Flashtrak drive

[Canuck]

Hi!
Just wondering what your take is on the Flashtrak drive is. It comes in 30GB(possibly discontinued), 40GB and 80 GB flavours. It also has a 3.5 inch LCD screen so you can look at the pics upon downloading to it. It seems like a cool idea, but not cheap. It is about $540 for the 40GB one and $690 for the 80GB one. Source: B&H

I would like to go this option because I can look at the pics I have taken that day and determine relatively quickly if the pic is junk or saveable. This would invaluable on long trips away from computer. We know how fast CF cards fill up on holiday and there isn't anything worse than being out of space! The other cool bit is that I can keep on shooting and if I have any friends with me, they can look at the pics whilst I'm still shooting. This is especially a good idea for airshows, as it is another set of eyes.

Cheers,
Canuck

[DaveG]

Canuck wrote:
Hi!
Just wondering what your take is on the Flashtrak drive is. It comes in 30GB(possibly discontinued), 40GB and 80 GB flavours. It also has a 3.5 inch LCD screen so you can look at the pics upon downloading to it. It seems like a cool idea, but not cheap. It is about $540 for the 40GB one and $690 for the 80GB one. Source: B&H

I would like to go this option because I can look at the pics I have taken that day and determine relatively quickly if the pic is junk or saveable. This would invaluable on long trips away from computer. We know how fast CF cards fill up on holiday and there isn't anything worse than being out of space! The other cool bit is that I can keep on shooting and if I have any friends with me, they can look at the pics whilst I'm still shooting. This is especially a good idea for airshows, as it is another set of eyes.

Cheers,
Canuck

This was posted a couple of days ago on the dpreview site:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0311/03111002aleraphotocruiser.asp

It is a lot cheaper than the device you've mentioned but I kind of wonder how they confirm that the CD has been properly burned and the files saved. But assuming that this isn't a problem then this product looks very useful.

[Canuck]

DaveG wrote:

This was posted a couple of days ago on the dpreview site:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0311/03111002aleraphotocruiser.asp

It is a lot cheaper than the device you've mentioned but I kind of wonder how they confirm that the CD has been properly burned and the files saved. But assuming that this isn't a problem then this product looks very useful.


That is my question too! How can I confirm it has written to the disk as I would format card upon completion of dumping card to CD. I really don't fancy taking a lot of pics to loose them and that's why the screen option comes in! It costs a lot more, but I recon it is worth it. Some of these trips I take here are one-offs (one shot deal). On some of these trips I can't afford to leave it to chance! Choices, decisions, etc it will drive you on the left hand side of the road nuts!

Speaking of which, I have to collect me some "L" for Learner driver bits so that I can stick on the boot and bonnet of the car when I get back to the US. It will be almost learning all over again. It will feel no doubt weird.

Then again I'm starting to run out of time here. Before I know it, I'll be back in the history lacking USA. Let's see here, the US has really history goind back to the 1600s and Jamestown and the UK has history goind back to Stonehenge on. Stonehenge was like 2500-3500 BC! Advantage: UK. I could do a long presentation on what I have learned in the 2+ years I have been here. There is no doubt I will miss it!
I recon it wont be long before I say that I fancy a Suday Roast, and Yorkshire pudding at a local pub. :) The British people that are floating around here know exactly what I mean.

Cheers from England,
Canuck

[ltud]

It's pricey but it's the be-all and end-all as far as I'm concerned :) I've been waiting for a device that merges an iPod and a Digital Wallet, so this is top of my Christmas Wish List. I may have to settle :P for the 40GB model tho.

[Motorsports Photo]

Canuck wrote:
Hi!
Just wondering what your take is on the Flashtrak drive is. It comes in 30GB(possibly discontinued), 40GB and 80 GB flavours. It also has a 3.5 inch LCD screen so you can look at the pics upon downloading to it. It seems like a cool idea, but not cheap. It is about $540 for the 40GB one and $690 for the 80GB one. Source: B&H

I've been thinking about one too. It would also be a good sales tool for me when I have to show off recently taken pics, and show them without lugging a large laptop around.

Yeah, its expensive but not outrageously compared to machines that do a similar job. The Xdrive sounds like the cheapest way to do the job, but all it does is file copying. No viewing. There are a couple of CD burners, but I've made the mistake before of trusting myback-up copies on CD and found out the files were NOT copied. (Now I copy all backed-up files on CD to my desktop using the cd's. If theres trouble, ACDSee gives a file error message.)

I do wonder about battery life on these back-up devices. SInce some take quite a while to copy files I would hate for the battery to die in the middle of the file transfer and corrupt any data.

-Pete

[Belmondo]

I have it and find it gives me great peace of mind to be able to store all my photos in the field. Whereas it provides the ability to preview pictures on the LCD, the image quality is not substantially better than on the camera's LCD......but it is better.

Tom

[toddb]

This one doesn't have a LCD built in, but I was kind of thinking of getting this one because it had video out, so I can playback video as well in my minivan or mp3s. I guess the in field playback isn't as important because I usually shoot mostly RAW anyway.

Pocket Cinema (http://www.snazzishop.com/pages/pocketcinema/pocketcinema.htm)

[Jesper]

Do you mean FlashTrax?

see http://www.smartdisk.com

I'd also like to know more about it.... from the SmartDisk website, I see that it also recognises Canon RAW files and that you can also use it for MP3's etc.

[Canuck]

Jesper wrote:
Do you mean FlashTrax?

see http://www.smartdisk.com

I'd also like to know more about it.... from the SmartDisk website, I see that it also recognises Canon RAW files and that you can also use it for MP3's etc.


Jesper,
Yes that is the one, the Flasktrax drive. I went to the website aforementioned, and then went to B&H to see about prices. I'd really like to see it in action before buying but that may not happen. I'm thinking of seeing if they have here in the UK, for demo purposes. I'll have to shoot some RAW pics, and then give it a go to see if it really recognises *.CRW files. By the way, which country are you in? Idunno, the jury is still out for now.

I really don't like the CD-R/W option as I have really no idea if it saves it or not. and taken many pics that I really like and they are all I will have of over here once I leave. That said, it seems to me like the difference in cost is justified.

The 40GB option provides 40000MB/6MB = 6666 pics at 6MB each; 40000MB/7MB = 5714 at 7MB each pic.

I think, considering I have only taken 1828 pics to date, including ones in Colchester earlier today. To me even 40GB seems like an insane abount of space. It is a much cheaper alternative to buying 40 GB of CF cards! I don't even want to think what that would cost. One worrd comes to mind-astronomical!

Cheers from England.
Canuck

[Belmondo]

Canuck:
I've been loading and viewing CRW files on my Flashtrack. I'm just not sure if i'm actually viewing the CRW file, or the embedded JPEG file. Anyway, it does work well for me.

Tom

[Canuck]

belmondo wrote:
Canuck:
I've been loading and viewing CRW files on my Flashtrack. I'm just not sure if i'm actually viewing the CRW file, or the embedded JPEG file. Anyway, it does work well for me.

Tom

Tom,
Thanks for the info, this is really making it closer to a purchase. When did you get it? That bit is extrememly new and where? Also, did you get the 40 or 80 GB one?

Canuck

[Belmondo]

I bought the 40, figuring that would be adequate for a couple days of steady shooting. I bought it at San Jose Camera on my last visit north. Nobody in my area sells anything like it. I have not really given it a true workout yet; that will come in the next few days.

It seems to be an attractive, well-designed piece of equipment, and is flat enought to fit comfortably in the side or back a camera bag without displacing a significant amount of valuable space. The power supply is another matter, but proabably doesn't have to be 'on hand' anyway. It's fairly intuitive, and pretty easy to setup.

I like it.

Tom

[Canuck]

belmondo wrote:
I bought the 40, figuring that would be adequate for a couple days of steady shooting. I bought it at San Jose Camera on my last visit north. Nobody in my area sells anything like it. I have not really given it a true workout yet; that will come in the next few days.

It seems to be an attractive, well-designed piece of equipment, and is flat enought to fit comfortably in the side or back a camera bag without displacing a significant amount of valuable space. The power supply is another matter, but proabably doesn't have to be 'on hand' anyway. It's fairly intuitive, and pretty easy to setup.

I like it.

Tom

Tom,

I'm glad you like it! How much bigger is the LCD screen vs the 10D one, rougly, 50%, 200%? That has been a real let down, the 10D screen. It gives you a semi-idea, but it could stand to be bigger. Maybe that is what these devices are supposed to do???

I'd like to know how you faire whilst giving it a proper workout. I'd also be interested in battery life, review, and the like. I have also posted roughly the amount of pics you can expect at 6MB per pic and 7MB per pic shooting RAW. That is now a few posts up on this thread.

I am starting to really think this would be a smashing alternative to a CDR/CDRW drive. Now, the trick is to wait a little longer for the Chrismas specials. I'm all for saving some money! Who isnt? I will probably get the Canon 24-70mmL lens with it and backpack of sort. It has to be able to be carry-on. I'm not letting this stuff outta my site! I may get the first proper workout for it on the Emerald Isle, next year. That would be cool as well as being able to say I used a lens for the first time in wherever. Here's what I mean, the 120-300 Sigma EX was first used in Tenby, Wales; the Canon 16-35L in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England; (gotta order it first) Canon 24-70 L TBD but possibly in Ireland. I'd like to get one more lens that is portable, and use it in Scotland. That would be neat to have one lens, each first used in each of the bits in the UK. The Ireland trip may be to Eire, which is NOT part of the UK, but Northern Ireland (Ulster, I think) is!

Cheers from England,
Canuck

[Belmondo]

Canuck:
I have the unit packed right now, but I'll dig it out later this even if time allows and try to answer your questions about the screen size.

Tom

[Jesper]

Well, I was looking for an extra CF card because now I only have one 512 MB card and two 128 MB cards. That's not enough when you go on holiday and take lots of photos...

Instead of buying another CF card I now ordered the FlashTrax 40 GB, directly from SmartDisk's website. Strangely enough, the 40 GB version is cheaper than the 30 GB version, at least when you buy it in a Euro country (in UK pounds, the 40 GB is more expensive...). I haven't got it yet.... OK, it costs some money, about twice the price of an 1 GB flash card here, but with 40 GB you'll never have to worry about running out of space...

By the way, I'm in the Netherlands.

[Andy_T]

Now that sounds like a really cool product!

The .CRW compatibility clearly makes the rather hefty price more palatable...

... but it's still about half the price of a D-Rebel .. :(

Regards,
Andy

[Belmondo]

Canuck:
I apologize for not getting back to you sooner.
The screen is 3 1/2" on the diagonal (roughly 2 1/8" H X 2 13/16" W). The LCD screen on my 10D measures 15/16" H X1 7/16" W, so the FlashTrax display is roughly twice the height and width of the 10D LCD.

The resolution is still not ‘monitor quality,’ but it is darned good. Figure you have roughly 4 times the area of the 10D LCD, so you know it’s going to be a lot better. You can’t zoom into images enough to determine precise focus, for example, but it’s certainly going to give you a good idea. Also, it will give you a much better picture of how you did with exposure---much better than on the camera.

Hope this helps.

Tom

[Jesper]

belmondo wrote:
... Also, it will give you a much better picture of how you did with exposure---much better than on the camera.


I have turned the brightness of the LCD on my 10D down to the lowest setting to make the brightness look at least a bit like my monitor. When I set it higher than the lowest setting, pictures on the 10D's LCD look far too bright.

I'm also looking at the histogram to see if the exposure is OK, but sometimes that doesn't work well - for example, when making photos in a studio with a white background, I'm deliberatly overexposing the background to make it completely white. The histogram has a peak on the right side and the rest of the histogram is almost 0 - so it's not very useable to check the exposure.

[Canuck]

belmondo wrote:
Canuck:
I apologize for not getting back to you sooner.
The screen is 3 1/2" on the diagonal (roughly 2 1/8" H X 2 13/16" W). The LCD screen on my 10D measures 15/16" H X1 7/16" W, so the FlashTrax display is roughly twice the height and width of the 10D LCD.

The resolution is still not ‘monitor quality,’ but it is darned good. Figure you have roughly 4 times the area of the 10D LCD, so you know it’s going to be a lot better. You can’t zoom into images enough to determine precise focus, for example, but it’s certainly going to give you a good idea. Also, it will give you a much better picture of how you did with exposure---much better than on the camera.

Hope this helps.

Tom


Tom,
No worries on gettin back to me, I wasn't expecting a response for at least 24 hrs. You said that you were going pic taking so that was the first thing on your mind. Cool, I'd like to know how that worked out. This will be great for when I go to an airshow and shoot an ubsurd amount of pics RAW and no have to worry about it. Like I'm gonna take 5,000 pics at an airshow. Hey, you never know. DVD burner comes to mind and dumping the pics to laptop. I have been known to shoot 200-300 at airshow, though. It will also come in handy when I go on holiday and don't want to drag a laptop all over wherever. That is way smaller than laptops are.

Most definitely that helps! Thanks ever so much! The extra real estate (4x) seems to be paying dividends. I know we have the 10x zoom on the 10D, but which is actually the size of the pic you see on the computer? If you could get to that level, then presumably you can check the pic just as well as on the 10D. This is definitely a good buy and now to find some posh dosh (cash)...

What do you recon for battery life? That is another important feature! Especially if shooting all day at an airshow. The last thing you need is dead batteries!

Cheers from England,
Canuck

[Belmondo]

Canuck wrote:What do you recon for battery life? That is another important feature! Especially if shooting all day at an airshow. The last thing you need is dead batteries!

Cheers from England,
Canuck


Canuck:
I really haven’t used it enough to have any sense of battery life. Normally, this is not a concern to me anyway because I keep an inverter in the car at all times. If the thing poops out on me, I’ll just plug it in and keep on working. I realize this isn’t an answer to every situation….we’re not always conveniently close to our vehicles.

I’ll go out on a limb and say I’m sure it’s good for a couple hours of continuous use, and that should be enough to do hundreds of pictures. I’ve read reports of people using them for an entire vacation on a single charge, but in that case, it really depends on how often it’s used and how often. Your ‘one-roll-a-day’ shooters could do that pretty easily, I’m sure.

Let me know how you like yours.

Tom

[Canuck]

belmondo wrote:
Canuck wrote:What do you recon for battery life? That is another important feature! Especially if shooting all day at an airshow. The last thing you need is dead batteries!

Cheers from England,
Canuck


Canuck:
I really haven’t used it enough to have any sense of battery life. Normally, this is not a concern to me anyway because I keep an inverter in the car at all times. If the thing poops out on me, I’ll just plug it in and keep on working. I realize this isn’t an answer to every situation….we’re not always conveniently close to our vehicles.

I’ll go out on a limb and say I’m sure it’s good for a couple hours of continuous use, and that should be enough to do hundreds of pictures. I’ve read reports of people using them for an entire vacation on a single charge, but in that case, it really depends on how often it’s used and how often. Your ‘one-roll-a-day’ shooters could do that pretty easily, I’m sure.

Let me know how you like yours.

Tom


Tom,
I'll be sure to let you know. I have to come up with some cash first. Maybe on the next paycheck.

I'm also looking at ordering a few other bits and bobs and can't decide if I want to do it now, or later. I'm looking at the Canon 24-70 L lens and the Lowepro PhotoTrekker SW II or Phototrekker Pro for hauling my kit around. Again I gotta procure some cash. I will have some saved money, as the trip I was planning on going on was cancelled. We're postponing it for now. It was to the German Alps to go skiing. I'm really looking fwd to doing that. I've skiied the Austrian Alps twice now. Actually the first time was the first time I had ever skiied! That was wild! How many Americans can say they have skiied the Austrian Alps, or even the Alps period? I can!!! More to come when I get the Flashtrax drive. Stay tuned...

Cheers from England,
Canuck

[Jesper]

I received my 40 GB FlashTrax today. My first impressions:

- it comes with a remote control, a carrying bag, three different power plugs (US, UK and continental European), USB and audio/video cables, however no headphones

- the screen is much larger than the screen of the 10D, but the resolution is not so great (big pixels) - I wouldn't say the screen is better than the 10D's for judging the quality of photos.....

- it works on CRW files, and it even shows the aperture and shutter speed settings, but there's a strange quirk: the numbers are not exactly correct! (for example, 1/60 is shown as 1/64); despite what the manual says, you can zoom in on and rotate CRW files

First impression is that it's OK, BUT !!!! After a few hours it seems that my unit died !!!! :( If I switch it on now it only gives a blue screen, both the Copy and Charge lights stay lit and it doesn't react to any button anymore, not even the Power button. The only way to shut it down is by pulling the battery and AC plug out of it.

The strange thing is that I can still access it via my PC if I connect the USB cable.

So now I'm in conversation with SmartDisk's support help desk to see if it's really broken or not...... :(

[Belmondo]

Jesper wrote:So now I'm in conversation with SmartDisk's support help desk to see if it's really broken or not...... :(


So far, no problems with mine, but I'm really interested to see how this turns out. Please give us an update when you know what's going on. Thanks.

Tom

[samdring]

A number of you worry about whether recorded.
Have used Apacer portable CD writer for some months now and it has facility to verify writing of all files. Used on recent 3 week hols to canaries and was god-send. Has added advantage, not yet mentioned in this thread, that I have permanent original on cd to fall back on when I've photoshopped an image to death!

Accept though, that I am still reliant on 10D for quality of image check.

When cometh a cd writer with significant and high quality screen?

[Jesper]

belmondo wrote:
Jesper wrote:So now I'm in conversation with SmartDisk's support help desk to see if it's really broken or not...... :(


So far, no problems with mine, but I'm really interested to see how this turns out. Please give us an update when you know what's going on. Thanks.

Tom


I called them in the UK and got a support technician on the phone, he told me to try to upgrade the firmware to version 1.6.000 (which can be downloaded on the website http://www.smartdisk.com ), but this still didn't work - still a blue screen and no response to the buttons.

Now I'll have to wait until after the weekend because the support desk is only open during office hours.

I'll post an update later...

[Canuck]

Just following up...
Any updates, good, bad, or ugly???

I ordered a Flashtrax drive and should be here any year now.

[Belmondo]

I misspoke earlier. Mine is the 30-gig drive. I feel so inferior now.

I've used it a few times in the last couple weeks, and it has worked flawlessly. Ironically, every time I've stuck a card in it for backup, I've been distracted by something else, and left it to 'do its thing.' As a result, I still don't have a sense of how fast it transfers, but it's definitely simple to use and requires no 'adult supervision.'

I'm wondering if Jesper ever got his problems sorted out.

Tom

[Canuck]

Tom:
Cool, I'm glad you like it and I'm waiting for my 40GB one to come in. I can't wait to start using it. This will be invaluable as we know how fast even 1GB of memory goes shooting RAW as I do almost exclusively now. I have been known to soot JPEG if I am being lazy, or if I don't have a lot of time to manipulate the pics. Sometimes, time is a really valuable commodity. There was the time where I was taking classes to get me closer to my AAS in underwater basketweaving, in class Monday thru Thursday 1800-2100 and worked about 10hrs a day on top of that. I'm glad the classes weren't over the top difficult, but it still kicks your butt!

Jesper:
Did you get your Flashtrax drive sorted? I can only hope you did, or got a new one sent to you. The blue screen of death is not a good thing.

samdring:
What about the same idea about CD burner and screen, but with DVD burner? That would truely rock! I'm one pic taking fool, so I'd rip thru CDs in no time, hence I got the Flashtrax 40GB drive.

[Jesper]

I haven't got a working FlashTrax drive yet.... this is the story so far:

I received my FlashTrax 40 GB on Friday, 21 November. After having used it for about 2 hours, it only gave the blue screen. I called the SmartDisk support number and the person on the phone asked me to do the firmware upgrade to version 1.6.000, which is the newest version of the firmware that can be downloaded from SmartDisk's website. Unfortunately it didn't work, so later the same day I called again and they told me to send an e-mail.

I didn't get a reply until a week later (Friday 28 November) I called them again. They said it was unusual that I didn't get a reply to my e-mail and asked me to send a new e-mail. A few hours later I got a reply with a return number.

The next day (last Saturday) I sent the whole package back to the UK with the return number. They should receive it there today or tomorrow.

So now I'm waiting to see what happens.

I'm still optimistic - the people on the phone were courteous and helpful, and there's a one year warranty on the FlashTrax - I think it will be alright.

I'll let you know if the whole thing is sorted out...