8GB CF+ Hard Disk for $150+

One user mentions using it with a 20D with the firmware 2.0.2.

Just thought I'd mention if anyone was looking...

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BO0SGG/ref=nosim/103-0406103-

5000646?n=172282

 

 

-Mario

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BO0SGG/ref=nosim/103-0406103-5000646?n=172282">Repaired link.</a>

<p>

Note, I don't think this will work with the 350D unless the card is "updated" by Seagate.

Ooops, how'd that space get in there... :)

 

Thanks...

 

-Mario

You can see the compatibility issues for all Canon cameras <a href="http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/faq/photo_camera_comp.html"> HERE</a>. Kudos to Bob Atkins for the link reference. His comments regarding an earlier rebate offer are <a href="http://bobatkins.photo.net/photography/seagate_8gb.html">HERE</a>.

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but does anyone else think that 8gb is "too big"?

 

No matter how well they make them, microdrives will always be easier to screw up than solid state cf cards.

 

One bad 8gb card (microdrive or not) could ruin an entire job or vacation's worth of photos in a heartbeat.

It's way too big. Maybe pictures spread out on several 1GB or 2 GB solid state cards are safer then "all of your eggs in one basket". A great vacation pictures could be ruined if the 8GB microdrive screws up.

I too wouldn't use an 8GB microdrive even if it were free. Warranty is USELESS if the drive craps out on you (it will) and you're a newbie with just this one CF card. A 2GB SOLID State card is a reasonable max size to use assuming you have a couple CF cards for backup always handy.

I'm guessing most people wouldn't. But shooting raw plus large jpg takes a lot of room. Plus if I remember correctly on Canon's pro-line of camera's the second memory slot can be setup as additional storage or raid/backup storage for redundancy. Now, I'm no professional by any stretch, but I would think someone with a canon pro-line taking important professional pic's would set it up as raid/backup. Okay, I'm done ranting since I initially mentioned the 20D... :)

 

Just my 2 cents...

 

-Mario

8gb is not too big.

 

But it is a micro drive. That is the killer. It has moving parts.

 

BTW: I never have vacation photos in just *one* medium for more than 12 hours. I download every night to a laptop and burn the images to a disk. At that point. . . the disks are stored seperately from the laptop. I generally shoot 100-160 images per day when on vacation.

<i>the drive craps out on you (it will) </i><p>

 

"It will" sounds pretty final.<p>

 

I've had a 1gig microdrive since the first month it was available (2001?). I've used it regularly along with five CF cards. It's never "crapped out" on me. Yet I read about people having trouble with CF cards all the time.<p>

 

I'm not suggesting it won't, some day, but five years of heavy use is a long time. And "it will" is true of everything, isn't it?

It's way too big for my taste, but microdrive are not the only ones to break. I had a 2 weeks old cf card die on me once, got it replaced and the replacement card died the next day. I learned my lesson and I won't use those extra large cards when I can use a few smaller ones.

Actually it is the CF that "will" crap out, because read-write flash

memory has

an inherently limited number of writes you can perform. I'm not

saying that microdrives are more reliable than CF, because there is

always a chance you can drop one, but if you are careful, a

microdrive should last a very long time.

You're right Jeff, silly me! I should have been ultra specific and mentioned THE DRIVE being ASKED ABOUT in this post -- 8 GB. My apologies.

hey, i've got an idea. let's argue positions we can't prove.

the CF vs microdrive debate always gets very heated for some reason. I've seen long threads about CF failures and data corruption, long threads about broken microdrives, long threads about how reliable microdrives are, and long threads about sending CF cards through the wash with no ill effects. Haven't ever seen any reliable data though, just lots of anecdotes.

 

People often get CF because of perceived higher reliability, and they often attack MD users to defend that assumption. MD users on the other hand seem driven to counterattack based on what a waste of money CF is.

 

(I don't have an opinion. never had a failure with either type.)

Assumptions that the card WILL fail for sure are silly. We did a poll on DWF and it turns out that MD users have actually less problems then CF card users. And those few that had issues with Micordrives claim user error (and all were 1st generation cards).I realize that the sample was rather small, but it's better than nothing. <br>

The stigma that MD cards are not reliable may come from the first generation cards (faulty design, where users usually squeezed tha card and it failed due to damaging rotating plates. The design has been improved since then and it's much more reliable.)

<br>If the MD card fails it's possible to recover the data, while if something happens to a solid state the data is gone (I'm not talking about simple errors, such as reformating the card - and then using some type of rescue software - data can be usually recovered on CF card).

 

<p>Having said that I use CF cards exclusively (SanDisk ExtremeIII to be exact). <p>Ken, do you have any links to support your claim or do you just repeat what you've read on the forums? Are you aware how many Canon users had problems with Lexar CF cards? (there was a bad batch)

<p>I don't know what is more reliable now. I trust CF cards more, but reading more and more about MD I start to believe they are not as evil as originally thought.

<p>Don't blindly follow what you read on the forums, do your own research.

<i>A 2GB SOLID State card is a reasonable max size to use assuming you have a couple CF cards for backup always handy.</i>

 

<p>Ken, I'm not picking on you here ;) but again - this claim is very generic:<br>

It's not the size of the card, but how many images are you comfortable to have on the card. For one person the number is 50, for another 200, and yet somebody else may be fine with 400. What camera does one use? RAW or JPEG? 2GB is different if you use 10D, and different if you use 1DsMKII. For 10D 2GB is bigger (read: can write more images) that 4GB card for 1DSmkII. Bill Gates used to say that 640kb is all your PC needs. I have 2GB RAM and it's barely enough ;)

<i>read about people having trouble with CF cards all the time.</i>

<p>That is a massive sampling error. I do not know anybody who uses a microdrive, but dozens of people who use solid state memory. If MDs have a market share of 1% (and I think it's way less than that) you will hear more people complaining about failed CF cards than MDs - even if an MD is ten times as likely to fail - simply becuase they outnumber them 100 to 1 in the field.

<p>

The same goes for you Marcin; unless the number of MD and CF users in your poll reflected the actual market share percentages of those technologies, the poll is worth less then the TCP packets it is embedded in.

You know what's funny. I ordered a Seagate 8 gb. Photodrive and thereafter learned through the Seagate site that my Canon 30D was not listed as one of the cameras supported. What puzzles me is that practically all the new Canons i.e. the 5D, 20D, 1Dxx were all in the list. Is the supposedly new Canon 30D with it's 4.02 firmware a totally different Camera? I was dumbfounded even more when I wrote Canon Technical Support and they replied that the 30D only recognizes the FAT 16 format and therefore will only utilize 2 gb. out of the 8 gb. capacity of the new Seagate. Do you mean to tell me that Canon purposely retrogressed and utilized old technology for their totally new camera? I can forward you the response letter sent by Canon USA.

Technical Support if you do not believe me. The reason why I ordered the card is that I shoot Landscape and Travel photos and because of this, speed is not an issue and I do not use the cameras 3 fps/5 fps

capability. I also want to avoid changing CF cards especially if I have already placed a Kata all-weather cover over it during the monsoon rain trips. I have been a Canon user since the FD days and I am slowly loosing my respect for them. After all, in the Canon 30D User's Manual, under the heading "Specifications" and the sub-heading "Recording Media" it states: "Type I or II CF card. *Compatible with Microdrive and 2 gb. or LARGER CF cards". I pointed out this piece of information to Canon's Tech. Support, telling them that the manual states that the camera is compatible with type 1 & 2 CF card and larger than 2 gb. CF card. If there is a compatibility issue then because of their information on the manual, they can be legally liable. Please give me your comments.