Microdrive failed! What should I replace it with?

[Rozanne Whalen]

While attempting to shoot my husband and one of his friends at a triathlon this weekend, my microdrive crashed. I had no warning at all. So here I am with my nice D60 and no storage media.

So, I'm just wondering if any of you have any recommendations for what I should buy to replace it. Is everyone still happy with their microdrives? Or have you found something better?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

-Rozanne

 

[eoslensman]

While attempting to shoot my husband and one of his friends at a
triathlon this weekend, my microdrive crashed. I had no warning at
all. So here I am with my nice D60 and no storage media.

So, I'm just wondering if any of you have any recommendations for
what I should buy to replace it. Is everyone still happy with their
microdrives? Or have you found something better?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

-Rozanne

I have ony acquired a D60 yesterday, what size drive was it and where did it fit on the D60. Surely, unless you needed 100's of images, why not use flash cards.. no moving parts, reliable, not affected by vibration and at small fine resolution, loads of pics on a card too. ?

A1, 50 1.8, MA, 199A, T90, 300TL, 28 2.8, 50 1.4, 70-210, 2X, EOS5, 28-105, 70-210, 400 5.6, 2X, 430EZ, D60, 550EX and lots of bits too ( why do I have to get a new remote release for my D60, bloody profiteering Canon) but at least I don't have to buy loads of film now !! WHOOPEE !!!

 

[JohnM31499]

for almost a year & thousands of images & have had no problems. I am about to buy another one.

-John

 

[Rozanne Whalen]

I was using a 1GB microdrive. You make a valid point about using CF cards. I liked using the microdrive, though, because I didn't ever have to worry about running out of storage space. I guess I'm just wondering if anyone has come up with anything they like better.

Thanks for your advice.

-Rozanne

 

[Rozanne Whalen]

Hi John,

I had been using mine for almost two years, too. (Used it first in the D30.) I think my problem occurred because it was cool in the hotel room where we were staying--and quite hot and humid out in the Florida sunshine. I'm suspicious that condensation caused the drive to fail.

I'm thinking of buying two microdrives, too. I don't want to get caught without a backup again. (I had to switch to my Olympus point and shoot digital camera to take pics at the triathlon!)

Thanks!

-Rozanne

 

[Lin Evans]

I was using a 1GB microdrive. You make a valid point about using CF
cards. I liked using the microdrive, though, because I didn't ever
have to worry about running out of storage space. I guess I'm just
wondering if anyone has come up with anything they like better.

Thanks for your advice.

-Rozanne

Hi Rozanne,

Both microdrives and CF cards sometimes fail. Microdrives are more fragile than CF cards, but I've had both fail over the years, and still use 1 gigabyte microdrives. Like any media, one should not depend on a single card because it could let you down.

You say your microdrive failed - are you sure that the images are beyond recovery? Unless there was a catastrophic hardware failure rendering the MicroDrive useless, it's likely that the images and perhaps even the microdrive may be recovered. There are several software packages which can recover files from CF cards and MicroDrives which have failed to operate correctly. Also, sometimes a reformat of the drive will "correct" the problem, but don't do anything until you attempt file recovery.

Lin
--
http://208.56.82.71

 

[Rozanne Whalen]

Hi Rozanne,
Both microdrives and CF cards sometimes fail. Microdrives are more
fragile than CF cards, but I've had both fail over the years, and
still use 1 gigabyte microdrives. Like any media, one should not
depend on a single card because it could let you down.

You say your microdrive failed - are you sure that the images are
beyond recovery? Unless there was a catastrophic hardware failure
rendering the MicroDrive useless, it's likely that the images and
perhaps even the microdrive may be recovered. There are several
software packages which can recover files from CF cards and
MicroDrives which have failed to operate correctly. Also, sometimes
a reformat of the drive will "correct" the problem, but don't do
anything until you attempt file recovery.

Lin
--
http://208.56.82.71

Hi Lin,

I had taken only one shot when I suddenly got an "Err 02" message in the LCD panel. Of course, I didn't bring my manual with me, so I didn't know what that meant. So, I tried pulling out the microdrive and re-inserting it (and also the batteries). After removing and re-inserting the microdrive, I started getting the error message "Err CF."

It won't break my heart if I lose that one picture. I did try reformatting the drive within the camera, but I still get an error message. I also tried reformatting it on my computer, but my computer doesn't even see the drive. So, I'm figuring it's pretty hopeless.

Thanks for your help.

-Rozanne

 

[sean64805]

Hi,

I have used CF from day 1. I have had a card fail. The issue continues to be (for me) not having all my images on a single "roll".

With my d60, 128mb CF cards hold around 50 images (large fine) avg. Thats 2 rolls of film. Compact flash are so small, I usually carry 6 128mb, and 6 256mb.

The key to finding reasonable deals is to not be in a pinch. I found the 6 128mb cards for $36us each shipped. The 256mb cards were approx. $75us each shipped.

Microdrives are nice (I do have one) in that you do not have to change "rolls" as often, if ever. However, when you have a failure (I never have), it could be a total loss.

Call me anal, but I like the security blanket of having my "eggs" in a number of different baskets ( like many retirement portfolios ).

Deals on CF cards have been found at dealcatcher.com, with rebates and the like.

Happy Shooting,

sean

So, I'm just wondering if any of you have any recommendations for
what I should buy to replace it. Is everyone still happy with their
microdrives? Or have you found something better?

 

[Patrick F Martin]

My 1 gig MD failed once during the 4 months I've used it. Just locked up my D60 until I removed the bettery and re formatted. Since then its ok. Getting CFs now, probably 2 512's as back up. MDs are too slow for me anyway.
Patricknyc

While attempting to shoot my husband and one of his friends at a
triathlon this weekend, my microdrive crashed. I had no warning at
all. So here I am with my nice D60 and no storage media.

So, I'm just wondering if any of you have any recommendations for
what I should buy to replace it. Is everyone still happy with their
microdrives? Or have you found something better?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

-Rozanne

 

[randy corbin]

I carry 6 256 mb cf cards, and about the same number of 128's for back up.....probably add more 256's....I like the idea, of not having everything on one card, just in case something like that happens....I only get about 33-35 images on a 256...shooting in raw.....which gets filled pretty quick.

 

[Bryan]

two for my D30 and one with my wifes's G2. Main ploblems I have seen with Microdrives is damage whilst removing from Card Writers. I have seen 3 MDs wrecked in use by Sandisk Imagemates. I use Zio! and 12,000 images, to date and no problems - or should I not have said that?

While attempting to shoot my husband and one of his friends at a
triathlon this weekend, my microdrive crashed. I had no warning at
all. So here I am with my nice D60 and no storage media.

So, I'm just wondering if any of you have any recommendations for
what I should buy to replace it. Is everyone still happy with their
microdrives? Or have you found something better?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

-Rozanne

--
Bryan

(still struggling with an old fashioned D30! and the wife's G2)

What if this is as good at it gets

 

[Chris Clark]

While attempting to shoot my husband and one of his friends at a
triathlon this weekend, my microdrive crashed. I had no warning at
all. So here I am with my nice D60 and no storage media.

So, I'm just wondering if any of you have any recommendations for
what I should buy to replace it. Is everyone still happy with their
microdrives? Or have you found something better?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

-Rozanne

When you say it crashed,what do you mean? Did it just stop working, or did it lose all the previously shot images. This is a major worry, since I shoot all my images on microdrives (So far without trouble).
--
Chris Clark

 

[Chris Clark]

I was using a 1GB microdrive. You make a valid point about using CF
cards. I liked using the microdrive, though, because I didn't ever
have to worry about running out of storage space. I guess I'm just
wondering if anyone has come up with anything they like better.

Thanks for your advice.

-Rozanne

--You could use a CF card and download images to one of the portable storage devices now available.
Chris Clark

 

[Chris Clark]

While attempting to shoot my husband and one of his friends at a
triathlon this weekend, my microdrive crashed. I had no warning at
all. So here I am with my nice D60 and no storage media.

So, I'm just wondering if any of you have any recommendations for
what I should buy to replace it. Is everyone still happy with their
microdrives? Or have you found something better?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

-Rozanne

--
Bryan

(still struggling with an old fashioned D30! and the wife's G2)

What if this is as good at it gets

--What do you mean wrecked by your imagemate. I am getting seriously worried now. All this is making me very nervous.
Chris Clark

 

[Chris Fichera]

If you look at my signature, I have twin 1Gig Microdrives that I have been using since March of 2001. I used them in my D30 and now in my D60. Not one problem. I better find some wood to knock on... I am also thinking of picking up another one. The best bang for the buck.

Good luck!

--
Peace,

Chris
Canon EOS D60, Twin 1Gb Microdrives, Canon 28-70 f2.8L,
Canon 70-200 f2.8L, Sigma 2X Converter, Canon 550EX
Canon Shoe Cord 2, Stroboframe Pro-T
Mac Powerbook G4 Jaguar 800Mhz 512Mb
Epson 2200

 

[Rozanne Whalen]

Hi Chris,

I too had been using my 1GB microdrive for almost two years beginning with my D30. When my D60 arrived, I happily inserted the microdrive into it and off I went. I guess it was just my microdrive's "time." ;-)

Thanks for your input--

-Rozanne

 

[Rozanne Whalen]

Hi Chris,

I confess I'm leaning towards the Lexar 1GB CF card. It's hard on me, though, because I could almost buy three 1GB microdrives for the price of the one CF card. On the other hand, I don't ever want to experience what happened to me on Saturday again. So, I also bought a Lexar 256MB CF card as a backup. I really learned my lesson, huh?

-Rozanne

 

[Rozanne Whalen]

Hi Chris,

My morning started by me taking a single shot of my husband as he was prepping for the triathlon. I turned the camera off, and then got into position so that I could take pictures as he finished the swim. When I turned the camera back on, I got an "Err 02" message in the LCD panel. According to the D60's manual, this means there's a problem with the storage media. I pulled the microdrive out and re-inserted it, but the error wouldn't go away.

When I got home, I tried to read the microdrive using my USB reader. No luck. I couldn't even see the microdrive in Canon's Zoom Browser. I also tried to access it through Windows Explorer--same problem. Given that I had only one shot on it, I didn't care if I reformatted it. I tried reformatting it in the camera, but I still got an error message. I could even hear this high-pitched whine as the camera was attempting to format the microdrive. So, I figure it just died.

My mistake on Saturday was to not have any form of backup storage media with me. My microdrive had worked perfectly up to this point: Not a single error message or corrupted picture. So, I had no warning. Had I brought an extra microdrive or CF card with me, I would have at least been able to take pictures of the triathlon. That being said, I also could have finished shooting the triathlon and then had the microdrive fail. I'm not sure I would have been able to recover the pictures if that had been the case.

Sorry to be so long-winded, but I've decided I don't want to take a chance with a microdrive again. I figure I'm better off using CF cards because they don't have any moving parts.

-Rozanne

 

[rfb]

While i like the MD, I like being able to directly insert a CF Card into my d-145 All-in-One printer to transfer it to my printer or computer. Unfortunately, the MD doesn't work with it. Has anyone had any luck using a MD with a HP d-135-155?
rfb

While attempting to shoot my husband and one of his friends at a
triathlon this weekend, my microdrive crashed. I had no warning at
all. So here I am with my nice D60 and no storage media.

So, I'm just wondering if any of you have any recommendations for
what I should buy to replace it. Is everyone still happy with their
microdrives? Or have you found something better?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

-Rozanne

 

[chris]

Of couse the microdrive is the best – until it fails on you. I had one before and never bought one again after it failed. I'm sticking my dollar on CF cards than microdrive. The worst part is IBM's policy, or the lack of it, on repairing microdrives.