Alex, that's very well done, but you have ignored the minor differences between the EX1 and EX3. A newcomer with an EX3 will probably have a couple of questions. I would suggest the following minor additions:

How to:

1. Make sure your EX1's firmware is upgraded to v1.11 (You can send it to Sony for the upgrade if you have older version, and pay $100 fee. Some people DIY that at home though using the leaked firmware files and a sledgehammer. OK, not a sledgehammer - a tiny philips screwdriver to uncover the special USB port will do.)

The EX 3 does not require a firmware upgrade.

2. Get Kensington adapter.

3. Get Transcend 16Gb Class 6 or Sandisk 16Gb Ultra II card. (Sandisk also makes other cards compatible with the camera/adapter, but they do not improve performance appreciatively and have worse price/performance ratio than above listed cards.)

4. Stick the Transcend or Sandisk card into Kensington adapter. Treat the combo like you would an SxS card (it even looks similar) - insert it into EX1 or EX3 as one piece, and eject it the same way. Here you have it - a substitute for SxS card at 10x lower price.

Prices: Currently SxS can be had for under $800, while the Transcend combo will cost you under $80, and Sandisk combo under $100. Of course you can also use these cards in your compatible DSLR camera, such as Nikon D80/D90, as well.

Again, you cannot do overcranking at full range with Kensington-based combos. 24p usually maxes out at 40fps overcrank for reliable recording; but all other shooting modes will work fine.

And, adapter/card combos do not fit inside the EX1's compartment entirely, so the door won't close. Not too good in dusty environment - but a small piece of lo-tek gaffers tape will help.

EX3 owners will be able to close the slot cover door without any trouble.

I'm not quite sure I agree with that, if I understand it correctly. Over time, with many clients, one could easily accumulate an awful lot of cards. Are you saying one should have an adapter for every card he's ever filled?

I think he means at least enough adapters for your average shoot which is why I suggested that you keep the two extra adapters you were looking to sell.

John

I have bought 8 adapters as I am terrified of losing an SD card when on location. I think for the price of the Kensington + Transcend/Sandisk cards the we now have great freedom for shooting at sensible prices. SxS of course for slo mo's etc.

Edit. Should have made clear will be running two EX1s

4 adapters seems a good deal.
anyway you can't put more than two in the camera, get one ready for the next swap and get one for PC transfer or spare.
i f you go two cam, this will push to eight adapters.
If you count on the already existing SxS card delivered with cam (1 or 2) , you can lower this number.

Of course, this assumes that you will have a handy PC.

Not necessarily. The existing cards are 8GB each. More of a pain for long form work than anything.

I have a conference to shoot in December. A three hour morning session followed by a three hour afternoon session. With two 32GB cards, I would have been covered for for the morning with no swap. Same with a 32 and a 16. However, with two 16s, now I MUST hot swap a card in, and potentially two swaps since they are just short of an hour. Adding an 8GB card in the mix does nothing for me other than increase the number of swaps.

After the morning session, it will be necessary for me to offload the cards, and then resume for the afternoon session. I have an hour to try and do that. So the question will come, can I offload three or potentially four 16GB cards in an hour? We will see, as I am going to time my transfers from my session today.

Great post Alex... and Jay for the update.

Amazon won't ship the Kensington adapter or the Transcend 16Gb cards to overseas. Are there any known sources in the US that ship overseas or does anybody know where to get them in Europe?
Thanks.

Hi, Amazon.de just let me know they would ship my kensington to arrive sometime between nov 17 - 21. As it seems, they are to get new stock in early november. Do have the same info from cyberport.de .

And this is the most performant SDHC Card I found: SANDISK SDHC Card 16GB 30MB/s eXtreme III
SDSDX3-016G-E
Price: 107,66 € @ www.pixmania.de


Hope this helps. Pe.

i found the Transcend 16Gb for cheap here
.: Webshop von PC-HIGH Computers Eichmann :. in switzerland
50 Frs or $43 or 34 euros.
the sandisk ultra II (16G) is 63 Frs, 43 euros, $55.
i still need to test to see if they are not cheap copy.
the 32Gb sandisk is listed everywhere, but no shop indicate they have stock.

What's the difference between these 2?

Thanks Peter.

Different sellers through Amazon......"Bingo" and "HelpdeskIT"

John

Has anyone figured out how to non destructively remove the SxS "door" on the EX1??
I don't so much mind the door being open, but the way it slides forward, it gets in the way and is just begging to get snapped off.

I wish someone would figure out how to replace the Camera - Off - Playback switch with something resembling a real one. In fact I'd settle for a toaster oven switch over the piece of garbage switch they put on these "professional" cameras.

John

I was very surprised to see that weirdo little thing that is impossible to get to the Off position without using precision instruments to do so :)

On the other hand, I heard that EX3's switch is designed better?