Hitachi 4GB Microdrive CF & 20d

[pmarz]

This option is so much cheaper that the sandisk 4gb cf ultra II. Does anyone have experience with this combo and is this microdrive fast enough?

Thanks

[jdbulldog]

I use the 4GB drive in my 20D. I shoot in either of the following file storage formats:

1. Highest Jpeg only = The microdrive doesn't slow down and has had only 1 corrupted file in 2000 shots. I have never hit the end of the buffer with this drive and it is my primary card.

2. RAW only = A little different story here. I don't know what the write speed is as compared to normal solid state compact flash but it seems slow. Typically I will hit the end of the 6 frame buffer limit very quickly, then the camera will slow down to somewhere around 0.5 fps and will continue recording at that rate as long as you hold down the release.

I think the cost of the microdrive outweighs the potential gains I would get from a high end faster flash card.

Has anyone else had experience with another flash card that could give a comparison of speed while using RAW file format?

[tim]

Since the 20D has a large buffer it should be fine, but if you fill your buffer a lot you might find it not quite so good. You should also consider the reliability of a hard drive with moving parts compared with a solid state memory card. Also check out this site (http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007-7303), the CF performance bible.

[kwang0429]

This option is so much cheaper that the sandisk 4gb cf ultra II. Does anyone have experience with this combo and is this microdrive fast enough?

Thanks

I been using it without any problems.

[Canuck]

This is cool to find out...it is slow in a 10D. I fill the buffer and seems like ages before it clears compared to the 40x Lexar card.

[CyberDyneSystems]

The MD drives are pretty peppy in the 20D.. I use one quite often.

It's number 15 on the speed charts in the 20D...

But thats still fast as it's 15th out of 49!!! It's FASTER than a 40X Lexar!!!

[CanbyOR]

Has anyone used/tried the OEM version drives? Various websites say they do not work with digital cameras. I don't know why it wouldn't, but wonder if anyone has put them to the test?

[Dante King]

I use MDs and love them for the price point. Aas far a buffer clogging, I have yet to wait and I love shooting machine gun style in raw+large jpg.

[jdbulldog]

I use the OEM version that I yanked from the MP3 player last winter. I have used it in my 300D and 20D as my primary card for over 30,000 shots and have only lost 20 or 30 shots to file corruptions.

New OEM cards were reformatted so that they cannot be used in digital cameras. (Please don't ask me to explain how they are doing this. I didn't fully understand it when the electrical engineer explained it to me.) Good luck trying to buy an OEM card now. I would just buy from a reputable dealer and pay the extra to assure yourself an usable card. (229.95 from Adorama at last check for the 4GB Hitatchi Microdrive).

J

[CyberDyneSystems]

Has anyone used/tried the OEM version drives? Various websites say they do not work with digital cameras. I don't know why it wouldn't, but wonder if anyone has put them to the test?

What happened is that after the release fo the original Muvo 2 which was priced at $200.00 or so when the 4GB MD drive was $400.00,.. Hitachi and others "crippled" the drives that were being sold to MP3 manufactureres. At one point there was no differnce between the standard and OEM,.. that is no longer the case.

An MD drive has two communication methods on board,. the standard ATA/IDE protocal that hard drives use,. and the CF standard that CF cards use. All Hitachi had to do was cripple the CF communication.

there are Cameras out there that can talk to an ATA/IDE device. but Canon is not amongst them. (indeed the vast majority of cameras have to use the CF protocal)

So .. if you get an "OEM" drive that was intended to be installed in a MP3 player,. chances are that it will not work.