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View Full Version : CF Card and offload storage

xepherys
15th of May 2006 (Mon), 14:14
A couple of quick questions.

1) How do microdrives actually rate compared to a solid state CF card? Are they even remotely as good? What about wear and tear... do they last fairly well?

2) What do you use for storage during trips or longer shoots? I've seen several card reader/hard drive storage devices that might have 20GB or 40GB of storage, and you just pop the CF card in and press a button and *poof* backed up and the card is ready for new pictures. I'm looking for a CHEAP solution, but also one that is reliable. Reliability is, obviosuly, most important. I don't need an LCD to view them on the device (I don't think). Just something good to dump pics to.


Thanks!
lmitch6
15th of May 2006 (Mon), 15:26
Well...

1. I use a Hitachi 4GB microdrive and haven't had any issues at all with it. Some will say avoid them "because of moving parts", but it's mostly an anectodal statement as those of us who've used them have encountered few problems. I'm not rough on my gear, but I don't baby it either, so I'd say they are about as reliable as a regular CF card. I've seen an equal number of stories about both card types failing, so IMO it's a combination of luck and how well you take care of your gear.

2. For portable storage, many seem to like the hyperdrive (http://www.hyperdrive.com) or the Nexto CF. I don't have any personal experience to quantify that though.
Tdragone
15th of May 2006 (Mon), 15:30
From a week ago:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=165306
claudermilk
15th of May 2006 (Mon), 19:15
1) No personal experience, I stick with Ultra II's

2) I have a PD70X/HD80 & love it. Dead reliable & a great value. Yes, you carefully pop the CF in & if you don't push the button, after about 10secs it starts downloading by itself. About 1-2 minutes for a 1GB card.
Jon
17th of May 2006 (Wed), 15:20
Mine have held up OK over the past several years. The Hitachi 4 GB MDs tested out as among the fastest cards around in 20Ds at Rob Galbraith's CF Database.

My preference for storage is a sub-notebook - they have better battery life, it seems. I also use the FlashTrax 80GB or an Addonics MFR DVD (which burns directly to DVD and can span volumes).