[ayeaux]

Has anyone who has a 2010 Sony Handycam used the Direct Copy feature yet?


I am curious about:


--any compatible issues

--speed

--does it use a normal mini-usb cable

--ease of use

--can you easily copy the files from/to the Direct Copy HD for backups and editing.


Thanks.

 

[Suntan]

I guess I don't know what you are talking about. I assume this direct copy feature is to move video/pics from the internal storage to an inserted flash card, but I have not read up on it.


What you seem to be describing is transferring videos from the camera to the computer via USB. This is a capability that the cameras prior to the 2010 models can do just fine. When I plug my xr520v into the USB port, it just mounts as a removable drive. I just transfer the video files over to the PC in windows explorer. (You can even access them directly off the camera's drive from within a video player program to play them back on the PC without copying them over first.)


I haven't bothered to install any of the programs that came with the camera.


-Suntan

 

[ericjut]

I think he's referring to the "direct copy over external HDD" feature that's new to the 2010 line-up. Of course, nobody tried that yet because nobody has theirs.

 

[Suntan]



Quote:
Originally Posted by ericjut /forum/post/18260705


I think he's referring to the "direct copy over external HDD" feature that's new to the 2010 line-up. Of course, nobody tried that yet because nobody has theirs.

hmmm. I guess I don't know what this new feature is supposed to do.

-Suntan

 

[Tom Gull]



Quote:
Originally Posted by ericjut /forum/post/18260705


I think he's referring to the "direct copy over external HDD" feature that's new to the 2010 line-up. Of course, nobody tried that yet because nobody has theirs.

Direct copy from the camcorder's chips (either one) to a USB drive cabled into the camcorder with no PC in the middle.


I thought someone received theirs yesterday and had posted a few comments already. I haven't browsed the forums today - off I go to do that.

 

[ayeaux]

I can confirm that you need something other than a regular usb mini adapter to make it work. I ordered a cheap USB A female to mini B male adapter to make a mini B male to mini B male cable, but it wont work. I have placed an order for the Sony VMC-UAM1 USB Adapter Cable.


Some other posts have discussed this as well. Evidently it has to do with USB On The Go, and needs the proper adapters. There could be a cheaper way to do it, but for 19.99, I'll just get the sony adapter and not think about it anymore.


I'll report back with some tests once I get the adapter in.

 

[dustindu4]

stupid


My credit card just got mad at me because I ordered the cable too, I'll have it friday. Like you I don't have the energy to deal with saving $10. Thanks for trying for us, I at least appreciate it.


This weekend I'll be doing a full transfer speed comparison in MB/sec between


Camera direct copy -> portable HD

Camera -> computer via regular USB

Camera -> computer via regular USB -> portable HD (this should be slower than direct copy)

camera memory card > computer via built in SDHC adapter

camera memory card > computer via built in SDHC adapter -> portable HD


From what I'm reading on USB transfer speeds, the direct copy should be the fastest, at around 25-30 MB/sec. If you put a computer between them it is slowed down to 15-20 MB/sec. Class 4 SDHC cards are limited to 20MB/sec, while class 6 is 30 mb/sec. It should be interesting to compare them all. If the USB is faster, or the same, I'll just get a large portable drive instead of using cards.

 

[adit]

Class 4 or 6 SDHC do not have any limit in read depends from card to card.The class specifys ionly the minimum sustained write speed of 4 respectively 6 MB/second. Also if the camera has internal flash, no speed is defined for this ( it must be at least equivalent in write with a class 4 card rquired for maximum resolution/bitrate.


The USB also is in theory 480 Mbit/s but i did not really see harddrives reaching this speed, most get somhere around half so 20-25 MByte/second because of the controller.


I don't think you will get any higher speed fro camera's direct copy than from a PC, the advantage is that you don't need a PC to save your data when you travel.


By the way did anybody use a non Sony "direct copy" extension cable ?

There are some on eBay which look the same (same connectors) but not sure about some additional internal ID's on pin 5.

 

[darthvedor]

h**p:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIzlrj9hkzk


(replace ** with tt)


wish this was in english, but still we can make it out. However it will be more significant if any member out here can try "Direct Copy" and "USB Playback" feature and update this forum accordingly. That may save many bucks for us

 

[dustindu4]

I'll have a full analysis by Saturday

 

[dustindu4]

I just got the sony adapter cable


There's something about this cable, once you plug it in (with no hard drive attached) it goes directly to usb mode. But if you plug a standard mini usb cable in it it does nothing. I guess you really do need the Sony adapter, I don't know what's different about it, but it is

 

[dustindu4]

As promised, here is my speed analysis.


Computer = Lenovo T61 2.2 core 2 duo, 2 gig ram

External USB Hard Drive = Western Digital 250 gig

SDHC card = Sandisk 4GB Class 2 card

Camera = HDR-CX550V

used stopwatch on my Droid phone


I only have a Class 2 card, the camera supposedly needs a class 4 to work. I'll update the matrix later when I have a 4 or 6 to try


Subject file size = 2809.68 MB movie that is 19:44 long


I'll just list the copy methods, time, and the computed transfer rates


1) Import via PMB to laptop hard drive using the supplied USB cable

Transfer time = 2:37

Transfer rate = 17.89 MB/sec


2) Import via PMB to USB hard drive through laptop

Transfer time = 2:45

Transfer rate = 17.02 MB/sec


3) Use direct copy using the sony adapter cable to USB hard drive

Transfer time = 5:24

Transfer rate =8.67 MB/sec


4) Copy the file from internal memory to the class 2 SDHC card

Transfer time = 7:58

Transfer rate = 5.87 mb/sec


5) Copy from class 2 SDHC card to laptop hard drive via laptop built in SDHC slot

Transfer time = 6:58

Transfer rate = 6.72 mb/sec


6) Copy from class 2 SDHC card on laptop built in SDHC slot through laptop to USB hard drive

Transfer time = 6:52

Transfer rate = 6.81 mb/sec


Conclusion:

Using the laptop to interface between the camera and the external HD was about twice as fast as using the Direct Copy function. In other words, Direct Copy makes the process twice as long. The direct copy process has about the same transfer speed as a class 2 SDHC card, but a Class 4 card would make them about equivalent.


It would be interesting if somebody tried this process and figured out the transfer speeds using Class 4 or 6 cards

 

[vashwood]

does anyone know if I can use an external hard drive w/o a separate power source?

 

[dustindu4]



Quote:
Originally Posted by vashwood /forum/post/18347931


does anyone know if I can use an external hard drive w/o a separate power source?

The camera needs to be plugged into to DC for it to work

 

[David Sholle]



Quote:
Originally Posted by vashwood /forum/post/18347931


does anyone know if I can use an external hard drive w/o a separate power source?

The camcorder must be plugged into external AC or it won't work, whether or not the external HD is powered or not.


Some posting here have had success using a USB powered external drive without the HD connected to AC power. My guess is that 2.5" drives would generally work, but 3.5" drives would generally not work. I have the cable on order, and I plan to try this when it comes in.

 

[vashwood]

Thanks. I also have the cable on order. I'm contemplating ordering this hard drive for it. So, I hope the testing works for you.

 

[dustindu4]

update:


I used a class 4 SDHC card and here's the specs to update item 4

4) Copy the file from internal memory to the class 4 SDHC card

Transfer time = 7:20

Transfer rate = 6.38 mb/sec



So the final conclusion here is that to Direct Copy a full 64GB camera will take 125 minutes, or a little over 2 hours. If you use the regular USB cable and import using PMB it will take 1 hour. The camera copy speed is extremely slow using SDHC cards to move data around, for example, it will take 6 hours to copy 64 gigs from camera internal memory to hard drive.

 

[darthvedor]

People i need a feedback. I am planning to buy Sony HDR-CX150 HD camcorder. I don't have a Blu-ray player. Will I be still able to play the movies (in HD format on my full HD monitor) stored on USB drive via camcorder and HDMI cable?? Has anyone tested this? Thank you for stopping by.

 

[dustindu4]

yes that will work just fine using the supplied PMB software

 

[Tom Gull]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dustindu4 /forum/post/18353097


update:

...So the final conclusion here is that to Direct Copy a full 64GB camera will take 125 minutes, or a little over 2 hours. If you use the regular USB cable and import using PMB it will take 1 hour...

For those using mini-DV camcorders, 64GB is probably equivalent to 7.5 to 8 hours of actual video at a 17 Mbs recording bitrate. So the Direct Copy is about 4 times as fast as pulling mini-DV tapes to a PC and the direct import to PC via Picture Motion Browser is 7 to 8 times as fast. That's one reason the tapes are on the way out...