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I Just Got a Panasonic GH4 – Now What? Hard Drives.

UPDATE 20140806 Amazon just dropped the price for the 4TB to $279, the 6TB to only $349 and the 8TB to $449!
Here’s the direct link http://amzn.to/1sfQANg

The G-Tech SPEED Studio and RAID Studio line got company, and it seems surprisingly good. Western Digital just launched an updated “My Book Duo” line.

The My Book Duo consists of two mechanical hard drives, and ships preconfigured as RAID 0 for maximum performance, but almost no safety in terms of data management. Luckily, users can opt for RAID 1 for increased data protection or JBOD in order to use each drive individually. Also keep in mind that the drives arrive formatted NTFS for Windows 8 or higher, Windows 7 or Windows Vista operating system, so it requires reformatting for Mac OS X. 

WD-My-Book-Duo-4TB-dual-drive,-high-speed-premium-RAID-storage-04_blgpst

Features:

  • High-speed performance with up to 290 MB/s file transfers
  • Dual-drive enclosure with up to 12 TB capacity
  • 256-bit AES hardware encrypted RAID
  • Multiple data management options: RAID 0,1; JBOD
  • Shipped pre-formatted for Windows in RAID 0 mode
  • Cloud backup with Dropbox
  • Local and cloud backup
  • WD SmartWare Pro integrated automatic backup software

Speed and Capacity:

A slight disadvantage over G-Tech’s Studio line is that the Duo features USB 3.0 connectivity and not Thunderbolt. But, if you have an “older” Mac or a PC this is actually an advantage.
Important: The PREVIOUS batch of My Book Duo had only USB 2.0. So make sure you get the right one!

WD-My-Book-Duo-4TB-dual-drive,-high-speed-premium-RAID-storage-02_blgpstWestern Digital claims up to 290 MB/s transfer speeds which is not far from G-Tech’s 360 MB/s on the G-RAID Studio line. G-Tech claimed speed on the G-SPEED line is almost twice as fast, but so is the price, and that’s where the Duo shines.

The product comes in flavors: 4TB, 6TB, and 8TB.

  • WD My Book Duo 4TB dual-drive, high-speed premium RAID storage goes for $329.99 $279
  • WD My Book Duo 6TB dual-drive, high-speed premium RAID storage goes for $429.99 $349
  • WD My Book Duo 8TB dual-drive, high-speed premium RAID storage goes for $529.99 $449

In a nutshell, you basically pay $330 for 4TB and then $100 for every additional 2TB. Pretty simple and a very good deal. As a comparison, G-Tech’s G-RAID Studio 8TB go for $849.95  and the G-Tech Studio 12TB goes for $1,299.95.

What_it_Holds

What really got our attention:

The Duo ALSO includes a copy of WD SmartWare Pro and a a copy of Acronis True Image. We haven’t used and most likely won’t use these apps as we LOVE and completely trust Chrosnosync.

Another surpising and really cool feature from the Duo is the direct Dropbox integration (get 2.5GB FREE with this link): you can set up the WD My Book Duo so that everything on your Dropbox account gets backed up, or you can also access data that you save to the cloud via Dropbox. The hard drive can password protected by 256-bit AES encryption, which is ideal in large studio situations or when sharing desks at a tech incubator.

western digital duo RAID

The Verdict?

We are definitively getting a couple WD My Book Duo 6TB. What about you?
Feel free to share your thoughts with us via Twitter.

WD-My-Book-Duo-4TB-dual-drive,-high-speed-premium-RAID-storage-01_blgpst

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7 things we discovered after shooting 4K with the GH4. You won’t like #4.

Dance! The first of a series of videos shot for Panasonic USA to promote the new Panasonic Lumix GH4.

 

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I Just Got a Panasonic GH4 – Now What? Memory Cards.

I’ve spent a LOT of time trying to figure out what are the best/fastest/cheapest memory cards for my brand new Panasonic GH4 (which JUST got down in price…) At first the options seem endless, but they really aren’t. I hope this short article saves you a headache and a few hours of research. Please consider supporting our free educational content by using our links.

UPDATE 06/26: The Transcend U3 64GB works fine shooting 4K. This is by far the BEST price/capacity/speed value we have seen.

UPDATE 05/17: The camera is currently out of stock at Adorama and Amazon. I’m expecting a second camera so I’ll tweet when they get them back in stock.

Few people know that Panasonic has a brand new SD Card to support the GH4. It is a 32GB  with up to 90/45 MB/s, and supports Ultra High Speed Class 3 specification (U3). It is available now at Adorama for $59.95.
I happen to have one with me right now, so I’ll be testing it to shoot 4K and will share my impressions.

Panasonic-32GB-SDHC-UHS-I-U3-Card-(90MB_s)

Panasonic-32GB-SDHC-UHS-I-U3-Card-(90MB_s)

According to an email I received from SanDisk, the company “no longer recommends the Extreme Pro UHS II card for use with this camera because the camera does not support the UHS II bus. These cards will work in the camera however we currently recommend using UHS I cards as the best match for the GH4.” Here’s a handy link to determine the best camera/memory card compatibility.

 

So, acccording to SanDisk’s chart, this is the best card for the Panasonic GH4.

Amazon.com_ Extreme Pro SDSDXPA-064G-A75 64 GB Secure Digital Extended Capacity (SDXC)_ Computers & Accessories

Best current price: $99 on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1tGZ6UW

SanDisk | Product Compatibility Tool

 

Getting an 8GB or even 16GB nowadays, especially if you are planning to shoot 4K video is kinda silly. So here are the direct links to the 32GB and 64GB options:

SanDisk-Extreme-Pro-SDHC-UHS-I-Memory-Card-32GB

SanDisk-Extreme-Pro-SDHC-UHS-I-Memory-Card-32GB

SanDisk Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-I Memory Card_32GB
Best price: $49.95 on Amazon

SanDisk Extreme PRO SDHC:SDXC UHS-II Memory Card 32GB

SanDisk Extreme PRO SDHC:SDXC UHS-II Memory Card 32GB

SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-I Memory Card 64GB
Best price: $98.95 on Amazon

SanDisk Extreme PRO SDHC:SDXC UHS-II Memory Card 64GB

SanDisk Extreme PRO SDHC:SDXC UHS-II Memory Card 64GB

SanDisk Extreme PRO SDHC/SDXC UHS-II Memory Card 64GB

Panasonic 64 GB microP2 Card

Panasonic 64 GB microP2 Card

We could also shoot with the Pana­sonic 64 GB microP2 cards that we used when we tested the GH4 prototype, but at $340 for 64GB I believe I’ll pass.

We are also VERY intrigued by the new Transcend 64 GB High Speed 10 UHS-3 Flash Memory Card 95/60 MB/s (TS64GSDU3), but it seems too good to be true: only $50.70 on Amazon! 
I’ve had mixed results with Transcend cards in the past but I wonder if things have changed. Just because I’m feeling a bit courageous, I just ordered one from Amazon and will be testing it in the next couple of days. Will share my findings on Twitter (@EA_Photo), so follow along!

Transcend-64-GB-High-Speed-10-UHS-3-Flash-Memory-Card-95_60-MB_450

Transcend-64-GB-High-Speed-10-UHS-3-Flash-Memory-Card-95_60-MB_450

My brilliant friend Sean Davis had something interesting to say about this:

“Based on the official specs and what I’m being told, only UHS-III cards are tested and approved for 4K capture. Although some people have had luck with slightly slower/cheaper cards. From my personal and professional experience if slower cards work they will run a higher risk of failure (buffer under run errors and such). The data rates on this camera are incredibly high, 200mb/s in 1080p will usually mean that you need cards capable of that write speed.”

Another option is to go with an external recorder like the AJA Ki Pro Quad or an Odyssey 7Q. The catch with the Odyssey is that you STILL need Panasonic’s YAGH Interface Unit and connect 4 SDI cables to the 7Q for 4K recording. Too messy. A third option seems to be the yet to be released Atomos Shogun. The huge advantage of these recorders is having a 1280 x 720 display, and the convenience to record directly from the sensor to 10-bit, 4:2:2 Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD to ver large portable hard drives, but this requires a serious additional investment.

Ki Pro Quad Solid State 4K RecorderYAGH Eduardo Angel

Do you have any other suggestions or workarounds? Please share them with us.

Related Posts

I Just Got a Panasonic GH4 – Now What? Hard Drives.

I Just Got a Panasonic GH4 – Now What? Memory Cards.

7 things we discovered after shooting 4K with the GH4. You won’t like #4.

Dance! The first of a series of videos shot for Panasonic USA to promote the new Panasonic Lumix GH4.

Video

NAB 2014 Wrap-up. Top 10 Products. G-Tech Studio.

UPDATED 0626 G-Tech got company! And it seems surprisingly good. Western Digital just launched the “Duo” to compete directly against G-Tech’s SPEED Studio and G-Tech’s RAID Studio line.

G-SPEED Studio and G-RAID Studio.
By Eduardo Angel and Sean Davis

G-Technology made our 2013 Top 10 list with their innovative Evolution Series. This year the company is back with two awesome high-performance storage systems clearly targeted to 2K and 4K workflows: the G-SPEED Studio and the G-RAID Studio. Both systems feature the latest technology with two Thunderbolt 2 interfaces (up to 20Gbits a second on paper), both use HGST Enterprise-class 7,200 RPM drives, and both offer hardware RAID.

GSPEEDstudio_OpenDriveOut_750x630_blgpst

• What’s the difference between SPEED and RAID??

We created this chart to help illustrate the key differences:

G-Tech Studio Series

The most obvious difference is that the G-SPEED offers four bays and the G-RAID only two. Since the hard drives can handle up to 6GB per bay, if we win the lottery we could cram up to 24 TB on the G-SPEED’s relatively small enclosure. The catch is that while small, given its shape it still takes up some significant desk space. Another key difference is how the RAID can be configured on each system: the G-SPEED offers user selectable RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10, while the G-RAID can handle (also user selectable) RAID 0, RAID 1, or JBOD.

For a simple introduction to RAID Systems, check this out.

Another significant difference is speed: The G-SPEED Studio is capable of a theoretical 660MB/sec. (megabytes per second), while the G-RAID Studio can handle up to 360MB/sec. Both systems will support multi-stream compressed 4K and 2K workflows, and since the G-SPEED Studio can be daisy-chained via dual Thunderbolt 2 ports, the possibilities seem endless!

G-Tech-Studio-02_blgpst

Of course, nothing is perfect: the black shiny enclosure is a fingerprint magnet, the size and especially the shape of the hard drives will use some significant real estate from our already maxed out desks, and lastly, there’s the price. While the “entry level” 4TB model costs a reasonable $649, the high-end 24TB model goes for $3,600, about the same price as some very nice workstations.

Shipping in May, drooling right now.

G-Tech-Studio-01_blgpst

What do you think about these storage solutions? Feel free to join the conversation on Twitter (@EA_Photo)

This is our 1st post on our favorite toys at NAB 2014. The other highlighted products are:

1. G-Speed Studio and G-Raid Studio
2. Grass Valley’s EDIUS 7
3. Syrp’s Genie
4. Kinemini 4K camera
5. AJA Cion camera
6. Blackmagic 4K Film Scanner
7. Livestream’s Studio solutions
8. Edelkrone pocket series
9. Atomos Shogun and Ninja Star
10.NHK 8K Camera

Video

G-Tech’s Evolution Series.

 
The media storage announcements last week at NAB were pretty boring, with one single exception: G-Tech’s Evolution Series. There are three flavors: G-DOCK ev, G-DRIVE ev and G-DRIVE ev PLUS.
 
G-Tech’s Evolution Series All
The G-DOCK is a Thunderbolt, two-bay, swappable drive system. Consider it as the “housing” and main component of the Evolution family, and it can be configured as RAID 1 (protected) or RAID 0 (performance). Click here to learn more about RAID Systems.
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Video

Hello Google Drive, bye bye Dropbox?

UPDATED 20141027: Dropbox fights back. Starting now, Dropbox has  considerably dropped the monthly price, effectively matching the best offer in town, Google. Now both services cost only $10/month for 1TB (1,000GB). wow….

 

Plans - Dropbox

Dropbox Pro – $10/month

2014-10-27 13.06.30

Google Drive – $10/month

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why is Google Drive so cool, you might ask. Well, so it happens that you get 5GB for free and you can get up to 100GB. Dropbox offers only 2GB for free. Is that enough to switch? Let’s see what Google has to say about the new service:

Create and collaborate. Google Docs is built right into Google Drive, so you can work with others in real-time on documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Once you choose to share content with others, you can add and reply to comments on anything (PDF, image, video file, etc.) and receive notifications when other people comment on shared items.

Store everything safely and access it anywhere (especially while on the go). All your stuff is just… there. You can access your stuff from anywhere—on the web, in your home, at the office, while running errands and from all of your devices.

Search everything. Search by keyword and filter by file type, owner and more. Drive can even recognize text in scanned documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. Let’s say you upload a scanned image of an old newspaper clipping. You can search for a word from the text of the actual article. We also use image recognition so that if you drag and drop photos from your Grand Canyon trip into Drive, you can later search for [grand canyon] and photos of its gorges should pop up. This technology is still in its early stages, and we expect it to get better over time.

I use Google Drive on Mac, my Android tablet and my Android phone and everything is working REALLY smoothly. A PC version is already available, and Google says that the iOS version will be “coming soon.” You can download the app here and here.

I have been using Dropbox for a long time and I’ve been pretty happy. But it only gets you 2GB for free, the system is confusing for most people who move the file thinking that they are copying it, the notification system (when someone adds or removes an item) sucks and does not have OCR technology.

click here to keep reading (more…)