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General discussion

Samsung HMX-S15 limits files to 1.8gb - does Canon/Sony/ect.

Aug 25, 2010 9:12AM PDT

Samsung HMX-S10/15/16 only allows video files upto 1.8gb (which represents ~10 minutes at highest HD). Does Canon or Sony high end consumer camcorders (eg. Canon Vixia HF S21/S20) enforce a file limit? (other than the 32gb boundry limit). This is very deceptive of Samsung not to revile this up front (not even in the manual). (the only such limit they speak of is during Advanced recording with Time Lapse. This is not catastrophic because they continue the recording in successive files, but certainly not desired in any sense! The deception by Samsung though puts them in question (where I before have admired their products). I could not find a single review (other than it coming) of this series, surprisingly since it being an early 2010 product was a big surprise (is nobody buying these? - other than saps like me). I purchased this to do a job of recording 1-2hour people forums - had previously tested and worked with the camera for several days, then when it came time to do the real thing was shocked to see the screen counter only go to 10 minutes and then start over. I have since discovered that Samsungs 2009 HMX H100 series does the same 1.8gb limit. (who would have guessed this was at all kosher! )

Discussion is locked

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a big FAT problem :(
May 25, 2011 12:25AM PDT

Hi there
I have the same problem. I think the biggest problem we all face is the fact the memory used to store our files is using FAT which has a file limiation of maximum 4GB. The biggest problem I found was that I was unable to combine those individual files into a single continuous file, without a noticeable jump between files.

PS
Don't bother asking Samsung, they are excellent in selling products, and horrible when it comes to supporting them Sad

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Just a note
May 25, 2011 3:10AM PDT

The reason it's only half the possible 4GB is that there was inconsistent use of the 32 bit integer. Some apps would write/use a signed 32 bit integer and the next the unsigned 32 bit integer.

This is why we see at most a 2^31 byte file in FAT file systems.

Bob

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canon software
May 25, 2011 9:11PM PDT

Hi
At least the software that comes with the canon camcorders can combine the individual 2GB files into a single continuous file WITHOUT any jumps between the files.
Don't know how the software of the other manufacturers(Sony,Panasonic,Samsung) behave.
Regards
Sektionschef