HD p2 cameras

[alonerdottiearebel]

I still can't seem to find any hard data one way or another on these issues and we're about to shoot an HD feature.

We're thinking of using the HVX200 becaues it would save us money which we really need in 2 other areas of the budget but I have heard there are several problems using P2 cards. Many of the problems seemed to be a year ago when the camera was brand new but they didn't reissue the camera so why would the problems suddenly disappear?

Anyone able to shed some light on any of the below statements based upon experience?

1.) "The P2 card didn't dump to the laptop as fast as it should have, so some footage was never shot (a live Q&A) because the camera was down.
Same prolem with the portible hard drive that is available for the camera.
The only solution to this is to rent pleny of P2 cards, so that there is time to download check and back up before reformating the card.
Because once you reformat, it's gone."

2.) "Another problem has been with corrupt files. I don't know how this happens, but I've heard of several people who just can't read some of the files shot on the same day. Also, unless you review every shot on the laptop, you won't know of a corruption problem until it is too late."

3.) "I've also heard that some systems just don't like those particular type of files. I don't know why, but some computers, or software (even FCP) just don't recognize them."

-PW

 

[yellowpit]

We've owned the HVX200 for about a month. Here's our experience with your concerns.

1.) "The P2 card didn't dump to the laptop as fast as it should have, so some footage was never shot (a live Q&A) because the camera was down.
Same prolem with the portible hard drive that is available for the camera.
The only solution to this is to rent pleny of P2 cards, so that there is time to download check and back up before reformating the card.
Because once you reformat, it's gone."

Yes download is fairly slow, but it does load faster on a fast computer. The G5 Quad loads much faster than the G4 MDD eventhough they both have USB2.0. I'm told moving the "lastclip.txt" file first will speed up moving the "Contents" folder. I haven't timed it yet to be sure.

Our usual routine is to shoot on one P2 while transfering the other to the portable drive unit. Everything is later transfered to two different external computer drives before importing into FCP5.

2.) "Another problem has been with corrupt files.

We've had no corrupt files yet. Like all other flash memory devices P2 might be prone to corruption when used in multiple devices. (Camera, Mac, P2 Store, PC.)

3.) "I've also heard that some systems just don't like those particular type of files.

Again, no problems yet. We're running FCP5.1.1 OSX 10.4.7 QT 7.1.2

If you could use one for a couple days it might help you decide if its right for your project.

MG

 

[alonerdottiearebel]

Thanks for weighing in with your experiences.

I'm thinking right now for safety's sake we'll have to use a tape camera so that we're 99% sure we're not going to lose footage. For certain things, it's worth the risk but with our feature film we're burning about $1000/hr with various costs (locations, actors, crew) and we'll never get all of these elements together again so I'm thinking we can't risk it at this point in time.

I do want to check one out sometime. I'll report back once we officially decide.