Re: firestore problems-- switch to p2?

Just completed a 2.5 hour hand-held shoot during 2009 Mardi Gras. I've used my Firestore FS-100 for long tripod-mounted shoots in the past without issue. However, today, after attempting to dump the footage to an external hard drive via my MBP, I got an error.

I then started going back reviewing the footage via the Firestore and my HPX170 (using Firewire) and realized that almost 1/2 of the 114 clips have issues! I'm now going through the painstaking process of reviewing all clips from start to finish to see if they have issues. When I find an issue, I have to wait for the clip to stop playing as it freezes and won't stop immediately (does some weird freeze frame thing with audio frozen and buzzing) and then go through the Firestore menu to get to Repair Clip. Then, only some of the clips actually seemed to be repaired. Others, I have to run "Repair Clip" several times to keep trying to fix different sections of the clip. Others appear to be unfixable. The other issue is that the repaired clips get placed at the END of the footage and out of sequential order. Not very fun for me or the editor.

I decided to go tapeless to be more efficient in post and not have to worry about tape drives/tape issues. However, using the Firestore doesn't appear to save any time if one has to triple check all clips to make sure they're not funcky. I'm also very concerned about other issues that I'll find later with the clips and that I cannot comfortably just hand over my footage (after transfered to a hard-drive) to an editor. EVER. I'm always going to have to go back and use the stupid Firestore "Repair Clip" feature. I'm so annoyed.

Here's the unknown and I'm sure the only explanation assuming Firestore's really don't suck this bad. I was shooting handheld. I'm a very steady shooter and well aware of the Firewire sensitivity. Nonetheless, my guess is that Firestore's just cannot be trusted if shooting handheld, as the firewire connections are just too sensitive. If others agree, I wish Firestore would make this VERY CLEAR TO ANYONE ABOUT TO DROP COIN ON THEIR PRODUCT.

This is something I've never experienced with my two 16-GB P2 cards. That said, I wish I had spent the $1800 or so that I spent on the Firestore FS-100 with 160 GB's for two additional 16GB cards. I'd rather have less storage capacity and continuous run time for something that has been more reliable. In fact, my P2 experience has been flawless (know on wood).

Any one want to buy an FS100-160? Make an offer. It's been used for a total of about 15 hours of shooting using an HPX170.




MacBook Pro
Mac OSX version 10.4.11
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB DDr SDRAM
FCP 6.0
G-Raid 2 Tb external hard drive