Posts Tagged Sony EX1
SDHC Choice for the Sony EX1
Posted by admin in Video Production on August 4th, 2010
It’s been over 6 months since I last posted on SDHC solutions for the Sony EX1 and EX3. However recent events in an industry forum have prompted me to write once again to give assistance to people not familiar with the issues surrounding this acquisition method. We’re also now in a brave new world where SDHC is officially supported under the latest Sony firmware.
An SxS card and two MxM lockable adaptors with Class 6 and Class 10 ATP Pro Max 16gb SDHC cards.
Although the new firmware revisions allow reliable shooting on SDHC, not all SDHC media is born equal. I’ve heard alarming accounts of people just buying any media that comes to hand. I’m also still hearing reports of people using Transcend cards that are failing. Let me just re-iterate a few key points:
- Not all SDHC media is equal, despite what the class rating system might have you believe
- Transcend Class 6 16GB cards acquired after around May 2009 are not to be trusted no matter how long you have been using them for when used in the EX series.
- Only use recommended SDHC media or you will come to grief.
- Update your camera with the latest firmware.
- If possible, only buy the lockable SDHC adaptors. This prevents problems in the field.
- Buy one adaptor per card. Treat them as one combination.
Transcend 16gb cards are best avoided for EX cameras if produced after Spring 2009. The ATP cards seem to be reliable and are produced to a higher specification.
The Transcend Issue
These cards were once the darling of the Sony EX SDHC community. Cheap, easily obtainable and reliable. However something appears to have changed in the manufacturing process from Spring 2009 onwards. Corrupted clips and lost footage have caused problems for many users including myself. My advice is to avoid these cards. Just a day before writing this a cameraman on a forum I frequent had lost footage on a Transcend card,. He went on a reshoot with another Transcend card and lost that footage as well. The cards had been working fine before then. My own experience was less severe and only resulted in a few seconds of corrupted footage but it was enough to convince me there was a problem. While the cards are fine for lower bitrate consumer use, there does appear to be an issue with the EX series which uses a high bitrate.
Firmware
Get your camera onto the latest firmware as soon as possible. Its a fairly easy upgrade if you follow the instructions and improves SDHC handing in the cameras.
Media
SDHC cards are rated in terms of Class, and Class 6 and 10 are fine for the EX cameras. However this system only measures raw speed. Data retention, resistance to static discharge and a variety of other operating parameters are ignored. There is a reason why the ATP and Sandisk cards cost far more than other media and it’s simply that they are better. The ATP cards for example have high resistance to static discharge and are only produced from a single factory (not just sourced from the cheapest factory at a given time). These cards are what I choose to shoot on. Realistically, there is only ATP and Sandisk to choose from and although other cards may work they are mostly unproven.
16GB or 32GB
Tough one. Personally I’m happier just having 16GB cards just in case something did go wrong. I’m not necessarily talking failure, but what happens if a card gets stolen or lost? Less eggs in one basket.
Adaptors
The MxM lockable adaptors are ideal as the older open adaptors make it perfectly possible to accidentally eject a card when in the field. I just enjoy being able to use the combo exactly as I would an SxS card.
But SxS is better right?
Perhaps. But if you Google you’ll find many people having problems with SxS, not withstanding the fact that many SDHC and SxS problems are down to user error. For example, I was just reading a tale of someone trashing his SxS by fiddling with the cache record settings when the camera was live. Reports of SDHC problems are also distorted by people using the wrong types of card and user error. Take all the distortions out and, broadly speaking, both solutions are reliable. And remember, all flash memory can fail just as all hard disks can fail.
Media Choice
For my money the ATP cards in an MxM adaptor is the only option to consider. I’ve now been operating this combination since September of 2009 without any issues. The ATP cards are harder to get hold of but they seem to be worth it. There is now a transition to Class 10 cards which are even faster. While I only have one of these cards, so far it seems to be reliable and works fine. There are also the high end Sandisk class 10 cards to consider but I have not tested these to date. Others report good things but it wouldn’t be right for me to recommend something I haven’t used myself.
Other media can be used, but you must be sure it is fast enough and reliable enough. There is good reason why the ATP and Sandisk cards cost considerably more than standard class 6 and class 10 cards. A cheap card from a camera shop may get you out of a hole during a shoot, but just as in the days of shooting DV, would you be happy shooting on cheap consumer DV tape rather than Sony premium stock all of the time?
You can purchase the MxM adaptor and ATP class 10 cards here - MxM and ATP adaptor combo.
ProAV in the UK also have some Class 6 16gb ATP cards in stock.
Sandisk cards are widely available from a number of retailers including Amazon. I hear good things about these cards but have not tested one myself.
The usual caveats apply. You need to understand that you must have the right type of card and adaptor in the camera and that mishandling a card (for example turning the camera off while recording) is likely to result in data corruption no matter what media you use. If you have any doubts, use SxS. However I and many others have found the ATP cards stable and reliable when used in the MxM adaptor. Your own milage may vary and it is purely your own responsibility if you choose to shoot on SDHC.
Media2u is a corporate video production company based on the Surrey and Hampshire border in the UK. We have been shooting on EX cameras since July 2009.
Further Adventures with SDHC and the EX1
Posted by admin in Video Production on December 6th, 2009
I’ve had quite alot of correspondence about my previous article about the ATP Pro SDHC cards. This has mainly been people asking me how to get hold of ATP cards now that Amazon have hiked their prices and which adaptor is best.
I had been using MxR adaptors, originally with the Transcend 16gb cards, but had migrated to the ATP cards when problems started to surface. But MxR’s rivals over at MxM now bundle their adaptors with ATP cards. I simply couldn’t resist, I ordered up a MxM lockable adaptor and 16gb ATP card.
Now MxM being in Australia and me being in the UK I was prepared for a wait. However I ordered on a Saturday and the following Wednesday these arrived:
An ATP 16gb SDHC card bundled with a MxM lockable adaptor
Top marks for delivery there. I know UK retailers who would have struggled to get me a package that quickly let alone fly it half way around the world.
The idea of a lockable adaptor has long appealed to me. The problem with the existing adaptors was the SDHC card had a tendency to pop out if you were not careful. With this solution you seal the card inside the adaptor and forget about it. You can get the card out again though with careful prising.
The SDHC card being inserted into the adaptor. Note the small piece of plastic to the left which fits over the top of the card when the SDHC is fully inserted. When inserted the card sits fully within the adaptor and the piece of plastic is flush.
It’s always been thought that the overcranking limit is determined by the USB bus inside the EX1, not by the adaptor or the SDHC card. Personally I’d found it hard to sustain 42-44 fps for no longer than a couple of minutes before the dreaded “media restore”. So basically I wouldn’t dare try using it for anything in the real world but it was a good test to see how well a card and adaptor combo functioned. After all, the higher the overcrank speed the more “headroom” you have for general recording. I had assumed it was a pipe dream to be able record continuously without error at above 40fps without using SxS as it was the camera causing the problems not the adaptors.
I inserted the ATP card into the MxM adaptor and overcranked to 50fps on a 25fps timebase. I didn’t think this would work for more than a few seconds, but hey it was worth a shot! I was surprised to see I managed to achieve nearly 3 minutes of overcranked footage with this combination before I hit a problem. That’s 90 seconds of realtime. Intrigued I then inserted the same card into an MxM adaptor.
The same ATP card being inserted into a standard MxR adaptor
Using the same card in the MxR (and with the same view in the viewfinder) the camera quit at 22 seconds (12 seconds real time).
To test this further I then tried a test at 48fps. I placed a moving image in the viewfinder and started recording with the MxM combo.
MxM and ATP combo overcranked at 48fps
As you can see from my blurry photo, at the 12 minute mark the recording was still fine. At 20 minutes the recording was fine. I would have left it for longer but I had other tests to do.
Then I placed the ATP card back in the MxR.
Overcrank the MxR to 48fps and not long before you hit problems.
Again apologies for the blurry cameraphone image but you can just see that the MxR/ATP combo has produced an error after 29 seconds.
Therefore the conclusion must be that the MxM lockable adaptors are faster than the standard MxR’s. I must point out that MxR produce their own lockable adaptor and MxM produce a “standard” adaptor. However I do not have these available to me.
Intrigued by all of this I dug out one of my “dodgy” slow Transcend cards. This was one of the cards that took 10 seconds to clear the red light and wouldn’t overcrank beyond 35fps. I can report however that there is no difference in performence between either adaptor. Both still took 10 seconds to clear, both wouldn’t overcrank beyond 35fps. A dodgy card is still a dodgy card it seems.
In conclusion the ATP and MxM bundle is worth a look. The fact is that these adaptors have more “headroom” than previous cards I’ve used. Not only do they offer better overcranking facilities, but critically you get the peace of mind that you have that extra headroom there.
MxM also offer the ability to order up their adaptors and the ATP cards together which relieves the problem of trying to source the ATP cards in the UK or other countries where they are hard to find. However UK readers be warned, you will be stung for import duty and VAT. I ordered two adaptors and a SDHC card and had to pay the courier £24 when it was delivered.
The MxM and ATP combos can be ordered from here: http://mxmexpress.com/
The disclaimer from my previous blog entry still applies. SDHC cards are an unofficial solution. Please test your cards thoroughly before using them for a shoot. If in any doubt use SxS and despite the MxM cards overcranking to 48fps I still recommend you stick to SxS for overcranking work. Overcranking is great for testing an SDHC card/adaptor combo but there is precious little room for error or variations in datarate at 48fps when we know the card will fail at 50fps.
Media2u is a corporate video production company based on the Surrey and Hampshire border in the UK.
SDHC Shooting on the Sony EX1
Posted by admin in Video Production on November 3rd, 2009
I’ve had a couple of people contact me regarding selecting a SDHC card to use with their Sony EX1 cameras and SDHC adaptors. While SDHC is not a replacement for SxS cards in critical applications they do have their uses where SxS may be impractical (e.g for handing over to a client at the end of a shoot).
Up until a few months ago the SDHC card of choice was produced by Transcend. Their cards seemed to be both fast enough and reliable enough to be able to cope with the 35 meg per second + overheads that the EX1 requires to reliably record.
However from mid summer onwards I began to notice that some of the Transcend SDHC 16 meg cards we were purchasing seemed to be slower than our older cards. Some cards were taking as long as 10 seconds to finish writing. I wasn’t the only one to notice this either as some of the users at DVinfo.net began to complain of slower performance and even failed recordings.
In short if you buy a Transcend card today although it may be within the Class 6 specification, it may well not be reliable in your EX1. For whatever reason the performance of the cards has changed for the EX1.
All is not lost however. After some research I found that ATP ProMax SDHC cards seemed to be a potential replacement. I’ve now purchased four of these cards and although more expensive than the Transcend cards they seem to be up to the job. I’ve run the cards through tests in the office and in the field and as far as I can see they appear to be the best match available in the UK at the moment.
The ATP ProMax SDHC card seems to be a good match for the Sony EX1
However these is some bad news….. Whereas everyone and their dog will sell you a Transcend card at knock down prices the ATP cards are somewhat harder to locate in the UK. After clearing out Amazon of the only 2 cards they had, I had to order 2 more cards from the USA. The good news is that after a few weeks of being out of stock, Amazon UK seem to have some more cards in….(deep breath) a steep £44.85 each, nearly twice what we’ve been paying for the equivalent Transcend.
ATP Pro 16gb SHDC card on Amazon
I’m yet to find any other UK supplier. One other company did list them on their website but don’t have any stock. If anyone reading this finds another UK supplier then please let me know and I’ll post it here.
There are arguements raging on the various forums about the merits of SxS v SDHC. SDHC has its uses but you should always throughly test cards before you use them in a live video production situation with your EX1. There is an inherent risk with any recording media be it film being accidentally exposed or tape jamming up. Contrary to popular belief solid state media is not infallible. Have confidence in your media before you set out on a shoot.
Critically you must not press record before the red light above the card has cleared. I always have the song “Red Light Spells Danger” by Billy Ocean in my head during those 5 or so seconds it takes to clear. When the light goes green I then always count to three before pressing record again. That way you can be sure of avoiding “media restore” errors.
SDHC adaptors are another tool in your video production arsenal. However it remains to be seen what the impact of Sony introducing their own adaptors will be and what impact any of the rumoured firmware updates will have on the existing SDHC solutions.
This blog entry is provided for informational purposes for the EX1 user community only. Users purchasing and using SDHC do so entirely at their own risk.