topic Re: Record to both CF AND SD cards on 5Dm3 in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Record to both CF AND SD cards on 5Dm3

mjroddy — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 01:50:13 GMT

Can we record to both the CF and the SD cards at the same time on our 5D3 cameras?
I thought we could, and I set up the camera's menu to:
Record Func. = Rec to multiple
Playback = [2]
But when I record a clip, it ONLY seems to record to where I have the "Playback" pointed.
Is that Record to Multiple ONLY for still images?

Re: Record to both CF AND SD cards on 5Dm3

cicopo — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 02:12:11 GMT

Haven't shot a 5D3 but the cameras I do use need to be set to BACKUP and then you set which files go to the cards (both, Raw card X & jpg to card Y or the reverse).

Re: Record to both CF AND SD cards on 5Dm3

mjroddy — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 07:38:19 GMT

Almost 100 views, but no answers. I'd have thought this, being the Canon site, I'd have had a quick Reply here from someone.

Any suggestions where I should pose my query that I might get an answer soon? I have an upcoming shoot, so I'd like to solve this ASAP.

Thanks!

Re: Record to both CF AND SD cards on 5Dm3

Skirball — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 16:13:19 GMT

@mjroddy wrote:
Almost 100 views, but no answers. I'd have thought this, being the Canon site, I'd have had a quick Reply here from someone.
Any suggestions where I should pose my query that I might get an answer soon? I have an upcoming shoot, so I'd like to solve this ASAP.

Thanks!

Most people on here shoot stills. Not that there aren't videographers, but most of the regulars seem to be on the stills side. That probably has something to do with the low response.

I'd recommend posting on CanonRumors.com. Lots of very knowledgeable people there; and no shortage of 5d3 owners. Post to this Forum:

http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?board=47.0

Re: Record to both CF AND SD cards on 5Dm3

mjroddy — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 16:36:46 GMT

Thanks, Skirball! I'll do that for sure. Good suggestion!
Cheers!

Re: Record to both CF AND SD cards on 5Dm3

christocy — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 18:50:05 GMT

Hi mate, I'm having the same issues as you it seems. Have you had any luck solving this issue? I expected that I could use the SD card as a mirror of the CF card for my videos but it seems that only the photos are saved to both cards.

Re: Record to both CF AND SD cards on 5Dm3

ebiggs1 — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 19:50:10 GMT

This does seem to be a more 'stills' site than a video site. So I asked my videographer bud about it and he said......

You can select which card movies will be recorded to, but there is no overflow or mirroring capability

for movies with the 5d Mk III.

Re: Record to both CF AND SD cards on 5Dm3

mjroddy — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 19:59:40 GMT

This is, unfortunately, what I've found too: NO way to mirror video footage in-camera. Some newer cameras do this, but not our beloved 5D3.

Re: Record to both CF AND SD cards on 5Dm3

christocy — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 20:17:45 GMT

I find that extremely disappointing, I'm gonna have to look at some expensive external drive options now as no backup isn't an option. Many thanks for your swift response.

Re: Record to both CF AND SD cards on 5Dm3

mjroddy — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 20:28:14 GMT

Agreed.

I was SO burned by some VERY high-end cards that I'm no a little "freaked out" shooting with the camera (onto CF cards).

One practice I was told to use is to (for CF cards) format the card first in your computer, then again in your camera just before use.

I've done this and so far, I've had much better results. Not FLAWLESS, but MUUUUUCH better (I was really burned).

Hope that helps a bit...

Re: Record to both CF AND SD cards on 5Dm3

ebiggs1 — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 20:44:08 GMT

"One practice I was told to use is to (for CF cards) format the card first in your computer, then again in your camera just before use."

I doubt seriously that does any good.

You have something like a "table of contents" that tells the camera if each sector on the drive is being used.

Formatting it changes the table of contents so each entry is set to available.

It no longer acts on any other portion of the card.

I would also not recommend formatting a CF card with your computer. Just use the camera.

Re: Record to both CF AND SD cards on 5Dm3

mjroddy — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 20:55:16 GMT

You have EXACTLY the same thinking I had. But the above advice came directly from the tech support guy.

My problem is that I had REALLY fragmented frames and hard-core dropouts.

In other words, some frames were split in two, where the top half showed a frame from some random place on the disk, and the bottom of the frame was right with the flow of the video file.

Other times, I had what looked like an old-style video dropout, where the video just became a garbled mess for about 15 frames! Oh so odd.

The tech explained that the camera only writes a new table and that means that all files should get overwritten. Problem is (he said) (and was "confirmed" on other forums/sites) that the remenent files can "bleed through" (don't ask me how, I don't know, I only do eyes), which is producing the very offending problems I was experiencing. And indeed, the problems mainly existed the more the cards got used.

One guy on one of the forums says that he "tests" all his cards by setting them up in front of a TV and letting the cards fill up. Then he'll wipe them using the method I described, and do that no less than 3 times. If the speeds still hold and he has no dropouts, he puts the cards into his work flow.
My problem with that is, who's going to watch 32-64GB of recorded TV looking for the odd dropout! Yikes! (But it has to be done, I suppose.)

Unfortunately, I have been deep in editing and haven't had the chance to really work with the cards much since my original problems.

Re: Record to both CF AND SD cards on 5Dm3

ebiggs1 — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 21:32:39 GMT

OK, I am pretty sure they are talking low-level formatting not quick format? This is different.

The manual:

•Do low-level formatting if the card’s recording or reading speed seems slow.
•Since low-level formatting will erase all recordable sectors in the SD card, the formatting will take longer than normal formatting.
•You can stop the low-level formatting by selecting [Cancel]. Even in this case, normal formatting will have been completed and you can use the SD card as usual.

IMPORTANT

When the card is formatted or data is erased, only the file management information is changed. The actual data is not completely erased. Be aware of this when selling or discarding the card. When discarding the card, execute low-level formatting or destroy the card physically to prevent the data from being leaked.

This low-level format takes longer as it writes 0 to all sectors of the card. You must remember a CF card is not like a hard drive where you can have layers. A CF card is either a 0 or a 1. Once that is changed all data previously on it is lost.

Re: Record to both CF AND SD cards on 5Dm3

mjroddy — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 19:15:11 GMT

I don't know if it's right or not, but my practice is this:

CF Cards - LowLevel Format in computer, then Format again in-camera

SD Cards - LowLevel Format in-camera (only)

Again, I haven't really tested my CF cards since they burned me. I need to do that despirately, so I can confirm this works to a professional standard.