Microdrives

[v_kumar]

I have a Canon 10D with a 256Mb card, but have recently been thinking

about a 1GB microdrive.

Having done some (very!) preliminary research, both Hitachi/IBM and

Magicstor appear to make these.

 

Can anyone advise me whether one is preferable over the other and why?

I only see the IBM version mentioned in the forums here, (which may

already give me an answer) but would be grateful for any advice.

 

Cheers

 

Vishal...

[bleck]

IBM was the original producer of Microdrives. However, you'll note that on the back of an "IBM" microdrive that it's actually made by Hitachi. So buy either one... they're likely made in the same factory. Some get stamped IBM, others Hitachi... same product.

[mark_hammerschmidt1]

Hi Vishal,

 

Do not bother with a microdrive. They are very fragile and consume battery power. There are now CF cards that go up to 4gb in size, are very reliable and hard to break!! They are not expensive unless you want the ultra fast write speeds. Do not buy the very cheap cards that you see on ebay etc, because they might not work in your camera. Anything from Lexar, Sandisk, Dane-Elec or Fuji etc will be fine. In the UK a 512mb CF card from a reputable brand should cost no more than £85. Microdrives are definitely "old technology".

[ed_tobin]

I personally would not buy a microdrive. I had a once once and I did not feel save with

it because I could hear the drive heads making a pinging noise which sounded like it

was about to crash. I never lost images but i have switched to CompactFlash. You can

get them in 512mb and even larger.

 

I feel that the microdrives are to fragile and I have seen many posting on the web of

failed drives.

[carl smith]

Look at the price of a 1Gig microdrive then compare that to the cost of a 1Gig CF card (not the ultra high end ones necessarily). The CF cards tend to be more durable (no moving parts) and less prone to failure of any sort. It would probably be a more wise decision to go with the CF card if you can afford it.

[v_kumar]

Folks,

 

Thanks for the advice. I think I shall avoid a microdrive, and instead buy a decent size CF card.

One question though - do the high speed CF cards actually make any difference, and if so, are there any particular brands that stand out?

 

Thanks again to you all.

 

Regards

 

Vishal...

[greglyon]

You may find this website useful in deciding wich card to get...

<p><a href="http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007">http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007</a>

<p>It compares many of the current CF cards in many of the current Digital cameras...

[graphicjoe]

Just to muddy the water further, I have been using a 1 gig microdrive for several months without difficulty. To me the two main issues would be cost and battery drain.

 

cheers,

 

Joe

[Spearhead]

I've been using a Microdrive for over a year, although only the last six months in a camera. No problems, no noises, no failures. A lot of the negative comments about them are from people who haven't used them.

[mark_hammerschmidt1]

I think you will find that microdrives will cease to be manufactured before too long. They were only superior in the days when the max capacity of a CF card was 128mb. Now that CF cards go to 4GB what is the point of buying something that is almost obsolete, and definitely less reliable in the long term than a solid state device with no moving parts (from a reputable manufacturer.

 

The faster write speeds do make a small difference. I have two 512mb Dane-Elec (8x)cards which write a 12mb RAW file in about 20 secs. I also have a Fuji Fastwrite (20x) 512mb card which takes about 15 secs. There are faster cards (40x) from people like Lexar, Ri-Data and Sandisk which are much quicker, but with a cost penalty. If you are not a pro stick to a basic card from a known brand but avoid the cheap "generic" cards as they may not actually work in your camera.

[michael_bradtke]

I have two 1GB microfrives and have never had a problem with them. I have had one of them for almosttwo years now with no issues.

As for them being done away with I have read that they are comming out with 2 and 4 GB microdrives...

I use my D100 in the field most of the time shooting horse shows and rodeo's. Its a dirty job but the drives have never missed a shot.

[phil]

I've used my 1Gb microdrive so far with zero problems over thousands of photos in less than ideal conditions. For $185 it was a lot cheaper than comparable solid-state devices. However I'd expect it to be inherently more fragile than solid state devices, perhaps twitchy in cold conditions. It's both power-consumptive and not very fast at writes (see the Galbraith link further up the page). The microdrive is good value, but it's not necessarily the *best* option. Depends on your price point. If you can afford solid state, get one.

[john meehan]

I've been using a pair of microdrives for several months and several thousand images. No problems. It is noticeable that nobody on this thread has reported problems with these drives other than the noise inherent in their mechanical design.

 

Three points to consider:

 

1. The Canon 10D isn't compatible with Write Acceleration (WA) so spending big bucks on high performance CF cards is wasted.

 

2. The cost per megabyte of storage is cheaper with microdrives than CF.

 

3. Any supposed fragility of the microdrive re. CF cards can be compensated for by minimising handling (and so risk of dropiing,etc) by always downloading images by connecting the camera to your PC rather than removing the disk and inserting into a card reader.

 

Enjoy your photography.

[axel_farr]

I bought an EOS 300D a month ago and with it a 1GB Microdrive, labelled IBM but produced by Hitachi. So far no problems. The speed is comparable to the 512 MB CF card of a coleague, so speed is no question. Price is also comparable, the 1GB Microdrive being a little bit cheaper than the Kingston CF card with half the capacity.

 

Energy consumption is not so much a problem, since the drive does only spin when it is used. The allways discussed fragility of the microdrive has to be seen in two ways: Yes, it is a little bit more fragile when it is spinning (it is stated to survive up to 10G in that state, which is more than I would like my camera to endure), but in stopped state Hitachi states the Microdrive to survive 100G, which would certainly also smash my camera...

 

So, if you like to throw around your storage media and crash it against concrete walls, buy a real flash card. If you are using your equipment in not to rough way (as probably every photographer does in order to keep his stuff alive), than nothing speaks against a microdrive, especially when you are taking RAW images (some 145 fit on a FAT 32 formatted microdrive).

 

Greetings, Axel

[k2photo]

I bought a Magistor 2.2GB CFII drive for my Pentax *ist D. After about 1 1/2 months it completely failed while taking pictures at my nephew's hockey game. Pictures are totally unretrievable, and I cannot format. It's over my 30-day return period with ComputerGiants.com, so I have to send it back to the manufacturer for replacement. Turns out, I have to fax the RMA application to CHINA!!!!! They don't have a local number to send it to. Ridiculous. Hope this is not too late, stay away from this card!

[steve_webber1]

I bought a Magicstor 2.2GB Microdrive for my Fuji M603. Absolutely the worst purchase I have ever made. Totally unreliable. A high drain on my battery. I would quite happily stick pins all day in the CEO of Magicstor for making such a completly useless piece of kit & then having the cheek to charge money for it. There are plenty of large capacity solid state cards out there. My advice would be to go for one of those, but on no account get a Microdrive, especially a Magicstor one.