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Not Meant to Be
10 years ago
Notice that I've deleted the last thing in my scraps, there is a reason for that...
So I've had a bit of a paradox come up. I took a risk and bought a pro-line HD Solid State camera that was at one point used for Cinema level production. I did it on Impulse because it was there, big and shiny and had a lot of cool buttons. What I didn't realize till later was the camera was a lot more beat up then I had originally thought. It defiantly had a lot of heavy use.
It also runs proprietary P2 memory which at this point is ONLY still used in a very select few true Pro-line video cameras, just like HDV and DV tape is. Otherwise its a dead format to everyone else.
Because its an Old camera and Panasonic (along with a lot of companies, sadly) view 1394/Firewire as a dead technology, when they released drivers for Windows 7/8 they ONLY made them for the USB interface. Which normally wouldn't be so much of an issue BUT
The previous owner apparently loved his USB on this camera. Probably way way too much. When I plugged any Mini USB cable I had around the house (which I confirmed was the right one via Panasonic itself) and it would practically fall out. It would also wobble around when even wind caught it right. The pins were completely SHOT. Not corroded, just like not there. I only got it to recognize in windows as a USB device for a split second, then couldn't get it to do it again all night.
I looked into Card readers for P2. Most companies stopped making them a long long time ago. I asked about it at Microcenter and they looked at me like I had just asked for a motherboard for a 386 and a copy of Windows 3.1 to go with it. The only ones that still make the readers, mostly Panasonic, want to rape you for $150-300 JUST for a simple little CARD READER for P2 memory. F@$%!
PCMCIA slots work as readers. But none of my working "useful" laptops have one. They all have that thing that looks like a PCMCIA slot but its really a narrow pinless port instead. The express card or whatever it is called...
So basically I could shoot all the nice crisp video I wanted and there was no sane way of transferring that video off the camera. Unless I was willing to jump through a lot of hoops or spend an insane amount on a horribly over priced card reader. So I had to return it.
The place I bought it from has a 30 day full refund on ALL used gear. Its why I've been picky where I buy used gear from. This isn't the first thing I've returned that was used but I've bought and kept enough gear (new and used) to keep them happy.
So yeah, lesson learned. Stay away from proprietary crap.
Sometimes if its Shiney, has a lot of buttons there is a reason its a "good deal". Since I don't have an insane income I tend to jump at something unique when I see it cheap(ish). Sometimes it pays off. Sometimes it doesn't.
Everything I shoot from now on will be SD based. Or at the very least DV for the one camera as that is still cheap and much more of a standard still. And I didn't invest that much into that camera hence why I still consider it my C camera.
Even if I no longer have a B cam. I'll just have to be patient and hope I can afford something better or a deal comes along for a camera that's not proprietary; hopefully by
furrymigration.
For now... I should focus on paying off my credit debt rather then adding too it instead anyways >.<
So I've had a bit of a paradox come up. I took a risk and bought a pro-line HD Solid State camera that was at one point used for Cinema level production. I did it on Impulse because it was there, big and shiny and had a lot of cool buttons. What I didn't realize till later was the camera was a lot more beat up then I had originally thought. It defiantly had a lot of heavy use.
It also runs proprietary P2 memory which at this point is ONLY still used in a very select few true Pro-line video cameras, just like HDV and DV tape is. Otherwise its a dead format to everyone else.
Because its an Old camera and Panasonic (along with a lot of companies, sadly) view 1394/Firewire as a dead technology, when they released drivers for Windows 7/8 they ONLY made them for the USB interface. Which normally wouldn't be so much of an issue BUT
The previous owner apparently loved his USB on this camera. Probably way way too much. When I plugged any Mini USB cable I had around the house (which I confirmed was the right one via Panasonic itself) and it would practically fall out. It would also wobble around when even wind caught it right. The pins were completely SHOT. Not corroded, just like not there. I only got it to recognize in windows as a USB device for a split second, then couldn't get it to do it again all night.
I looked into Card readers for P2. Most companies stopped making them a long long time ago. I asked about it at Microcenter and they looked at me like I had just asked for a motherboard for a 386 and a copy of Windows 3.1 to go with it. The only ones that still make the readers, mostly Panasonic, want to rape you for $150-300 JUST for a simple little CARD READER for P2 memory. F@$%!
PCMCIA slots work as readers. But none of my working "useful" laptops have one. They all have that thing that looks like a PCMCIA slot but its really a narrow pinless port instead. The express card or whatever it is called...
So basically I could shoot all the nice crisp video I wanted and there was no sane way of transferring that video off the camera. Unless I was willing to jump through a lot of hoops or spend an insane amount on a horribly over priced card reader. So I had to return it.
The place I bought it from has a 30 day full refund on ALL used gear. Its why I've been picky where I buy used gear from. This isn't the first thing I've returned that was used but I've bought and kept enough gear (new and used) to keep them happy.
So yeah, lesson learned. Stay away from proprietary crap.
Sometimes if its Shiney, has a lot of buttons there is a reason its a "good deal". Since I don't have an insane income I tend to jump at something unique when I see it cheap(ish). Sometimes it pays off. Sometimes it doesn't.
Everything I shoot from now on will be SD based. Or at the very least DV for the one camera as that is still cheap and much more of a standard still. And I didn't invest that much into that camera hence why I still consider it my C camera.
Even if I no longer have a B cam. I'll just have to be patient and hope I can afford something better or a deal comes along for a camera that's not proprietary; hopefully by
furrymigration.For now... I should focus on paying off my credit debt rather then adding too it instead anyways >.<
I am not sure how much time you want to put into this.. there might be a way of improvising something ugly. For instance I have a tablet with a dead cord that I spliced from another USB cable... you might be able to do something similar. USB is just like 4 wires, if you get the colors right, you might be good to go...