TJ Williams Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 found an advert for a new recorder that look interesting very small light can be sep. battery powered solid state full rez and varied compression. check out http://www.ffv.com/ the Mini DVR Pro, fm Fast Fwd Anyone seen or used one? TJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Frederic Chamberland Posted June 15, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 Hi TJ, After playing and using the FFV mini-dvr recorder for a year, here is my review of it: it is the simplest digital recording unit. You power it on, you press REC, that's it. Every time you press stop, it assigns a quicktime clip to it. So going thru takes is a breeze. You can playback in a sec using your sled's screen. It records on Compact Flash cards (2 of them) I have put two 4GB in each slot and I have lots of recording time (about 11 hours). It does not make a sound (no fans, no bip-bip when you press buttons) It works with AA batteries (4) or from an external source (12 volts). It's flat with no screen so you can "butter" it with velcro and it fits perfectly on the PRO recorder bracket. All of this is nice but at a price tag too steep against other options available so cheaply today. The unit is around 2500$, but consider getting specific cables for your sled. Check the FFV PDF to see the technical data and pin configuration. All the buttons are on the end of the unit and hard to reach or read, I got a small "remote" box (from cramped attic) with REC-Stop buttons to use it more efficiently. If this unit was less than 1000$, I would go for it in a sec because it is well built and simple and does what we need. But for 3 times that money, I would be ready to live with a less friendly device and be happy with the money I saved. PROS: well built, solid, simple, quicktime clips, CF cards, AA batteries and 12 v. CONS: no screen, way too expensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted June 15, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 found an advert for a new recorder that look interesting not so new, about 4 years old actually. Every time I go to NAB I look at it longingly but figured a less expensive version would magically appear (and maybe now I'm regretting not having gotten it when it came out considering I'm still waiting for the "right" recorder i.e. one with the simplicity of no menus to wade through between record and playback but yes, under $1000). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members RonBaldwin Posted June 15, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 I too have been waiting for something new -- I've been recorder-less for several years now (my archos was stolen off my sled during a lunch break). Thought the archos was ok, but never replaced it hoping something better at a reasonable price would rear it's solid-state head. rb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members markdeblok Posted June 15, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 I too have been waiting for something new -- I've been recorder-less for several years now (my archos was stolen off my sled during a lunch break). Thought the archos was ok, but never replaced it hoping something better at a reasonable price would rear it's solid-state head. rb I've been using the clipmaker for about 4 years now and it does al I need, even a slow mo play back and will always show you the last recorded shot, for europe I know VTQ.de sells them they also have some nice video transmitters Mark de Blok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Alec Jarnagin SOC Posted June 15, 2008 Moderators Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 TJ's post is four years old. I noticed Frederic was using one and asked him to revive this thread (thanks for your review). I too have been without an onboard recorder for sometime and I keep coming back to this one so I wanted his thoughts. Price is a serious bummer. Like Charles, I'm beginning to wish I had bought it when it came out so I would have had a good run with it, but now with standard def days coming to an end (albeit slowly).... Sure does look perfect for our needs though.... Think if we got enough of us together, we could get a discount? What would people be willing to pay? It seems the consumer world is getting farther from "perfect" recorders as the screens get too big and the analog inputs increasingly rare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted June 15, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 Haha! I guess I should have noticed the date on TJ's post--how time flies. Ah the heady days of '04, when gas first hit $2 a gallon, how shocking. Colin Hudson has been using the Supercircuits MDVR-18 (the one we were talking about a few months ago Alec) and reports that he likes it, but then again he liked the old one (MDVR12) which didn't have buttons on it also. Apparently the software is the same between models thus it requires a few steps between record and playback, scrolling through file menus etc. I'll pass on that one too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Alec Jarnagin SOC Posted June 16, 2008 Moderators Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 Charles, I assume that is the same unit as: http://www.pimall.com/nais/pv700.html If so, you were concerned that it would cut off the edges of the frame when using a S35 tap. Way around it is to record at 18fps, but that has its own draw backs. I sent you a pdf of the owner's manual awhile back. It looks like you can record without going through menus so I am tempted to try it, but again, it is not perfect. Ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members SergeiFranklin Posted June 24, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 The Chasecam PDR100-H is about $600. I've had mine for over a year. A few month ago I had mine upgraded to the supercap version which puts capacitors in the AA battery slot. This fixed all the noise issues I was having and am now very satisfied with the deck. For more info see http://earthvideo.net/stcmmod.html Sergei Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Mike McGowan SOC Posted June 24, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 TJ's post is four years old. I noticed Frederic was using one and asked him to revive this thread (thanks for your review). I too have been without an onboard recorder for sometime and I keep coming back to this one so I wanted his thoughts. Price is a serious bummer. Like Charles, I'm beginning to wish I had bought it when it came out so I would have had a good run with it, but now with standard def days coming to an end (albeit slowly).... Sure does look perfect for our needs though.... Think if we got enough of us together, we could get a discount? What would people be willing to pay? It seems the consumer world is getting farther from "perfect" recorders as the screens get too big and the analog inputs increasingly rare. I'd be willing to spend 1000, 1500 bucks??? It's comforting to know that I'm not the only one with this issue. I use a Musktec and it's pretty ok. It kind of does what I want, sort of. It's big bonus was the price point (350 bucks)......... Regarding the chase cam, didn't I read a less than stellar review of that piece of equipment right here on this site? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Robert Starling SOC Posted June 24, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 The Chasecam PDR100-H is about $600. I've had mine for over a year. A few month ago I had mine upgraded to the supercap version which puts capacitors in the AA battery slot. This fixed all the noise issues I was having and am now very satisfied with the deck. Hi Segei, thanks for your posting and link. I've been interested in the Chasecam for at least a year but have had mixed results and response from them such as "thousands of units due in any day now but held up in customs" sort of things... Can you share your experience with it / them? Did they do the noise / caps mod for you? Any other ops out there using a Chasecam? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Eric Fletcher S.O.C. Posted June 25, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Any other ops out there using a Chasecam? It's an unmitigated piece of garbage. I am rules mandated into having to use them in SCCA World Challenge racing and they have to have a tech guy there swaping out decks for most teams every race weekend. In 5 race weekends I have had to replace 6 yes SIX of them..... HORRIBLE Codec that doesn't allow audio to travel with video when you export! Plus TONS of motion artifacting... HELLO, you designed it for something that MOVES! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Mike McGowan SOC Posted June 25, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 So that would be a yes, I did read a less than stellar review.............. :unsure: TJ's post is four years old. I noticed Frederic was using one and asked him to revive this thread (thanks for your review). I too have been without an onboard recorder for sometime and I keep coming back to this one so I wanted his thoughts. Price is a serious bummer. Like Charles, I'm beginning to wish I had bought it when it came out so I would have had a good run with it, but now with standard def days coming to an end (albeit slowly).... Sure does look perfect for our needs though.... Think if we got enough of us together, we could get a discount? What would people be willing to pay? It seems the consumer world is getting farther from "perfect" recorders as the screens get too big and the analog inputs increasingly rare. I'd be willing to spend 1000, 1500 bucks??? It's comforting to know that I'm not the only one with this issue. I use a Musktec and it's pretty ok. It kind of does what I want, sort of. It's big bonus was the price point (350 bucks)......... Regarding the chase cam, didn't I read a less than stellar review of that piece of equipment right here on this site? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members luis castro Posted June 25, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 found an advert for a new recorder that look interesting very small light can be sep. battery powered solid state full rez and varied compression. check out http://www.ffv.com/ the Mini DVR Pro, fm Fast Fwd Anyone seen or used one? TJ I look this , how much? you now thank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members SergeiFranklin Posted June 28, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Any other ops out there using a Chasecam? It's an unmitigated piece of garbage. I am rules mandated into having to use them in SCCA World Challenge racing and they have to have a tech guy there swaping out decks for most teams every race weekend. In 5 race weekends I have had to replace 6 yes SIX of them..... HORRIBLE Codec that doesn't allow audio to travel with video when you export! Plus TONS of motion artifacting... HELLO, you designed it for something that MOVES! The codec is MPEG2, If you have the MPEG2 plug in for quicktime picture and sound play together on my MAC. If you don't have the plug in use MPEG Streamclip. A weekend in a race car must put more stress on the recorder than a lifetime on a steadicam. For me it's working very well. Sergei Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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