 Johnathan R. Peal |
MICRODRIVES I'm looking into buying a IBM microdrive for my Canon G2 camera. I've read that some people have problems with the microdrive heating up the camera and becoming hot to the point of needing an Oven mit lol. I was wondering if anyone else has similar problems with them? I was also wondering how they effect the battery life of the camera is there any noticable difference between compact flash and Microdrive as far as running down the batteries fast? I've heard the write time is better for microdrive vs. Compact flash is that true? Is there much difference in download times between the 1GB, 340mb microdrives and compact flash? I dont want to wait forever to download or preview my photo's. Is there a better solution? or is this a good choice?
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Alan E. Saldinger |
The performance of any particular memory card in a camera is a function not only of the memory card design, but also the camera. You can find some info on performance of various flash-based cards and microdrives at http://www.dpreview.com/articles/mediacompare/default.php but since Phil didn't test with the G2 your mileage may vary. There are flash-based cards that are faster than microdrives (at least with the cameras tested). The difference in write/download times between the well-performing flash-based cards and microdrives shouldn't be too much. I've used microdrives in my Nikon D1x since I got it last summer, and was a happy camper until last week when I dropped one a few feet onto the floor. Although I was able to retrieve all but 3 images on the disk, I was told by IBM that I could expect problems if it dropped more than a couple of feet. And they have *no* diagnostic test I can run to see if it's even operational. After reformating and running scandisk/chkdsk, it seemed to work and I've been using it as my "CF of last resort" - but it just points out how touchy these microdrives are. If you can get by with 512MB per card or less, I'd go with the flash-based cards for their durability.
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Johnathan R. Peal |
Hi Alan, Thanks for the information on Microdrives. I did see the article on dpreview, it has a lot of good information and its a real neat site. I been reading on my own about the microdrives but I wanted opinions from people like you who have 1st hand experience with the microdrives. I have read that they were not that durable and from your experience it sounds like the Compact Flash is a better choice in that regard. I've also read that they are not a good choice in high altitudes over 10,000 feet. I guess the disk will crash if it doesn't have enough air for the heads to float. I like to visit the mountains so it may not be a good choice for me. I was also looking into purchasing a HP Photosmart 100 portable printer for traveling. It will only read up to 128mb Compact flash cards and there is no type II slot for a microdrive. So I am leaning more towards the Compact Flash for my needs. I think a 128mb card would be more than enough. I have a 32mb card now and between the two it should be more than enough memory. Thanks again...
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Johnathan R. Peal |
Just to let the readers know I did purchase the 1GB microdrive since I found a good deal on one and it came with the USB CameraMate Reader $299.00 after $50 rebate. It does heat up the camera significantly but is really not an issue. I have a Canon Powershot G2 that is rated for microdrives. I can get 359 RAW photo's or 512 Large JPG's on superfine compression settings. I'm gonna wait on purchasing a traveling printer until they support the microdrive. I was tired of going to shoot photo's and having to turn back after 10-15 minutes because I had run out of space on my 32mb compact flash. With the microdrive I could easily go for a trip and not worry about running out of space. From what I can tell the battery life is not significantly effected by the drive. I'm careful in the handling of the drive. I leave it in the camera and only take it out when I get home to put it into the reader. I would highly recommend purchasing the cameramate reader since it's more reliable. My camera looses connectivity with the computer too easily making it difficult to download directly from the camera. I also felt it was easier on the camera unit to download pictures from a seperate reader. It comes with a plastic carrying case and the unit I got also came with a PCI adapter for laptops. As long as your careful not to drop the Drive it should be very reliable. I haven't tried it in High Altitude's yet over 10,000 feet since it needs air for the head's to float and could result in the head's crashing.
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Carol A. Locke |
I realize I am quite late in responding to this but I have some empirical experience in dealing with IBM Microdrive and high altitude that might be of interest to your members. I just returned from a John Fielder Workshop in Vail, CO. We hiked to 12,000 feet each of three days. I thought I had no trouble with the reading or writing of my IBM 1g Microdrive. In retrospect, there were a few times when the AEB should have taken 3 pictures and only took two. If that was the only problem I would take it to altitude again. I only looked on the web for information because other workshop members mentioned that they had read the caveat above 9,000 feet for the microdrive.
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Alan E. Saldinger |
This is a pretty ancient thread (except for the last post) but these days microdrives are not a good choice for new purchases. 1 GB fast CF cards are below $300, and 2 GB & 4 GB CF cards are also shipping. Meanwhile, Microdrives are still stuck at 1GB maximum size, and are still $200+. Considering they are much more fragile, slower, altitude-sensitive, and use more power than CF cards, I don't think they make sense to purchase anymore. I bought two 1 GB Lexar WA 32x CF cards last spring and only drag out my microdrives when I need more than 2 GB for a day's shoot.
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