1- 16gb sxs
3- 8gb sxs
5- mxr adapters
5- 16gb sdhc sandisk

I'm currently using:

- 2x MxM with ATP Pro 32GB (everyday use)
- 3x SxS 8GB (for overcranking and special mission-critical jobs)

BUT, all the above is just a redundancy for the CF cards I'm using with my nanoFlash:

- 2x PhotoFast 32GB
- 2x Transcend 64GB

No probs at all...

(4) 16GB SXS
(2) 8GB SXS
(1) Lexar 8gb express card left over fron the testing days works great with the firmare update.

(6) MxR Express Adapters (2)

(5) 32 gb SDHC cards Trendscend and SanDisk
(2) 16 gb SDHC cards SanDisk

(1) 64gb Trendsend (2) 32gb Trendscend (2) 16gb Trendscend and SanDisk compact flash

Two 16GB SXS
Two 8GB SXS

Convergent Design XDR with

Eight 16GB Transcend CF 300X
Six 8GB Transcend CF 300X

Jus.

Two 8GB SxS cards that came with the camera.
Eight 16GB SDHC cards in adaptors, mostly MxM. Mixture of Sandisk and ATPPro cards.

Never lost a frame and as much of my work is long concerts with low budgets using SxS cards is just too expensive.

Noticed this deal at TapeOnline for the PHU-120R
120GB of storage for $679 seems like a good deal. At that price, I'm tempted to get one and I don'[t even need it.


Sony Portable Recorders PHU-120R 120GB Hard Disk Unit | TapeOnline.com

I'd avoid it personally. The talk of "shock" and "vibration" indicate to me its a traditional hard disk unit with moving platters. Let alone all the talk of "spinning up" and all the special measures required to accommodate a form of media inherently unsuited to rough handling.

The way things are moving, SSD's are where its at. Yes they are expensive but there's no need to worry about having to shield a fragile HD unit from rough handling in the field.

A 128gb SSD is approx £200 (UK pounds) from Crucial. Why Sony aren't offering an SSD unit is beyond me. Seems like a product we would all cry out for and one that would be easy to produce.

Marcus, good points, but it depends on what you're shooting. If I'm shooting in the studio or a classroom or long-running sit-down interviews, I'd have no second thoughts about using the hard drive on a tripod. That's really what it's intended for anyway. I'd never suggest using it for run & gun hand-held shooting. No matter how reliable it was, it would still be awkward and throw the camera out of balance. That's where SxS cards rule. I'm still not willing to put any of my footage on SD cards. The risk is not worth it to me. To other people, it might be worth it, but not to me. It's a personal choice.

The thing is though, given the way things are moving Sony should already have an SSD unit. It is a no brainer. So unless I had an immediate need I'd be holding off until an SSD unit came out.

Of course if you need a unit *today* then the HD unit is fine. But if its a "nice to have" purchase, I'd hold off.

Right now one can use two 32GB SDHC cards to get nearly 4 hours of record time. I'd really hope Sony supports SDXC cards as two 64GB cards would give you nearly 8 hours of record time.

2 16GB SxS cards and 1 8GB SxS card, original cards. I have a laptop computer with a Lacie Rugged usb harddrive for dumping in the field when they're full.

Exactly my thoughts too.

The one from MxM looks much more convincing (available soon):

MxM Express SSD Recorder

It may be the angle the photos are taken from, but it appears the SSD is drawing power from the camera. A neat design assuming (a) this is true and (b) it doesn't kill the battery life on the camera. I have to be honest, I have no idea how much power an SSD needs. I assume it is less than a platter based device.

Now if I go and look at a picture of the Sony unit, Google images throws up an absurd contraption that requires you to mount a second battery to the top of the camera ,chiefly:

http://www.hdndv.co.kr/hdndv_data/PHU-120R-001.jpg

I'd kind of assumed the Sony unit would mount on the back of the camera and would share a battery with the camera. Apparently not. So you'll probably end up having to buy another battery which further adds to the cost.

That's right, Markus - the MxM SSD unit is powered from the camera's USB 2.0 interface.

I'll soon be testing one, and reporting back here.

Two SxS cards a 16 GB which came with the camcorder and a 32GB which I bought. I do mostly nature and wildlife stuff and I have never needed more space yet.