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07/16/2003 11:52:59 AM · #1 |
I am looking to buy some additional storage for an upcoming vacation. Do I get a Microdrive (1 GB) or the Lexar 40X CF (512 Mb) or two 256mb cards. Obviously more storage on the Microdrive, but which is faster, more stable, etc.
Any help would be great...
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07/16/2003 11:58:38 AM · #2 |
You could always just get a 1Gb flash card too, instead of a microdrive.
Microdrives seem to be a bit cheaper per Mb, but also more prone to damage (you drop them on something hard, they are quite often ruined)
They also tend to drain more power compared to a CF card.
//www.dpreview.com has a big review on cards/ speed etc. Often the really fast CF cards don't show much better in your camera, because the write speed is limited by the camera, not the card. The speed advantage is really apparent if you use a USB2.0 card reader. |
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07/16/2003 12:14:37 PM · #3 |
I would strongly consider a 1GB CF card as well.
I've read about folks who have accidentally left a CF card in their pants and sent them through the washer/dryer, and they survived, pictures and all. A microdrive has moving parts, and is much more likely to be damaged by such an "accident".
Although not currently in stock, NewEgg lists the 1GB Kingston CF card for less than $200...
Rob Galbraith has a pretty extensive CF performance database (for digital SLR's) that may be worth checking out as well for some insight into relative performance:
//www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007
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07/16/2003 12:27:39 PM · #4 |
| I've also heard that microdrives are slower to write to, so may hold up shooting under some circumstances.. |
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07/16/2003 12:58:26 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by Alpine99:
I've also heard that microdrives are slower to write to, so may hold up shooting under some circumstances.. |
CF cards are more compact as well which is an issue when travelling, and you can access (read) the drive through your camera - not sure if that is the case with MDs.
*an aside: Gordon, did you ever get that Pentax optio (speaking of compact travel companions)? |
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07/16/2003 01:17:00 PM · #6 |
I have them all. The latest one was the Lexar 40X CF (512 Mb) and I can´t say it was very easy to notice that it was any faster than the others. So just get yourself a 1Gb CF and don´t pay any extra for speed you hardly notice.
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07/16/2003 01:35:28 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by pedromarlinez:
Originally posted by Alpine99:
I've also heard that microdrives are slower to write to, so may hold up shooting under some circumstances.. |
CF cards are more compact as well which is an issue when travelling, and you can access (read) the drive through your camera - not sure if that is the case with MDs.
*an aside: Gordon, did you ever get that Pentax optio (speaking of compact travel companions)? |
of corse you can read a MD through your camera just like the CF..
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07/16/2003 01:48:45 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by Alpine99:
I've also heard that microdrives are slower to write to, so may hold up shooting under some circumstances.. |
Not what I experience. Its more often the CF that lets down. As soon as the disc is spun up to speed a MD is just as fast, if not faster.
Also, with a 602, most CF cannot take continious video write (640x480 30fps stream) while MD's and only the more expensive faster CF can.
Could perhaps also lead to slower write times when you are shooting continious tiff's.
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07/16/2003 02:14:26 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by carsten:
I have them all. The latest one was the Lexar 40X CF (512 Mb) and I can´t say it was very easy to notice that it was any faster than the others. So just get yourself a 1Gb CF and don´t pay any extra for speed you hardly notice. |
Curious - how are you downloading to your PC - from the camera or with a newish card reader ? |
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07/16/2003 02:15:18 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by Gordon:
Originally posted by carsten:
I have them all. The latest one was the Lexar 40X CF (512 Mb) and I can´t say it was very easy to notice that it was any faster than the others. So just get yourself a 1Gb CF and don´t pay any extra for speed you hardly notice. |
Curious - how are you downloading to your PC - from the camera or with a newish card reader ? |
As for speed - //www.dpreview.com/articles/mediacompare/ has all the comparisions you should need. |
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07/16/2003 02:41:06 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by Gordon:
Originally posted by carsten:
I have them all. The latest one was the Lexar 40X CF (512 Mb) and I can´t say it was very easy to notice that it was any faster than the others. So just get yourself a 1Gb CF and don´t pay any extra for speed you hardly notice. |
Curious - how are you downloading to your PC - from the camera or with a newish card reader ? |
I have a new Viking IntelliFlash card reader. I never download from camera.
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07/16/2003 02:47:12 PM · #12 |
Pretty sure the Compact flash is faster than the Microdrive. Furthermore ... the Micro Drive has more moving parts ... it's built like a small hard drive.
Not all cameras will take advantage of the faster write speeds of the 12x, 40x models. 40x does not mean you camera will write 40 times faster, upload fourty times faster to your card reader. From what I've seen from forums ... the difference is barely noticeable.
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07/16/2003 06:03:49 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by Nazgul:
Originally posted by pedromarlinez:
Originally posted by Alpine99:
I've also heard that microdrives are slower to write to, so may hold up shooting under some circumstances.. |
CF cards are more compact as well which is an issue when travelling, and you can access (read) the drive through your camera - not sure if that is the case with MDs.
*an aside: Gordon, did you ever get that Pentax optio (speaking of compact travel companions)? |
of corse you can read a MD through your camera just like the CF.. |
good to know. I've never used a micro drive, so I had no idea how they'd interface with the cam. |
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07/16/2003 06:43:38 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by Jacko:
Pretty sure the Compact flash is faster than the Microdrive. Furthermore ... the Micro Drive has more moving parts ... it's built like a small hard drive.
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Dropped mine on the tiles two times....
It has experienced sudden power-offs during writing and reading, been trough computer crashes etc. The camera has not been treated as if it is entirely made of glass. I am happy with it(MD).
On the other hand I'd recommend using several 256mb CF's, because when one card fails, you still have the others. That's my only fear at the moment.
When the MD fails I'd consider two CF's and an external drive.
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07/16/2003 07:20:43 PM · #15 |
Thanks everybody. Lots of input. I like that.
Sander, we have the same cam. You mentioned about the continuous video write not working with the CF. I don't use the video very much now, mostly because it won't write more than 10-12 secs at a time, but I thought I might if I had a faster CF or MD. I'm thinking about the MD or the Lexar 40x 256 or 512 CF. Do you think it would work with these CF's.
I'm looking for speed, reliability, and more space. In other words, I want it all!
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07/16/2003 08:12:35 PM · #16 |
| Am I missing something here? Why wouldn't one want an X-Drive with 40 gig storage for about $240 and just save to it from the cards or sticks you already have? Also, I would rather have more of the smaller(128-256)cards than one large cap card to loose or have go bad. |
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07/17/2003 04:34:40 AM · #17 |
On a formatted Microdrive (takes a few secs in the camera) it should write continiously until the drive is full.
I don't know about the Lexar, at 40x (is that write speed or read speed?) it should be able to do it. You could ask at the dpreview Fuji forum for experiences with that card.
Here is a link to dpreview's card test, sorted by write performance. It is a bit dated, because they only have the 12x cards in the test. Perhaps that somewhere else a more updated test can be found.
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07/17/2003 10:30:30 AM · #18 |
The X-Drive is a nice item. You can get a new one on E-Bay for $180 with a 20 Gig capacity. I brought mine on vacation a few weeks ago. I took 2000 pictures with approx. 4 gigs of space. The write speed is a bit slow, but it sure beats missing photo opportunities. The only pitfall is that you're taking so many pictures, you can forget to compose and really look for nice set ups.
It fits in my shoulder bag nicely. I use a 256MB Sandisk CF card, and a 32 MB one. I'll probably get another 256MB card later.
Originally posted by David Ey:
Am I missing something here? Why wouldn't one want an X-Drive with 40 gig storage for about $240 and just save to it from the cards or sticks you already have? Also, I would rather have more of the smaller(128-256)cards than one large cap card to loose or have go bad. |
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