Don't get me wrong - I'd prefer to shoot on SxS than SDHC IF ALL ELSE WAS EQUAL. If I had enough memory to shoot, transfer, then not format the cards until the edit was over, then no quibbling - use SxS. In no way am I doubting the intrinsic reliability of SxS (or P2 for that matter.)

But that's missing the point. For many people all else is not equal, and the advantages of SDHC IMO are when it saves field downloading, and the possibilities of human error that involves. SxS is safe - humans downloading from it aren't, as the other thread proves.

Perrone makes a good point about recording on two separate devices, but even that doesn't completely take all risk away. What about a camera or battery failure? And the extra complexity may take the mind off other features. The beauty of SDHC is that it adds no extra complexity, cables, or external devices to the operation.

Thats what I thought, I could be mistaken but I thought I read somewhere, that Sony would take the card and try and recover the footage, if something should happen.

I just cashed out for 256GB of SxS. I feel dizzy...

Worth reminding people that, what with the cost of SxS cards, check your insurance policy covers the loss of media.

Also worth checking what your policy limits are as carrying around a lot of SxS cards could easily nudge you over the limit.

David, I understand the point you are making, but if these are my two choices:

1) Shoot on SxS cards and download in the field to a computer, Nexto, or PXU-MS240

or

2) Shoot with SD cards so no downloading in the field is necessary.


I'd prefer to go with #1. No question about it. I trust myself not to make a mistake more than I trust non-SxS cards not to screw me over. I probably delete 50% of everything I shoot immediately; some of my takes are very short; I playback clips frequently; and I don't want to have to watch little indicator lights go on and off to give me the all-clear every time I want to start rolling again. I never have to think about anything technical when I'm using SxS. I can get into my "zone" and forget about all the technical stuff that is going on.

Using the SDHCcards we have had 4 errors called "Media needs to be restored" during the actual shoot only in one of those cases we lost the actual clip. The documentary director was very uptight and I had to rent 64GB of SxS cards to keep my customer happy. For me in the future only the originals unless we shoot just for fun!!!

Jan,

You're going to see that "Media Needs to be Restored" message occassionally even with genuine SxS cards so don't let it freak you out when it happens again. It will happen again.

As I unserstand it, it's really just a housekeeping function of the XML files and other information on the card and has nothing to do with the video clips themselves. I've seen it pop up several times over the past 2 years and I have never lost a clip or had any issues with letting the camera restore the media. But it is a little scary when you see it the first couple of times. When I see it now (which is very rare) I don't even give it a second thought. I just say "OK" and move on.

You say that you lost clips with the SD cards, but I'll bet THAT is what caused the "restore" message to appear, and not the other way around.

Just as a note of caution, on one occasion I had my EX1 demand to do a media restore on a write protected card I knew had been fine just an hour previously. I turned the camera off and turned it back on again and it was fine. Never asked to do another restore.

Do I have to test record this new 32gb sxs card before I use it or can I just insert it and start recording.

If I had an SxS card in one slot and an SDHC card in the other will it change from the sxs to the SDHC card without problems.

You would be wise to test it before any paying shoot but I probably won't just because I'm a lazy bum. Just switch slots before the current card is full so if there is a problem you have time to correct it.

Switching from SxS to SDHC and vice versa isn't a problem as long as you've covered all the usual pitfalls such as having the SDHC card locked.

Ok Graham, thanks for that.

One of the reasons SDHC cards are so much cheaper than SxS or P2 is because they are only likely to be batch tested, not on a card by card basis. Hence an occasional card that doesn't meet spec from new.

SxS and P2 are supposed to be individually tested prior to sale, so the chances of a customer buying a dud should be far less. Coupled with the faster speed (so far better headroom) it's highly unlikely that it won't record reliably straight from the packet.

But the question you have to ask is whether you find the large extra cost worth the pre-sale verification, and higher download speed. You never get anything for nothing. Real point of all this is that if anyone does decide to use SDHC. they MUST perform their own performance checks before serious use.

I have my three SxS cards copied to the PC hard drive via clip browser.
Each SXS card is copied to its own folder.
I want to make a backup to an external harddrive.
Do I have to use clip browser again to do this or will a copy and paste to the external drive be OK.

Thanks.

see my thread and it will answer your questions:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/1426987-post17.html

Thanks Bill.