It’s becoming more apparent as time goes by that many camera operators are having problems with corrupt SDHC cards, this is fine if you are filming the kids but as a professional being paid for your days filming, this is far more serious.
Recently I had a colleague turn up at my door with a 16G Transend class 10 SDHC card that had let him down, no matter what recovery software we tried the card was unreadable.
Now before I get the legion of snobs amongst you telling me that Transend is crap…it’s not. I use Transend all the time and have done so for at least 3 years both SDHC and CF cards. What is crap is that Transend are duped by cowboy card makers and many unsuspecting internet outlets sell the “cheaper unofficial cards”.
My colleague was using a Sony NX-5, although it has 2 card slots you cannot get dual record unless you buy the £700 FMU128 clip on external memory unit allowing you to record onto SDHC and the FMU128, I really think Sony need to review the price of this product.
The Sony NX-30 is a case in point, I got a phone call last week from a fellow user who is thinking of buying a JVC GY-150 specifically to get dual record, this seems a bit OTT but to a lot of wedding and event users backup is becoming essential.
I phoned Sony with this news and was told that although he did not think dual record was possible via firmware on the NX-30 he would email the factory with the request. I cant understand this as the NX-70 was updated to dual record only last year.
All the present JVC camcorders have dual record as do the Canon range, most of the new Panasonic SDHC camcorders like the AC160 have dual record as standard.
It must become the defacto for manufacturers to provide dual record, especially on SDHC enabled camcorders as without this feature sales will suffer.
I have the NX5 too, I would love this update. I also have 2 SD cards, but I have not got the external recorder flash drive.
Let me know if you have any news. Thanks
Whilst dual card recording will reduce the risk of complete data loss, if these cards are unreliable it is quite possible that both will fail. It seems that internal camera memory is totally dependable (our MC50 has never dropped any data over a great many hours’ use) and I wonder why?
Could it be that physical distortion, static electricity or some other factor is the cause of card failure? If so, surely the manufacturers of these devices can advise?
HDW : They are not unreliable if used in pairs or with inbuilt memory !
So maybe there’s a reason for SxS and P2 after all?
Dual recording certainly very desirable. The other option is a Samurai/Ninja or something similar.
HDW : I do not want to usa a cumbersome Ninja on my NX30, defeats the purpose of the camera.
I use the NX5 with the FMU128. It has never skipped a beat and it is always reassuring that I have a second copy if either of the cards has an issue. I would seriously consider whether a new camera had this feature should I need to get another one.
I suppose that was the advantage of tape – you might have got a dropout or two (I never did) but you didn’t lose all the footage as a result.