FlashTrax Feedback

Does anyone here own a FlashTrax?

http://www.smartdisk.c​om …lMultimedia/Fla​shTrax.asp

I'm interested in ordering one. Would love to have feedback on it.

Linda

Love it -

Plus points -

* Good screen
* Resonably fast
* Updateable OS
* Holds lots of piccies
* Will display RAW from the 10D (not sure about anything else)
* Reasonable fast.
* Does not need an external card reader

Minus points -

* Battery life, buy a spare.
* Feels a little flimsy
* Menu system takes a bit of getting used to.
* Expensive in the UK
*I'm sometimes not confident that I am not copying things into a black hole (I have though never lost anything)

Would I buy it again. Yep. On a recent holiday I brought back some 1500 pictures and there was still loads of room on it.

Thanks Chris! ... very much!

HI Linda,

I'm with Chris re his pros and cons. I've had the 40Gb version for a month now and but haven't really pushed it to the limits yet but so far it's performed well above my expectations. Transferring data via the USB 2 port is extremely fast, the screen is excellent and I love the way you can zoom into the image and navigate around it.

Highly recommended.
Cheers,
Barry

Thanks Barry.

I have the G4 DP Mac. Do I need to upgrade a card or something to take advantage of the USB2 speed increase?

I have had the 30GB unit for a few months and it's saved me the hassle of hauling about my laptop when I know a shoot is going to fill more than a couple of cards (carry two 512mb cards). I also sometimes get concerned about the "black hole" syndrome, but always check the files on the drive before dusting them from the cards.
As has been mentioned, one of the major downsides is battery life. However, I've yet to run into a problem since I charge the night before a shoot. Second battery might be useful.
Bit more of background ... before I finally tracked down the Flashtrax in Toronto (the big camera chains don't seem to be interested in it, for some strange reason) I had purchased Delkin's picture pad. This came with a 1-inch viewscreen and 20 GB of storage. Price was several hundred more than the Flashtrax. Big disappointment ... impossible to see preview pix with these older eyes, plus it refused to display some pix it said had too large a file size. Kept that for all of two days before returning for a refund, which was like pulling teeth at the camera store.
Anyway, despite its downside, my vote goes to Flashtrax ...
jim

Yes, I have a 40 GB FlashTrax. I ordered it on the web from the UK, and the first unit I received stopped working after 2 hours of use or so. I phoned SmartDisk support, a few days later I got a return number and sent the unit back. About two weeks later I had a working unit.

The LCD screen is nice - it's larger than the camera's screen, but the resolution isn't very high (it has quite big pixels). Also, the FlashTrax seems to be a lot more expensive than some other portable hard drives. I would have gotten something cheaper if I were buying one now.

It is also capable of displaying Canon RAW files (or rather, the embedded JPEG images inside CRW files).

I've been using the 80GB version for about 6 months. Mostly with 2x 1GB cards and a 10D. It has always copied the contents of the card to the FlashTrax faster than I can fill the second card. So that's meant I've never run out of film. Mentally I found having only two CF cards easy to work with. The card is either in the camera or it's ready to go into the camera, nothing to get confused about.

Out of about 10,000 pictures I've transferred, 3-4 batches failed for no apparent reason. Since then I've changed the shutdown timer to 30 minutes to make sure I see the confirmation message before I reformat the CF card. Hard drive, screen, everything else powers down in 1 minute. I just want to preserve the confirmation message until I get around to looking at it (usually within 10-15 minutes). Haven't had any problems since then.

Longest shoot I've had with it was about 1,500 pictures over about 14 hours and the battery on the FlashTrax gave out just as the shoot ended. Lately, however, I've had the FlashTrax battery give out after about 800 pictures though, so I'm not sure what caused the variation. I'm getting a 2nd battery next time I order some supplies.

Thanks to all who've continued to respond. I'm following along.

Gordeaux: You mentioned that you only have two cards that you like to work with. Would you care to elaborate on that?

I'm using two 1GB Lexar 40X cards. That's about 150 images capacity on each card. Somewhere over 100 images, when there's a break in what I'm shooting, I pop the card out of the 10D and into the FlashTrax, start copying, put the other card into the camera, format it, confirm that the FlashTrax is indeed copying, then am ready to resume shooting.

Thanks very much!

I'm putting together my order today. I need a zoom, 3 1GB cards, a backup battery, 550EX flash, and still debating on the Flashtrax.

Am I too late to add into this one? I have a 40GB Flashtrax Drive! I am trying to sell it, only for one reason...I'm using a ton of space and trying to upgrade to 80GB one. Failing that it is great. I have more info for later.

Pixi wrote:
Thanks very much!

I'm putting together my order today. I need a zoom, 3 1GB cards, a backup battery, 500EX flash, and still debating on the Flashtrax.

What is a 500EX flash?

---Bob Gross---

robertwgross wrote:

Pixi wrote:
Thanks very much!

I'm putting together my order today. I need a zoom, 3 1GB cards, a backup battery, 500EX flash, and still debating on the Flashtrax.

What is a 500EX flash?

---Bob Gross---

It's a 550EX with low batteries ;-0

Chris

Canuck: Glad to know you like it. Maybe I should aim for the big one too.

Sorry guys... I meant to say 550 EX... but you knew that didn't you.