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06/20/2007 05:14:28 AM · #1 |
Isn't the internet a wonderful thing ? Without it this community would not exist. We use it for knowledge, shopping, communicating and pure pleasure.
Feeling very certain of myself over the past 6 months and using the internet for paying most of my household bills (sure beats running down to the bank or post office to pay them in person), I started to be more adventurous - even booking both national and international flights over the net - all with good results. I've even bought a lens over the net.
Then came ebay !! A friend suggested I try there for batteries and cards. So I had a look and were very impressed with the prices. I ordered some spare batteries - non brand. They came, work ok and even if a problem develops, I put the original back in and keep shooting.
I ordered some Sandisk CF cards. Good price - from China (where they are made for world supply) - so why couldn't a supplier from China or HK have them for a cheaper rate. They arrived. Packaging looked like the real thing. Card looked like the real thing. A bargain I thought.
I was looking (on the net again) at the different write speeds of the cards and came across an article about fake cards. Looking further I even came across an article put out by Ebay itself - saying that 95% of the cards sold over Ebay were fakes. There were photos and descriptions for you to see whether you had a fake or an original. You guessed it !! Mine were fake.
I tried them in the camera to see if they would work. Yes they do - but slower than my original card. My worry of course is how reliable are they. Unlike the battery - if you have shot 2G worth and you suddenly lose it - it can't be replaced.
The fakes are very clever - packaging, instructions - all look like the real thing. So, I might be rather naive but I thought they would be the genuine thing.
So - beware !!
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06/20/2007 05:18:27 AM · #2 |
oh yeah, nowadays the fake ones have packaging similar to the real thing, so it gets hard to differentiate them.
crayon checks the barbie designer cam to see if it was a faked one. |
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06/20/2007 05:55:42 AM · #3 |
my 4gb exIII is a fake - it still works (@ 4gb) and i havent had any trouble using it for the past 8 months (touch wood), i tested it against my real 2gb exIII and it was slower by a bit (not a huge amount but noticeable side by side). Dont take this experience and apply it to the whole of ebay tho - it is only small things like this from the far east which are easily fakeable which you need to look out for. About 70% of my camera equipment is bought on ebay and i havent had a problem with dodgy gear so far (except the card - but that isnt much of a problem when i use it as a backup option anyway).
But yeah - beware, the best way to know about the sandisk CF card is to see if the metal bit is brushed (you should see small lines) or matted (no lines - just not shiny) finish - brushed = real, matted = fake. Also the curve of the corners (of the metal bit) should exactly match the sticker's contour, often the fake ones have more angled corners.
Message edited by author 2007-06-20 05:56:12. |
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06/25/2007 05:54:26 PM · #4 |
i bought a 4gb sandisk extreme III card off ebay from some chinese people for $100. i knew going into it that it was risky, but decided what the heck.
it's slow. i shoot burst, and it acts like it took 20 shots, both on my 20d and my rebel xt, but only MAYBE 6 or them show up if i'm lucky...that's in raw...which is all i shoot. jpg seems to work decent, but still misses a shot here and there.
not reliable at all. needless to say i use it when i'm just shooting around for fun, not for a client / challenge :D |
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06/25/2007 05:58:21 PM · #5 |
Ebay is nothing but a haven for scammers. Those that continue to use it are just asking for trouble if you ask me.
Sure, there are quite a few honest users/sellers... but it's so hard to tell the difference that one is really taking a chance anytime they make a transaction.
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