A2 and Movie length.

LeifShutter · Mar 12, 2004

Okay, as I posted in an earlier thread, I am getting only about 1:15 at 30fps. Someone at KM support told me that I should be getting 6 min. at 30fps, and 15 min at 15fps. At his suggestion, I tried another brand of card. A friend just got a Sandisk 2GB Ultra II, so I tried that and get about 1 min. and 50 secs., with a nearly 50 sec. write to the card. This is the fastest CF card made right now, so it ain't the card.

The rep suggested that I send the camera in for repair, but I won't give up the camera for a week or two until I am convinced that this is not a firmware issue. I suggest that anyone having similar write-time issues email KM so that this will be recognized as a known issue, and hopefully they'll issue a firmware update soon.

The only email address I could find was:

[email protected]

--

Beauty is in the eye of the Bee-holder...

LeifShutter · Mar 12, 2004

...that I tested the cards in another A2, with similar results. Also, I do get a completely different result if I shoot at 15fps. At 15fps, I stopped the test at 6 min., and the camera was ready for another clip in two seconds. In other words, the buffer was emptying as quickly as it was being filled. I wonder why the difference between 15fps and 30fps. The rate of info would only be twice as great, right? Anyone have any ideas?

fotog said:
Okay, as I posted in an earlier thread, I am getting only about
1:15 at 30fps. Someone at KM support told me that I should be
getting 6 min. at 30fps, and 15 min at 15fps. At his suggestion, I
tried another brand of card. A friend just got a Sandisk 2GB Ultra
II, so I tried that and get about 1 min. and 50 secs., with a
nearly 50 sec. write to the card. This is the fastest CF card made
right now, so it ain't the card.

The rep suggested that I send the camera in for repair, but I won't
give up the camera for a week or two until I am convinced that this
is not a firmware issue. I suggest that anyone having similar
write-time issues email KM so that this will be recognized as a
known issue, and hopefully they'll issue a firmware update soon.

The only email address I could find was:

[email protected]

--

Beauty is in the eye of the Bee-holder...

--

Beauty is in the eye of the Bee-holder...

Jerre · Mar 12, 2004

The camera does a fifo to the memory buffer and also has to convert the images to quicktime format (files are .mov extension). I would not expect 30fps to only write half the total of 15fps because you are encoding and moving data from the buffer for additional overhead. Sounds like 15fps just barely manages all this in a timely fashion.

What's strange about this is that other people on this forum seem to get the movie mode to work ok and some don't. Incidently the SanDisk is not the fastest card in the Minolta. The Lexar card is by a comfortable margin. Seems to be something unique to the Ax series of cameras.

fotog said:
fotog said:

Okay, as I posted in an earlier thread, I am getting only about
1:15 at 30fps. Someone at KM support told me that I should be
getting 6 min. at 30fps, and 15 min at 15fps. At his suggestion, I
tried another brand of card. A friend just got a Sandisk 2GB Ultra
II, so I tried that and get about 1 min. and 50 secs., with a
nearly 50 sec. write to the card. This is the fastest CF card made
right now, so it ain't the card.

The rep suggested that I send the camera in for repair, but I won't
give up the camera for a week or two until I am convinced that this
is not a firmware issue. I suggest that anyone having similar
write-time issues email KM so that this will be recognized as a
known issue, and hopefully they'll issue a firmware update soon.

The only email address I could find was:

[email protected]

--

Beauty is in the eye of the Bee-holder...

Click to expand...

--

Beauty is in the eye of the Bee-holder...

--
http://www.garageglamour.com/portfolios/greatphotos

EricP · Mar 12, 2004

...at 30fps & 544*408

With my S602Z at 30 fps & 640*480 I could easily film more than 10 minutes...

@£¤#@!?!

EricP

Stefan V · Mar 12, 2004

Jerre said:
Incidently the SanDisk is not the fastest card in the Minolta.
The Lexar card is by a comfortable margin.

Is the Lexar 40X really noticable faster compared to the Sandisk Ultra II in the Minolta A-series?

PDM · Mar 12, 2004

Yes, it is for the A1. TRhere was a thread a while back it and it faster for RAW file writing.

Paul

Stefan V said:
Jerre said:

Incidently the SanDisk is not the fastest card in the Minolta.
The Lexar card is by a comfortable margin.

Click to expand...

Is the Lexar 40X really noticable faster compared to the Sandisk
Ultra II in the Minolta A-series?

PDM · Mar 12, 2004

I tested my A2 with a 4GB Hitachi drive and got over 8 mintues before I turned it off for low battery.

Paul

EricP said:
...at 30fps & 544*408

With my S602Z at 30 fps & 640*480 I could easily film more than 10
minutes...

@£¤#@!?!

EricP

Choice · Mar 12, 2004

fotog said:
Okay, as I posted in an earlier thread, I am getting only about
1:15 at 30fps. Someone at KM support told me that I should be
getting 6 min. at 30fps, and 15 min at 15fps. At his suggestion, I
tried another brand of card. A friend just got a Sandisk 2GB Ultra
II, so I tried that and get about 1 min. and 50 secs., with a
nearly 50 sec. write to the card. This is the fastest CF card made
right now, so it ain't the card.

The rep suggested that I send the camera in for repair, but I won't
give up the camera for a week or two until I am convinced that this
is not a firmware issue. I suggest that anyone having similar
write-time issues email KM so that this will be recognized as a
known issue, and hopefully they'll issue a firmware update soon.

Tried it with 1GB Microdrive and I get exactly 2 min at 30 fps and full 15 min at 15 fps.

--

Modern cyberspace is a deadly festering swamp, teeming with dangerous programs such as 'viruses', 'worms', 'Trojan horses' and 'licensed Microsoft software' that can take over your computer and render it useless. -- Dave Barry

LeifShutter · Mar 12, 2004

Make sure you all email KM about the issue. It would also be worthwhile to see how quickly your RAW and JPEG buffers are clearing out as well.

Choice said:
fotog said:

Okay, as I posted in an earlier thread, I am getting only about
1:15 at 30fps. Someone at KM support told me that I should be
getting 6 min. at 30fps, and 15 min at 15fps. At his suggestion, I
tried another brand of card. A friend just got a Sandisk 2GB Ultra
II, so I tried that and get about 1 min. and 50 secs., with a
nearly 50 sec. write to the card. This is the fastest CF card made
right now, so it ain't the card.

The rep suggested that I send the camera in for repair, but I won't
give up the camera for a week or two until I am convinced that this
is not a firmware issue. I suggest that anyone having similar
write-time issues email KM so that this will be recognized as a
known issue, and hopefully they'll issue a firmware update soon.

Click to expand...

Tried it with 1GB Microdrive and I get exactly 2 min at 30 fps and
full 15 min at 15 fps.

--
Modern cyberspace is a deadly festering swamp, teeming with
dangerous programs such as 'viruses', 'worms', 'Trojan horses' and
'licensed Microsoft software' that can take over your computer and
render it useless. -- Dave Barry

--

Beauty is in the eye of the Bee-holder...

widman · Mar 12, 2004

I use Ridata 512 24x. Here the data
RAW : 20+ second
3 RAW : 1 min 10 second
movie 544 30 fps: 1 min 40 second

It's a pity that KM didn't upgrade CF controller on A2. I think the weirdmovie resolution (544x408) as a result of BAD cf controller

John Shelton · Mar 12, 2004

Just ran my Hatichi in my 828 and then in the A2. Twenty-seven minutes (640 x 480 @ 30fps ) in the 828 or to the 2Gig limit of Fat32. Only two minutes in the A2 (544x480 at 30 fps).
Bad news. I will send an e-mail too.
John

fotog said:
Choice said:

fotog said:

Okay, as I posted in an earlier thread, I am getting only about
1:15 at 30fps. Someone at KM support told me that I should be
getting 6 min. at 30fps, and 15 min at 15fps. At his suggestion, I
tried another brand of card. A friend just got a Sandisk 2GB Ultra
II, so I tried that and get about 1 min. and 50 secs., with a
nearly 50 sec. write to the card. This is the fastest CF card made
right now, so it ain't the card.

The rep suggested that I send the camera in for repair, but I won't
give up the camera for a week or two until I am convinced that this
is not a firmware issue. I suggest that anyone having similar
write-time issues email KM so that this will be recognized as a
known issue, and hopefully they'll issue a firmware update soon.

Click to expand...

Tried it with 1GB Microdrive and I get exactly 2 min at 30 fps and
full 15 min at 15 fps.

--
Modern cyberspace is a deadly festering swamp, teeming with
dangerous programs such as 'viruses', 'worms', 'Trojan horses' and
'licensed Microsoft software' that can take over your computer and
render it useless. -- Dave Barry

Click to expand...

--

Beauty is in the eye of the Bee-holder...

Rob_G · Mar 12, 2004

I wuz sold a Sandisk Extreme 512MB for my A2... I could do a test this weekend if you'd like but I suspect it won't be any different than the Ultra IIs. So far I've only recorded shorts just to see the quality and I didn't notice any crazy write times (it's relative, it's my first DC)

fotog said:
Okay, as I posted in an earlier thread, I am getting only about
1:15 at 30fps. Someone at KM support told me that I should be
getting 6 min. at 30fps, and 15 min at 15fps. At his suggestion, I
tried another brand of card. A friend just got a Sandisk 2GB Ultra
II, so I tried that and get about 1 min. and 50 secs., with a
nearly 50 sec. write to the card. This is the fastest CF card made
right now, so it ain't the card.

The rep suggested that I send the camera in for repair, but I won't
give up the camera for a week or two until I am convinced that this
is not a firmware issue. I suggest that anyone having similar
write-time issues email KM so that this will be recognized as a
known issue, and hopefully they'll issue a firmware update soon.

The only email address I could find was:

[email protected]

--

Beauty is in the eye of the Bee-holder...

LeifShutter · Mar 12, 2004

On the Sandisk 2GB Ultra II,

RAW :19secs
3RAW :55 secs.

Please email KM. Maybe we can these times improved.

widman said:
I use Ridata 512 24x. Here the data
RAW : 20+ second
3 RAW : 1 min 10 second
movie 544 30 fps: 1 min 40 second

It's a pity that KM didn't upgrade CF controller on A2. I think
the weirdmovie resolution (544x408) as a result of BAD cf
controller

--

Beauty is in the eye of the Bee-holder...

PDM · Mar 12, 2004

Makes ,me wonder how much has to do with how the card is formatted. I can save a RAW is less than 15seconds and I've shot a movie over 8 minutes long - all with a 4GB Hitachi Microdrive. hmmm...

Paul

fotog said:
RAW :19secs
3RAW :55 secs.

Please email KM. Maybe we can these times improved.

widman said:

I use Ridata 512 24x. Here the data
RAW : 20+ second
3 RAW : 1 min 10 second
movie 544 30 fps: 1 min 40 second

It's a pity that KM didn't upgrade CF controller on A2. I think
the weirdmovie resolution (544x408) as a result of BAD cf
controller

Click to expand...

--

Beauty is in the eye of the Bee-holder...

LeifShutter · Mar 12, 2004

Well. I tried formatting my 52X Ridata 2GB every which way under Windows XP, but I found no difference.

PDM said:
Paul

fotog said:

RAW :19secs
3RAW :55 secs.

Please email KM. Maybe we can these times improved.

widman said:

I use Ridata 512 24x. Here the data
RAW : 20+ second
3 RAW : 1 min 10 second
movie 544 30 fps: 1 min 40 second

It's a pity that KM didn't upgrade CF controller on A2. I think
the weirdmovie resolution (544x408) as a result of BAD cf
controller

Click to expand...

--

Beauty is in the eye of the Bee-holder...

Click to expand...

--

Beauty is in the eye of the Bee-holder...

dchass · Mar 12, 2004

Steves-digicam new review says

"Movies can be recorded in normal lighting with the Standard mode or use the Night Movie mode for low-light. Movie clips can be up to 13:47 minutes at 30fps (personally tested by us.) "

fotog said:
Okay, as I posted in an earlier thread, I am getting only about
1:15 at 30fps.

LeifShutter · Mar 12, 2004

Well, I think it clear that we're all getting different "maximum" times.

dchass said:
fotog said:

Okay, as I posted in an earlier thread, I am getting only about
1:15 at 30fps.

Click to expand...

--

Beauty is in the eye of the Bee-holder...

bkx · Mar 14, 2004

Hi,

I have A2 now and 512 MB CF from Kingston. Taking 3 RAW takes 45 seconds to write them all. Movie 544@30fps i can take until the card is full (approx: 10 minutes) and 4 seconds after stopping recording the buffer is empty.

In A2 I tried in a shop it was much different. After recording 2 minutes Movie (I stopped recording) I had to wait 40 seconds until it wrote to 512 MB Kingston CF...

fotog said:
Okay, as I posted in an earlier thread, I am getting only about
1:15 at 30fps. Someone at KM support told me that I should be
getting 6 min. at 30fps, and 15 min at 15fps. At his suggestion, I
tried another brand of card. A friend just got a Sandisk 2GB Ultra
II, so I tried that and get about 1 min. and 50 secs., with a
nearly 50 sec. write to the card. This is the fastest CF card made
right now, so it ain't the card.

The rep suggested that I send the camera in for repair, but I won't
give up the camera for a week or two until I am convinced that this
is not a firmware issue. I suggest that anyone having similar
write-time issues email KM so that this will be recognized as a
known issue, and hopefully they'll issue a firmware update soon.

The only email address I could find was:

[email protected]

--

Beauty is in the eye of the Bee-holder...

--
Homepages:
private: http://www.bkx.de
webmaster: http://www.sv-glueckstadt.de

Jawed49152 · Mar 14, 2004

So you're saying that the same card in two different A2s behaved differently? Blimey.

Ooh, I wonder if there is a firmware issue here? In previous Minolta cameras write times for the same card varied depending on the firmware version.

Additionally card compatibility was also dependent on firmware version.

Hmm.

Jawed

bkx said:
Hi,

I have A2 now and 512 MB CF from Kingston. Taking 3 RAW takes 45
seconds to write them all. Movie 544@30fps i can take until the
card is full (approx: 10 minutes) and 4 seconds after stopping
recording the buffer is empty.

In A2 I tried in a shop it was much different. After recording 2
minutes Movie (I stopped recording) I had to wait 40 seconds until
it wrote to 512 MB Kingston CF...

Richard Hodge · Mar 14, 2004

on the A2 for me. One of the reasons for considering the A2 over the other 8mp prosumer cams or a DSLR was the "advertised" video capabilities. Guess I'll wait some more to see how things shake out. Richard

Jawed said:
Ooh, I wonder if there is a firmware issue here? In previous
Minolta cameras write times for the same card varied depending on
the firmware version.

Additionally card compatibility was also dependent on firmware
version.

Hmm.

Jawed

bkx said:

Hi,

I have A2 now and 512 MB CF from Kingston. Taking 3 RAW takes 45
seconds to write them all. Movie 544@30fps i can take until the
card is full (approx: 10 minutes) and 4 seconds after stopping
recording the buffer is empty.

In A2 I tried in a shop it was much different. After recording 2
minutes Movie (I stopped recording) I had to wait 40 seconds until
it wrote to 512 MB Kingston CF...

Click to expand...

A2 and Movie length.

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