Hi Stelios. Mine is also Version 01, which seems to work OK. Even assuming an update is available, I will hold off until I hear what would be the benefit.

Richard

sorry
 

So sorry guys for the confusing heheh. From what they told me the change is some bug fix that all they didn't tell me anything else even i asked. You know at first when i talked to the guy he treated me like an idiot after some talk and he finaly agree that i'm about his level or maybe smarter. I ask them is there some kind of firmware in the recorder that i might have a later fimware that it not working correctly with my camera which is A1 he said that is not something that the end user can do to find out. I have to send it to sony and they plug it into the system to know which fimware. Then i convince him that there is a way to find out the firmware before i ship this out for a require update or not. He put me on hold and come back with the solution to check the firmware.

The reason why i call them is because the recorder keep connect to my A1 as a computer and it had fail me on july 4th wedding. So i got the recorder to get out of the computer mode but then it only record 1 frame everytime i hit record. After sometime that day it work but it keep freezing on me that why i call them to see if there is a solution to it. I don't trust this anymore i mean i love it with one battery it can run a whole day without turn it off. But if i put out money it better work

My XHA1 MRC1K setup/workflow
 

Hello Everyone,

This is my first forum post on DVInfo. After doing a lot of research it was this forum thread that actually cemented my decision to purchase the MRC1K for my XHA1. A lot of the information I am posting in this reply has been covered before in a few different posts. Chunks of it will be redundant.

My Setup:

Canon XHA1

Canon HV30 (havent thoroughly tested it with MRC1K yet)

retractable 4pin to 6pin 1394 cable

SONY's MRC1K plugin for Final Cut Studio

ClipWrap . It puts handles on m2t files without any conversion and makes them .mov files. Costs $49 dollars and works very well and is fast. If there is a free utility that works as well I haven't found it yet.

2 NPF330 batteries. I get a bout 3 to 3 1/2 hours of run time for each. I am planning on purchasing 2 more batteries (npf570's or off brand equivalent)

3 kingston 133x 16gb compact flash cards. I will be purchasing more would prefer to get 32gb but will research their performance/reliability first.

Macbook Pro 2.4 ghz with a expresscard 34 compact flash reader.

Custom Bracket brand camera bracket and a shoe mount adapter. This give me a flexibility for mounting the unit to the XHA1 i different situations. I had thought of velcro as an option. I already have 2 velcro attachment points on ymcamera that I use doe my wireless mic's and the MRC1K would be cumbersome on those points. I also have a cavision rail system shoulder rig that I have velcro attachment points on as well. Velcro seems awkward.My first shoot using it went well and by some trial and error I found out how to best set up my workflow. I had volunteered to videotape parts of a martial arts crosstraining event/workshop hosted by one of my instructors. I decided to record both to flash memory and tape at the same time. At one point I ran out of tape and couldnt switch to new tape because I was shooting hand held and was in the middle of shooting something that I couldnt stop in the middle of. The MRC1K continued recording after the tape ran out and I didnt lose anything. My battery ran out near the end of the shooting day (i hadn't acquired my second battery yet) but since I was recording to tape as a back up, nothing was lost there either. I hadnt gotten my expresscard 34 CF card reader yet, so i was using a cheap USB card reader (which was slow) . I ended up using all 3 cards and offloaded footage off of one so I could re-use it if necessary. The USB 2.0 CF card reader was very slow and I ended up transferring directly from the MRC1K to the laptop through Final Cut Pro's log and transfer ( I had not gotten ClipWrap yet). That first trial shoot was a learning process. Here is what I learned :

USB 2.0 CF card readers mostly suck

Log and transfer in Final Cut can be temperamental. When I tried to transfer footage from one of the cards later I got and "Unknown Error" and it wouldn't recognize any of the clips as having any data. When I transfered them directly to hard drive they were fine.

If your shooting by yourself with no help, stopping during a break to transfer footage is annoying so next time I will have enough CF cards to do the whole shoot without having to "recycle" any plus have a spare.

Transferring footage took about 4 to 5 minutes per card per hour of footage direct from MRC1K to external hard drive on laptop. Will do 1 hour of footage transfer test with the express 34 CF card reader and a firewire CF card reader in the next day or two.

The first few frames on record start sometimes were glitchy. Not an issue for me because I always do about 5 seconds of pre-roll and post roll on everything I shoot. I haven't tried the unit on cached mode yet.

The unit worked very well in 24f mode and I was very happy with it. I was also able to playback video back through the camera when I switched it to VCR mode.

I had no audio problems or dropped audio.

Having a retractable firewire cable is nice because it's always exactly the right length no matter how I mount the unit to the camera. its seems a little fragile though so i getting spares (retractable and non-retractable)

Overall I was actually surprised at how well the unit worked with the XHA1. It would be nice of canon were to come out with a similar product, but it would have direct competition fro the sony unit. There is also a possibility that Canon might integrate a solid state/tape hybrid system in the next generation XH/XL cameras. The workflow that I will be using will be to record to tape and CF at the same time. Having a tape archive and backup makes a lot of sense.

Basic Workflow I Came Up With:

record to tape and CF simultaneously.

use tape as archive/backup

transfer from CF card

Use ClipWrap to put handles on m2t files

and edit in FCP.

I freelance for a company that shoots mainly with Panasonic HVX-200's . I will do research on whether the MRC1K will work with the HVX in DV mode. They are interested in trying to make that work because it would be more cost effective than using P2 cards. Sorry for the long winded first post from me but I hope this helps some people out.

I used the setup process quoted below (except that I record to tape as well) , previously posted by Evan C. King

Wow... just wow!
 

I got my MRC1K last week in anticipation of finding a XHA1S in stock, and finally did this week. I got the camera on Friday, and hooked everything up over the weekend.

I just want to say thank you to everyone in this thread for your help in making my decision and setup so easy. It didn't take me more than 5 minutes to set up the MRC on my camera and have it working. I also got ClipWrap and was blown away how fast it takes the files off the CF card and turns them into .MOV files that can be immediately dropped into FCP7.

Just simply blown away by this!

I also took the tape out and recorded directly to the CF in the MRC without any issues, but I think I'll buy a stockpile of tapes just to record for backup. It's great to be able to just press the record button on the camera itself and have the MRC record on/off. I don't have to touch the MRC other than to just turn it on! I love it!

The thing is, I was almost going to buy a camera I didn't want just to have the MRC functionality built into the camera. But then I'd have to sacrifice all the benefits of the A1... with this little ditty (which I bought on eBay for $700 -- new!) I have all the benefits of the camera, as well as the benefits of a memory recording device. This is awesome!

Chris.
I'm with you there. I was thinking on buying another camera just for that same reason until
the MRC1 came my way. One thing I have done is set to sleep mode if there is no firewire signal after one minute. No more dead battery on the morning if you dont turn it off the night before.
This MRC1 has extended my camera life at least a couple of years.

Canon A1 and Sony HVR-MRC1K workflow-great results!
 

My experience using Canon A1 HDV with the Sony HVR-MRC1K digital recorder have been flawless. I bought by camera almost 3 years ago new and have started to notice drop frames more and more. As a result I upgraded to the Sony device
Here is my work flow:
Kingston 32gb card (not formated straight out of box)
Default settings from HVR-MRC1K (straight out box)
Turn on SONY Recorder (turn cam link off)
Connect firewire to Canon
Turn on Canon A1 to (auto, manual etc. recording mode etc.)
Begin Recording with the Canon 10 secs
Record with Sony (holding both record buttons)
The digital device with sync with time code from Canon until you stop recording
When you want to stop the Sony device press stop.
MAJOR ADVANTAGE in the mode.
After recording over an HOUR of HDV footage non stop
Stopping and changing tapes at 60 mins does NOT create drop frames on the digital file.
From there I Import file to computer from Sony and Sony software and the file is
ONE COMPLETE HOUR LONG FILE not stitching needed.
From that point I covert using Cineform HD-Link and Import into Premiere
Pro 2.0 Using Aspect HDV. File is flawless and in real time.
I will post more if status changes. Hope some of you can get your devices to work.
Drop frames were killing my business. This device saved it until Canon comes out
with new camera.

Nice Jason, glad to hear it.

4GB Limit Of FAT32 Has Been Destroyed
 

Not sure if anyone is aware, but Microsoft has just released a file system update called exFAT, which now eliminates the 4GB limitation on FAT file systems.


From the Microsoft Support site:
The exFAT file system incorporates several improvements over FAT32. However, it keeps the simplicity of FAT-based file systems. These improvements include the following key advances:
Support for very large files and storage devices
Support for performance improvements
Support for extensibility features for future innovation
Added compatibility for flash media

Support for volumes that are larger than 32 GB, the theoretical maximum volume size for FAT32 in Windows XP
The theoretical maximum volume size is 64 ZB.
The recommended maximum volume size is 512 TB.
Support for files that are larger than 4 GB, the theoretical maximum file size for FAT32 in Windows XP
The theoretical maximum file size is 64 ZB.
The recommended maximum file size is 512 TB


Complete info can be found at Description of the exFAT file system driver update package

Now......when are all of the manufacturers going to get on the ball and institute this file system in their media products?????

-Ken

Ken:

That is 4/5 year old news. exFAT/FAT64 was released with Vista and was out there before that.

I didn't look at the link, but most likely they are trying to enhance FAT64 compatability with pre-Vista machines. With the SDXC card readers now available and since new machines are shipping with SDXC compatable card readers, MS wants cross-platform compatability.

I did look at the link / web-page and this is what it is about:

"
The exFAT file system driver brings file system support parity to the following operating systems:
Windows Vista
Windows XP
Windows CE
"

MRC sees A1 as PC
 

Has anybody already found a solution for the problem that the recorder sees the A1 as a PC.
It happens to me almost every day I take my gear out for shootings. But only the first time I start everything up. When I manage to let the recorder see the A1 as a cam, then switching the cam off and on again within a certain timeframe doesn't change the status of the recorder.
My workaround when I start up is: Go into the menu - Settings - Cam link select: change from Synchro to Follow, then exit menu. Go into menu again and change the same setting back to Synchro and exit menu. Most of the time this is sufficient. But more and more I need to repeat that procedure 2 or 3 times before it works. Very annoying.

(Thats why I ordered a Datavideo DN-60. Uses the same cards but is capable of NTFS !)

Kees,

How has the 60 worked for you? useable on any camera with firewire?

what are its measurements?


dale guthormsen

I ordered it but it hasn't arrived yet. So I don't have user info.
Here is all the web info Datavideo Technologies Co. DN-60 -

Hi Kees,
Have you received your DN 60 yet? I am very curious to hear how it works for you compared to the Sony unit. Was it also a bit cheaper? Looks like the build quality is not as good though as the Sony.
Regards,
Bryce

Not yet. Sorry. My latest info is that they are beginning to deliver from Februar the 7th.
To be continued.

A datavideo dn60 is priced 402 euro in the Belgian videoshop and the mr1ck is priced 822 euro so the datavideo recorder is half the price of a sony recorder.

I payed €389,- (incl. 19% VAT which I can claim)

Thanks for that. Wow that's a lot cheaper than the Sony unit. Hope it works well for you. I will certainly be interested in one if it does!
Bryce

When will thye dn60 be available in the states, and who will carry it?
Bruce Yarock

dn-60 in US...
 

If you go to the datavideo.info website they have a "Where to buy" link. There are a bunch of dealers listed for the US. I will check with the video person at Adorama in NYC to see if he knows anything yet. I love the MRC1K and it works great for me but I just purchased a refurbished XLH1 and I need another DTE for it. The person I mainly freelance for has used datavideo products before and likes the hard drive recorder he has from them. Focus enhancements has two CF DTE models they are selling as well. Only issue is that friends and coworkers of mine who have used focus enhancements products in the past have had some very negative experiences with the companies tech support and customer service. The overseas price on the DN-60 is half of that of the MRC1K and FS-200. It seem fairly no frills. I dont see any control buttons on it, and it uses AA batteries which is a little annoying. I would have to see how well it does with rechargeable AA batteries. If it stays with the same pricepoint that is has overseas when its released here I think I will most likely get one.

Since I still didn't get my DN-60 I contacted Datavideo Europe. They promised me that the DN-60 is to be delivered from the end of March.

Kees, have you got your DN 60 yet and if so, any views on it?

Peter

Dirk So True
 

We should always keep in mind the potential for external HD's to crash as they have for me twice.