Member Avatar for UrbanKhoja

We all know technology is moving at an unprecedented pace, but it takes todays anoucement of a new range of camera from one particular brand to realise just how much.
Especially when you think it wasn't that long ago that we were still using 35mm film or the Kodak Advantix (what ever happened to that?!?).

We are now moving towards an age of 'everything digital', where we expect nothing less than our household appliances and everyday gadgets to be smart, intelligent and litterally ready for anything. And where if it isn't Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or has some smart party trick - it's just not worth having.

Which is why there are a few manufacturers tripping over themselves to roll out what they believe is the next big thing - HD cameras! But with an exception; the majority up to now have used a HDD which although gives them copious amounts of storage (generally speaking)but they were power hungry and weren't fans of shocks or rough terrian - typically the sort treatment you would expose your camera to.

But flash however; is a different animal altogther - firslty it's far more energy efficent that HDD, ever wonder how the new nano acheives a stunning 24hr battery life? Flash storage, the same reason the iTouch can boast decent battery life even with a big screen. Second - it has no moving parts so it often called 'solid state storage'. It's far more likely to surive a shock or rough treatment than a HDD.

This then would make a good starting point for any new HD camera, especially when it has 16Gb to play with. That's around 16384Mb of fun! They'll be able to take still images at 3.1 Megapixels and will output in full HD (1920 x 1080), they'll even allow you to take still shots while recording.

The new range from Canon is available now.

Dazza :cool:

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Good observations by about the practical reasons manufacturers moved toward flash, and a sensible caveat from that many product launches are incremental. The useful takeaway is this: treat flash as a system decision (media, sustained speed, file format, ingest and archive) rather than a marketing checkbox.

Pick media by sustained write capability, not headline peak numbers. The SD Association defines Speed Class / UHS / Video Speed Class as the minimum sustained write rates you should match to your camera’s video mode; pick a card rated above the camera’s maximum video bitrate to avoid dropped frames. Consumer 1080p AVCHD/AVC workflows commonly use modes in the mid- teens to mid-20s Mbps, so choose card classes accordingly and check the camera’s manual before buying. SD Association Speed Class AVCHD overview. (sdcard.org)

Flash is not maintenance-free. NAND has finite program/erase endurance and controllers use wear-leveling and spare capacity to extend life; heavy continuous recording on cheap cards shortens longevity. Buy reputable cards, rotate and retire cards after heavy use, and format them in the camera before shooting. Also, copy via a card reader (faster and less error-prone) rather than relying on a camera USB connection. Wear-leveling / SSD FAQ Canon community: use card reader / format in camera. (dell.com)

Make archival part of the shoot workflow: copy each card immediately, verify the copy with a checksum, and follow a 3-2-1 backup rule (three copies, two media types, one offsite). Keep original camera files as the master and make edit-ready working copies. Example checksum commands (Linux/macOS/WSL/PowerShell equivalents exist): 

sha256sum myclip.m2ts > myclip.m2ts.sha256
sha256sum -c myclip.m2ts.sha256

3-2-1 backup guidance how to verify checksums. (uni-giessen.de)

Following those practical checks keeps the convenience of flash without the surprises that marketing blur can hide.

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Member Avatar for jwenting

Canon has a "new" range of cameras available twice a year, each time with a new marketing hype attached in the form of some new acronym to add to the specsheet.

In reality none of those cameras are much of an improvement in real terms over their predecessors, certainly not worth replacing your old camera unless it's 3-5 years old at least.

Member Avatar for jwenting

P.S the same goes for (most?) other brands, except maybe ones like Leica that have release cycles measured in years.

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