiDisk DV appears as one external computer hard disk with video streams (DV format for fw1256 of one of DV, AVI, MOV formats for fw1256B) inside folders."

The "etc" in the first claim concerns me. There is no mention of .WMF in either document, so I wonder if using this device with the latest Avid editing software would work. (I'm relatively new at this, so if there's some obvious answer to my concerns, please politely chalk it up to my inexperience).

While the Citidisk is tempting, at present, I suspect I may wait for the Cineporter.

As for the FS-100, one vendor I spoke to warned that Panasonic is notoriously slow for releasing all the correct drivers to accommodate new devices. I'm hesitant to shell out the $$ for a device if it may not work for a couple of months.

Any input to confirm/deny my concerns is welcome.

D