Firewire Card Reader - HELP!!

[Maddog12]

Hello all,

I am tired of the painfully slow downloads from camera to pc using the usb cord. I am looking for a CF card reader using firewire. I have Sandisk Extreme III CF cards. I am looking to spend $50-75 on the card reader. Any recommendations?


I will also need a recommendation on a firewire port that would be compatible with the card reader. I have an available PCI and PCIe slot in my pc. I have no firewire ports currently on my PC.

I have a Sony camcorder that uses I believe a 4-pin firewire connection. If I could get a port to support the camcorder and the card reader that would be great.

I apologize for my inexperience with firewire/firewire ports, but I have heard great things about them. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you in advance!!!

[CronoDL]

This card reader would do the trick if you need the speed.

http://www.adorama.com/IDSDRF901.html

For firewire ports, go to newegg.com and search for PCI and firewire, or PCIe. There are too many of them out there.

If you don't need all that speed, you can just get a USB card reader and stick your card in there to transfer your files. It won't be as fast as firewire, but still much faster than connecting the camera to the computer.

[Electric Monk]

This card reader would do the trick if you need the speed.

http://www.adorama.com/IDSDRF901.html



+1 on this reader, I'm using sandisk IIIs as well and its super fast to dump an entire card.

As for a firewire card, I'd recommend looking for something that supports PCIe before PCI. I can't make a card recommendation because the last time I needed a firewire card was almost 9 years ago, everything I've used since has had it.

4 Pin is the same thing as 6 Pin (aside from the connector of course), the extra 2 pins on the 6 are for power, so a 4-6 Pin cable should take care of you nicely. Oh, 9 Pin is for Firewire 800 and is backwards compatible, so I would look for something in that range if you can, better future proofing (unless you plan to upgrade in the near future).

[MR do little]

I use these (http://www.adorama.com/ILXCRCFPF8.html?searchinfo=lexar) works great, and you can stack them.

[René Damkot]

from camera to pc
This is your problem, not the fact that you are using USB.

An USB2 card reader is about as fast as a FW card reader.

Link (http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/reader_report_multi_page.asp?cid=6007-9392)

[funhouse69]

This is your problem, not the fact that you are using USB.

An USB2 card reader is about as fast as a FW card reader.

Link (http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/reader_report_multi_page.asp?cid=6007-9392)

I agree downloading from the camera is PAINFULLY SLOW!!! But as Rene referenced in the link he provided not all card perform well. I have a few old ones and are also relatively slow then I went with the Lexar UDMA Pro USB Reader and it will download pictures at the full speed of the card you are using. For me this equaled going from a 20 minute download to 2 minutes which was well worth the money for the reader.

[brucea]

I have a Lexar firewire 800 reader, using with an iMac with an FW800 port. Very fast.

It can also be used with firewire 400, with the included 800 to 400 adapter cable. I don't know how performance/speed changes.

It also has a fw800 passthrough, so this can be daisy chained to additional fw800 devices.

At the time I purchased it, Lexar offered a $35 rebate, so it was very inexpensive.

http://www.adorama.com/ILXCRCFPF8.html?searchinfo=lexar+firewire

[Maddog12]

Sounds like the Lexar is a little better the the Sandisk.

Would this (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8909648&st=firewire+port&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1213399749989) port work with the Lexar and its cables. I am not sure if this port would work with my 4-pin cable (1394) for my camcorder, would it? Or is there a different cable to connect a 4-pin (1394) to this port?

[René Damkot]

That card has a 6 pin FW400 and two FW800 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWire#FireWire_800_.28IEEE_1394b-2002.29) connectors. So it should work.
Use FW800 for the card reader, and a 6 to 4 pin FW400 cable for the camcorder.

[thenaturephotographer]

has anyone found an expresscard card reader?

[Todd Lambert]

has anyone found an expresscard card reader?


Yes, there are several (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=expresscard+reader&x=0&y=0).

I have one, that I use when at home (since it sticks out of my macbook pro) - and then I have a firewire reader that's in my bag and use while on the go.

Both are very fast - even with 5Dm2 raw files.

[S-Man]

What's faster? Expresscard or Firewire?

And what about THESE (http://www.amazon.com/Viking-Interworks-Cardbus-Notebook-Expresscard/dp/B0015X9Z9I/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1243633879&sr=8-17) PCMCIA things?

Edit: After a little research, I've found out that PCMCIA tech is obsolete, pre-expresscard.
I also found THIS (http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technology/CFRW2XE34/) for dual CF cards into your expresscard slot. Super fast with the latest/fastest cards.