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Does the Vixia HF G30 allow direct copy of video files from an SD card to an external USB hard drive

brob
Apprentice

I am considering buying a G30 and need to know if it will allow direct copy of video files from an SD card to an external USB hard drive.  The manual is not clear about this.

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

TheDiveO
Contributor

Not to my knowledge (I own a HF G30).  There is no USB on-the-go functionality present.

 

Personally, I don't miss such a feature, as it causes all kind of compatibility problems, especially with respect to powering external USB hard disks. Also, without any file manager, backing up your video files becomes a nightmare. I have to admit that I rather welcome Canon having not spent development budget on a often incomplete function and having rather spent it on the camera's main features, such as optics. Of course, this is just my highly subjective view, and other HF G30 customers may have different opinions on this.

 

In order to backup my video files on the go and without needing to carry a notebook, I've recently purchased a Hyperdrive Colorspace UDMA2 made by Hanso and installed a 1TB disk into it. When in the field and after taking my shots I simply pop in my SD cards into it and the device copies over the video files at 17Mbyte per second. At home, I plug in the UDMA2 into my Linux video workstation using an ordinary USB cable and pull the video off the mobile disk. The UDMA2 also does incremental backups, and comes with a basic file manager. While it has a color display, it cannot play back video. It's a dedicated video and photo backup device, nothing more. But it does a decent job on exactly this.

 

 

 

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3 REPLIES 3

TheDiveO
Contributor

Not to my knowledge (I own a HF G30).  There is no USB on-the-go functionality present.

 

Personally, I don't miss such a feature, as it causes all kind of compatibility problems, especially with respect to powering external USB hard disks. Also, without any file manager, backing up your video files becomes a nightmare. I have to admit that I rather welcome Canon having not spent development budget on a often incomplete function and having rather spent it on the camera's main features, such as optics. Of course, this is just my highly subjective view, and other HF G30 customers may have different opinions on this.

 

In order to backup my video files on the go and without needing to carry a notebook, I've recently purchased a Hyperdrive Colorspace UDMA2 made by Hanso and installed a 1TB disk into it. When in the field and after taking my shots I simply pop in my SD cards into it and the device copies over the video files at 17Mbyte per second. At home, I plug in the UDMA2 into my Linux video workstation using an ordinary USB cable and pull the video off the mobile disk. The UDMA2 also does incremental backups, and comes with a basic file manager. While it has a color display, it cannot play back video. It's a dedicated video and photo backup device, nothing more. But it does a decent job on exactly this.

 

 

 

Tim
Authority

Hello brob,

The VIXIA HF G30 doesn't have the ability to transfer directly to an external USB hard drive/ thumb drive.  We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause you.

If you require further assistance, feel free to contact us through Canon's Service and Support web site.

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Thanks for the answer. Now I know not to purchase a G30. Guess I'll have to go to a Sony HDR CX760v. It does allow copy to e USB connected hard drive.
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