Micro Drive! Any real time user Issues here?

[Loaded]

I keep seeing MD get bad mouthed here and on other forums but i have yet to actually see a user who has had a real problem. Its always heresay and thats it.


Can somebody here justify the bad talk of a micro drive?

I am using a hitachi MD 4 gig and have had NO problems at all

[AjP]

I assume everyone here are happy for you, I'm personally prefer CF's, nothing wrong with iteither :)

[CorruptedPhotographer]

ive had my MD 4gb hitachi for a few months now. took it all the way to pakistan and high altitudes like 4000 feet and so on.. it was fine.

[Loaded]

I assume everyone here are happy for you, I'm personally prefer CF's, nothing wrong with iteither :)

Hey a fellow DFW member! glad to see ya!

I have heard more neg things about the MD and took the plunge. I just wanted to make sure before i purchase a 6 gig if there was any validity to the hype...

[LastLine]

I use a 2.2gig one from some small brand and GENERALLY it seems good, I've had one or two issues, but no more than I have with my CF cards. I'd be inclined to purchase one again if I ever need a new card :D

[jtmorales]

I use a 2.2gig one from some small brand and GENERALLY it seems good, I've had one or two issues, but no more than I have with my CF cards. I'd be inclined to purchase one again if I ever need a new card :D

What brand are you using? I found one called Magicstor, but it seemed like to good of a deal so I didn't pursue it. I've always wondered if anyone had ever used one.

[FlyingPete]

I use a 2.2gig one from some small brand and GENERALLY it seems good, I've had one or two issues, but no more than I have with my CF cards. I'd be inclined to purchase one again if I ever need a new card :D


Unlike the Hitachi MD's, the 2.2GB (Magistors or rebranded) are bad news, esspecially the older ones. They may have fixed the issues, but back in my G3 tried one and never got it to work correctly. There are many other real stories around this forum about these drives.

Been there done that on this rant though. check out:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=83343

Some real world stats from that link, one of our business parnters is the primary importer for Hitachi drive in New Zealand, they have sold over 10000 of these, with only one return.

[Blue Deuce]

I have the 4gb Hitachi as well as CF's. Have shot upwards of 3,000 shots on my md w/o any trouble.

[Evan Idler]

One of my co-workers has a 2G Hitachi Microdrive and has nothing but problems with the camera locking up (D Rebel). They replaced the Microdrive several times, with no help. He's reproduced the problem in another camera since then.

--Evan

[FlyingPete]

One of my co-workers has a 2G Hitachi Microdrive and has nothing but problems with the camera locking up (D Rebel). They replaced the Microdrive several times, with no help. He's reproduced the problem in another camera since then.


How does he know it is the micrdrive, there are a lot of instances of vaious Digital EOS cameras locking up for a number of reasons.

[ScottE]

When I first got my D60 I started with a Lexar CF card for the main use and an IBM microdrive for backup/excess capacity. The thought process being that the CF card was reliable and would get most of the use while the microdive would only be used occasionally. The first cold winter day (-25 C) the CF card failed and I had to use the microdrive which worked just fine.

I got another Lexar CF card and went back to my old pattern, but the second winter the CF card again failed on a cool damp day (0 C and snowing). Again, the microdrive saved the day.

This time I bought a Hitachi microdrive for the main use and the older IBM microdrive for backup/excess capacity. No problems to report in about a year of use and somewhat over 10,000 photos, except that when I got my 20D the 1 GB microdrives did not have enough capacity for shooting RAW for sports.

This time I got a Sandisk Extreme 2 GB card and have had no problems, except that when the 2 GB CF card was full I had to switch to the 1 GB microdrives and found the capacity to be a limitation when taking a lot of shots. I have now ordered a Sony 4 GB microdrive for backup/excess capacity. ( I keep my spare CF cards/microdrives in a hard case and having IBM, Hitachi and Sony microdrives will make it easy to keep them separate when I need to grab one in a hurry.)

In my experience I have used microdrives for many more shots than I have CF cards, but the only failures I encountered were with CF cards. My conclusion is that you should not buy the low end, cheap CF cards, but that the better CF cards and microdrives give good performance if you look after them.

[BartS]

I've had one (1GB IBM) for over two years now and took a few thousend photo's w.o. problem. It never failed, worked in the freezing cold, in the mountains etc.

Recently I landed on my G3, ask no more.. ;) G3 is dead, microdrive is fine.