the microdrive performs very fast writing at 22x! It's read and write speed are very close.
The fastest card on there is the Viking 512 which writes at a whopping 27x but it is about 2x as much $$$$ per megabyte.
Any feedback?
Cheers
James Wiseman
Hi James.
Since I found that you can get the cf Ridata / Ritek cards, (which are at or near the fastest with most cameras), for right around $100 for 256 meg, I decided to go that way, for now.
The reports of drive failure are rare, but not zero. Plus eating just a little bit more battery...
No moving parts is superior to some moving parts. In my opinion.
Don
I have been using the 1mb microdrive with my 5000 for two months now. I have had no problems. The camera does seem to use up batteries quickly. I haven't tried it yet but I got a 256k Viking CF for 89$ including shipping. The microdrive writes slowly when you use the 14 mb Tiff files but is fast with the highest Jepeg
I have two 1gb microdrives for my d30. (unfortunately i dont have a housing for it.
I have about 2500 shots thru mine and have never had one problem.
Seconds ones still in the case, just in case
Just don't drop it!
FWIW, I decided to order two 256meg CF cards. I got 2 of the Viking cards which write at 27 to 28x according to DPreview.
They were $99 each.
Cheers
James Wiseman
I used the 256k Viking for the first time Sat. I didn't time it but it definetly seems faster than the microdrive. Shooting all raw files I did fill it up though, which I have never come close to with the microdrive.
Originally posted by davephdv
...The camera does seem to use up batteries quickly....
Like how quickly?
Just got my Oly E20N and the first thing I notice is that they recommend the add-on battery pack for use with the Microdrive.
Of course that's not gonna work in a housing!
Aaaaarrrrgggghhhhh!
Richard
with the CP5000 the battery life seems to improve substantialy with repeated cycles of the rechargable battery (a break in period?). I have no problems running out during a shoot. I'm sure that it would last for a dive on one battery. I'm more interested in the CF cards due to their faster writing time using raw image mode (14 mb files). The Viking CF flash card is faster. I think a 512 fast CF card would do the trick. Changing both tween dives.
I've never used the "Full" uncompressed tiff mode before w/ my coolpix - I always stick with "Fine"
Now that it is so easy to switch sizes during a dive (W/ the 1 button control on the CP5k) I might try it. If there's a shot that truly warrants a full 14 meg shot. I think my card only fits about 19 of these, even if it IS 256 megs...that's not a lot of shots.
How long does it take yours to write a FULL sized tiff file to the Viking card?
Cheers
James Wiseman
A rough test. With the 256 Viking, approx 3 to 5 sec at high. About 20 to 21 sec at fine. With the 1 GB microdrive. About 7 or 8 sec at high and 25 sec at fine.
I feel that the fine setting is important because when that great shot comes along you will probablly get buck fever and forget to change the file setting from High to fine. If you get that elusive keeper you will want the highest file size. A more important question is what is the differnce in print quality between printing a high Jpeg vs a fine Tiff file (raw file)
Note that the significant difference with the advantage going to the Viking 256 card is that the high format writes almost twice as fast as the Mircrodrive.
I used to shoot with a 1GB Microdrive, but now shoot with a 512 mb Ridata card because moving parts make me nervous. They both have held up well in housings, too.
Also - re: rechargeable battery packs. They will improve their charge after you cycle them a few times. I usually cycle mine to full-drain a few times before I start recharging without abandon. It's supposed to be a must for NiMH and Lithium-Ion to fully cycle them a few times for "break-in," but I've never actually noticed any real differences because D30 batteries last forever.
I bought the IBM 1 Gig Microdrive about 3 months back. No problem so far.
Not sure how true is this, but others say it is more energy efficient than the CF cards. I always thought moving parts consume more energy. Anyway, for my Canon S40 there is enough power to last two 1 hour dives + a little bit more.
