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06/13/2005 07:49:42 PM · #1 |
I was just wondering how well they worked in a Canon 20d seeing as they are much cheaper in comparison to a standard CF card.
its each that which gives me 4 gig of storage
or maybe 1 80x lexar cf card or 1 ultra 3 extreme card
or I dunno...maybe ill go for a 2gig regular card but if the hitachi works well why not get it, plus i get a discount on it where i work :) |
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06/13/2005 07:55:35 PM · #2 |
Originally posted by kjennings:
I was just wondering how well they worked in a Canon 20d seeing as they are much cheaper in comparison to a standard CF card.
its each that which gives me 4 gig of storage
or maybe 1 80x lexar cf card or 1 ultra 3 extreme card
or I dunno...maybe ill go for a 2gig regular card but if the hitachi works well why not get it, plus i get a discount on it where i work :) |
I wouldn't buy a microdrive if someone paid me to. The thing is a mechanical device with moving parts. If you subject it to shock or harsh treatment, it can break. On the other hand, compactflash cards have no moving parts and can be put through a clothes washer/dryer and still come out completely fine.
Recently a photo magazine put a CF card in the middle of Times Square traffic, and it came back with lots of dents, but all the photos were recovered. Try that with a microdrive.
Message edited by author 2005-06-13 19:59:11. |
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06/13/2005 08:08:13 PM · #3 |
Further to that:
//www.sandisk.com/pressrelease/20040823.htm |
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06/13/2005 08:09:54 PM · #4 |
Originally posted by wimbello:
Further to that:
//www.sandisk.com/pressrelease/20040823.htm |
Thanks for the link. That's incredible. :) |
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06/13/2005 08:32:43 PM · #5 |
| Also, Sandisk invented CompactFlash, so they must be good at it.... ..... right? |
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06/14/2005 07:58:34 PM · #6 |
Aside from the durability there's also the issue of speed. I would never use a cf card below 70x on a 20D, you're just wasting its burst capability otherwise. That means carrying a horde of fast 1Gb cards - which also reduces the chance of losing or having all your images stolen if someone takes your all-eggs-in-one-basket 4gb or 8gb microdrive (which is also ridiculously fragile).
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06/14/2005 08:09:40 PM · #7 |
I'm yet to lose a single file from my "ridiculously fragile" 3 year old microdrive. I drop it on a regular basis. I treat it no differently to my CF cards.
I have lost images several times from my super fantastically ultra reliable compact flash cards. Go figure.
Message edited by author 2005-06-14 20:40:10.
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06/14/2005 08:20:48 PM · #8 |
I see you failed to actually contradict any of the points i made. I've had a 2Gb microdrive fail after a few months of normal use. I'd expect no different from any hard drive - and god knows how many i've had fail of natural causes over the years, that have been kept stationary rather than shaken, dropped, subjected to steep temperature gradients and changes in moisture, and rhythmic vibrations.
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06/14/2005 08:38:33 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by riot:
I see you failed to actually contradict any of the points i made. |
My microdrive is not "ridiculously fragile".
Sorry you missed it first time.
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06/14/2005 10:53:14 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by bod:
Originally posted by riot:
I see you failed to actually contradict any of the points i made. |
My microdrive is not "ridiculously fragile".
Sorry you missed it first time. |
Glad you're satisfied with your choice. However, all things are relative, and any hard drive is ridiculously fragile in comparison to the cf card that survived the bridge explosion. My wording was not intended to offend owners of microdrives, it's horses for courses. I gave the reasons in my original post why i choose not to use them, relative fragility being only one of them.
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06/14/2005 11:31:12 PM · #11 |
I've been looking at getting one of those ImageTank portable storage devices.
I've seen them on E-bay really cheap.
Here
So, you buy the ImageTank for <$40 and then get a nice size 2.5" notebook hard drive to put in it (cheap on E-bay as well...20gb for $50 for example). Then you just have to off-load your CF card when it's full...erase it...and keep on shooting.
You then have a 20+ (depending on what size drive you buy) Gigabyte storage solution, that cost you about the same as a 1GB Lexar 80x (ok...a little more, but you get the idea).
Anyways, does anyone know much about these devices? It seems like a much better solution than buying another card or two. |
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06/14/2005 11:40:57 PM · #12 |
I use the 2 Gb Hitachi micodrive that CompUSA had on sale a week or so ago for about $75. Used it this week at a Boy Scout camp. Mostly JPG highest quality from 20D, took 200 pics and still had room for over 300 more. I was impressed after moving from 512 mb CF. It may be slightly slower transfering pics from cam to computer but the extra storage is nice.
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06/15/2005 01:02:32 AM · #13 |
| oh well im just getting 2 Ultra II 1 gig cards instead anyways. |
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06/15/2005 04:27:17 AM · #14 |
Originally posted by Cooz:
I've been looking at getting one of those ImageTank portable storage devices.
I've seen them on E-bay really cheap.
Here
So, you buy the ImageTank for <$40 and then get a nice size 2.5" notebook hard drive to put in it (cheap on E-bay as well...20gb for $50 for example). Then you just have to off-load your CF card when it's full...erase it...and keep on shooting.
You then have a 20+ (depending on what size drive you buy) Gigabyte storage solution, that cost you about the same as a 1GB Lexar 80x (ok...a little more, but you get the idea).
Anyways, does anyone know much about these devices? It seems like a much better solution than buying another card or two. |
I've got an Image Tank III, which i bought some time ago. The main thing is that the transfer from the card to the HDD is painfully slow (c. 15mins to transfer 1Gb) and that the battery life is quite short. You may even need to have three cards to operate successfully - one being transferred while you fill up the other two if you're doiing lots of burst-mode shooting. With that many cards, the additional benefit of a PSD may well be negated for a day's shooting, but it would still be very useful for holidays or long trips.
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06/15/2005 07:59:05 AM · #15 |
Originally posted by kjennings:
I was just wondering how well they worked in a Canon 20d seeing as they are much cheaper in comparison to a standard CF card.
its each that which gives me 4 gig of storage
or maybe 1 80x lexar cf card or 1 ultra 3 extreme card
or I dunno...maybe ill go for a 2gig regular card but if the hitachi works well why not get it, plus i get a discount on it where i work :) |
Rob Galbraith Digital Photography Insights is a valuable resource for all digital photogs. Among other things they maintain a database of info on different CF cards and microdrives. You can see what works best with your 20D here: CompactFlash Write Speed - Canon EOS 20D.
Of course read/write speed is only one consideration, however an important one. I like the idea of having more than one card in case of failure or loss, and so that I can shoot while uploading. Some people will change cards while shooting as a way of sorting images. I think that the microdrive's mechanical failures can be keep to a minimum with careful handling, but a solid state card will almost never fail for any reason other than operator error.
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06/15/2005 08:04:51 AM · #16 |
Originally posted by Cooz:
I've been looking at getting one of those ImageTank portable storage devices.
I've seen them on E-bay really cheap.
Here
So, you buy the ImageTank for <$40 and then get a nice size 2.5" notebook hard drive to put in it (cheap on E-bay as well...20gb for $50 for example). Then you just have to off-load your CF card when it's full...erase it...and keep on shooting.
You then have a 20+ (depending on what size drive you buy) Gigabyte storage solution, that cost you about the same as a 1GB Lexar 80x (ok...a little more, but you get the idea).
Anyways, does anyone know much about these devices? It seems like a much better solution than buying another card or two. |
I originally looked at these too but ultimately went with a system from //www.kanguru.com I've been really happy with it for the 2 years I've used it. I did lose all my images once because I got lazy and didn't back up the images to CD but customer service was great and I got a new one fast. I'm looking at the ones that burn right to CD's now.
Message edited by author 2005-06-15 08:06:59.
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06/15/2005 10:30:57 AM · #17 |
I have the 4gig and so far no problems with it. I can often take a 1,000+ JPGs or about 275 RAW
Speed is surprisingly decent (I've actually manage to take a burst of 40 continuous shots with it in bright weather though usually average about 20 shots).
Downloading to the PC with a USB 1.0 reader is painful. I need to buy a new reader!
- the Saj
Of note, microdrives are built with the intent of being mobile. And although less resistant than CF there are a lot of innovation that reduce failure risk. Just like many new laptops actually park the drive heads if the unit is dropped to prevent data damage.
Flash, is quite durable especially when sealed (My SanDisk thumb drive has gone thru the wash and dryer twice and still functioned without a hitch.) However, I had a CF card that had bad sectors. They still can fail. But seldom is it the entirety of the card.
Message edited by author 2005-06-15 10:33:09.
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06/15/2005 10:35:30 AM · #18 |
| I'd go for one,why not> My two 1 gig Microdrives have been perfect thus far, I've had them for two years and shot around 12000 photos using them. Hot weather, cold weather, dusty and wet weather ohand high humidity too. |
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