alternative storage options for 5DmkIII RAW video

[MatthewP]

Currently, because of the sheer size of the 5DmkIII's RAW videos, many people are writing it off as not particularly useful. I reckon ML will get file spanning up and running, so let's assume that single-length recording won't be an issue soon (I think it's currently 40 seconds).

 

 

The FAT32 file format isn't an issue beyond file size, as the maximum size for a FAT32 drive is something like 2TB.

 

 

The CF interface is essentially a physically smaller 16 bit PC card interface, and in some devices can be used for other things than storage, even. For use with the 5DmkIII though, we want to 'trick' it into thinking that it's just a typical CF card.

 

From WIKI: "Since CompactFlash interface is electrically identical to the 16-bit PC card, the CompactFlash form factor is also used for a variety of Input/Output and interface devices; many standard PC cards have CF counterparts..."

 

Currently, I'm wondering how something like this would work...

 

CF to PCMCIA > http://www.sycard.com/cfext166.html        (just a pin-rewire, no electronics)

 

Then PCMCIA to SATA > http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ex-Pro-PCMCIA-provides-connection-Laptop/dp/B001MJPWLU         (max speed for SATA 1 is something like 150MB/s, so plenty of bandwidth to experiment with)

 

Then to a SATA SSD or maybe a 10,000 RPM HDD for up to 1TB of storage (WD VelociRaptor VR333M). A 1TB drive would hold something like 3 hours of RAW footage.

 

Edit: even a Samsung Spinpoint F3 would be capable of continuous RAW recording (130MB/s write speeds).

[Brellivids]

Isnt the 5D mark II such that will not allow shooting when memory card space is open. Time to drill a hole there ? :)

 

About the fast storage options. There is Crucial M500  960GB SSD for about 513 Euros.

 

http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/info/p841889_960GB-Crucial-M500-2-5Zoll--6-4cm--SATA-6Gb-s-MLC-asynchron--CT960M500SSD1-.html

[Brellivids]

Where is Sandisk and their 1000x cards.. etc I'm actually expecting that the 1000x cards should come down in price quite soon.

 

On the same note.. It would be good and helpfull if some one was able to test the Transcend 1000x card wheter it works fast enough

5D Mark III raw video. Transcend's CF-cards n my experience have been reliable as a brand.

[MatthewP]

Isnt the 5D mark II such that will not allow shooting when memory card space is open. Time to drill a hole there ? :)

 

About the fast storage options. There is Crucial M500  960GB SSD for about 513 Euros.

 

http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/info/p841889_960GB-Crucial-M500-2-5Zoll--6-4cm--SATA-6Gb-s-MLC-asynchron--CT960M500SSD1-.html

 

Well, I'm sure there's probably an easy walk-around for the door thing, as it's probably a simple catch mechanism. Blue tac would probably do the trick.

 

That SSD would be a bit overkill speed wise, but the size is amazing! They're really progressing fast!

 

I think the limits for file writes will lie on the camera itself, and probably be about 150MB/s top. Given that, pretty much any standard low end SSD would be more than up to the task, and even some mechanical HDDs have the ability to sustain writes at that speed, and they're really cheap per GB.

 

Where is Sandisk and their 1000x cards.. etc I'm actually expecting that the 1000x cards should come down in price quite soon.

 

On the same note.. It would be good and helpfull if some one was able to test the Transcend 1000x card wheter it works fast enough

5D Mark III raw video. Transcend's CF-cards n my experience have been reliable as a brand.

 

I expect that cards will go down fast, yeah. I second that about Transcend cards, though my experience has been only with their SD cards. They perform much faster than advertised.