I am still trying to decide which digital camera to buy. Some that I am looking at use Compact Flash, while others use Smart Media. Does the recording media make a difference? I have read about these new "micro drive" cards, and I am unsure if that is something that the average home user would need. I cannot image ever taking more then 50 or 60 photos at one time. I would however like to have the ability to take 7 to 9 minutes of video once in a great while. Any input? Thanks.
-
Welcome to the new forums! Please read this first. For known issues we are working to resolve, click here.
Compact Flash vs. Smart Media
- Thread starter cello
- Start date
ianR
Veteran Member
Hi Cello
I'm sure you'll get a lot of different opinions on this one, here's mine.
You can't imagine taking 50 shots in a session because you're new to digital photography I guess: you will.
Compact flash: big capacity, cheap, reliable.
Smartmedia: small capacity, cheap, fast, virtually indestructible.
Microdrive: huge capacity, cheap, very fragile. (And when I say fragile I mean drop it and it's dead, but that's probably true for the camera too. )
Additionally, the cameras which take Compact flash will be likely to benefit from any increase in capacity in the future because the chip is in the card. With Smartmedia it's in the camera so however the technology develops you will only get what you've got at the time you buy the camera.
As you can see from the above, there are advantages and disadvantages for each. A lot of people resist Smartmedia because of the smaller capacity but for me the extra speed of the camera is a big plus.
I personally wouldn't be put off by either.
When using video, you will probably want to go down the Microdrive road but be warned, you won't get a camcorder experience although the quality can be really good. The camera will record only until the internal buffer is full then it will start dropping frames. So, from a Microdrive you'll get about 15 minutes of video but probably only in 30 second bursts.
If video ability is a big thing for you, have a look at the Fuji 602. Class leading video and it'll take the Microdrive, Compact flash and Smartmedia.
regards
Ian
I'm sure you'll get a lot of different opinions on this one, here's mine.
You can't imagine taking 50 shots in a session because you're new to digital photography I guess: you will.
Compact flash: big capacity, cheap, reliable.
Smartmedia: small capacity, cheap, fast, virtually indestructible.
Microdrive: huge capacity, cheap, very fragile. (And when I say fragile I mean drop it and it's dead, but that's probably true for the camera too. )
Additionally, the cameras which take Compact flash will be likely to benefit from any increase in capacity in the future because the chip is in the card. With Smartmedia it's in the camera so however the technology develops you will only get what you've got at the time you buy the camera.
As you can see from the above, there are advantages and disadvantages for each. A lot of people resist Smartmedia because of the smaller capacity but for me the extra speed of the camera is a big plus.
I personally wouldn't be put off by either.
When using video, you will probably want to go down the Microdrive road but be warned, you won't get a camcorder experience although the quality can be really good. The camera will record only until the internal buffer is full then it will start dropping frames. So, from a Microdrive you'll get about 15 minutes of video but probably only in 30 second bursts.
If video ability is a big thing for you, have a look at the Fuji 602. Class leading video and it'll take the Microdrive, Compact flash and Smartmedia.
regards
Ian
theswede #100093
Senior Member
Yes. In general, CF is faster, cheaper, larger and uses more power. Smart media is smaller.
This is something that definitely grows on you. I don't leave home without a gig of memory to store pictures on; that gives me a potential of about 340 pictures. So far I haven't used more than 150 or so in one go, but I haven't really started playing with bracketing and things like that.
You will want the storage. No question. It's not like film at all.
Well, on my camera (Minolta D7i) one minute of video is 20 megs. Not sure how much it is on others. You'll have to determine this based on the camera.
The short answer is, get a CF capable camera. You gain absolutely nothing by going to other media. Microdrive capability is a plus, but not terribly important as normal CF cards are dropping in price rapidly.
--
Jesper
theswede #100093
Senior Member
Smartmedia is slower than CF. The speed you're seeing is the buffer in the camera. CF cameras have that too, it has nothing to do with the media; you just found a fast camera that happened to use SM.
--
Jesper
ianR
Veteran Member
Hi Swede
No sorry, check out reviews from cameras that can use both and you'll find the timings are faster using the Smartmedia than the Compact flash.
for example:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujis602z/page9.asp
As to price, they are exactly the same. It was true that SM were more expensive but not anymore.
regards
Ian
No sorry, check out reviews from cameras that can use both and you'll find the timings are faster using the Smartmedia than the Compact flash.
for example:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujis602z/page9.asp
As to price, they are exactly the same. It was true that SM were more expensive but not anymore.
regards
Ian
theswede #100093
Senior Member
You mean like:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse20/page10.asp
which shows the exact opposite?
CF is inherently faster than SM, given a decent implementation. Some of the power saving schemes may nullify this effect, and some cameras are simply endowed with a braindead design.
It still boils down to finding a fast camera, if that's what you're after.
I had missed that prices have caught up, but you're still stuck if you're looking for a 1GB SM card. And you're likely to be stuck for a long time.
--
Jesper
ianR
Veteran Member
HaHa, good point, I hadn't seen that one before.
It looks like the Smartmedia doesn't have a speed advantage as you said.
I was trying to be objective and I did say about the size advantage of CF.
Best wishes
Ian
It looks like the Smartmedia doesn't have a speed advantage as you said.
I was trying to be objective and I did say about the size advantage of CF.
Best wishes
Ian
theswede #100093
Senior Member
As long as you found a camera that does what you need, it doesn't really matter. And if you're happy with 128 megs it matters even less. Besides, SM will come out bigger soon, and they may be able to crank the speed up on them. I hope they do, competition is good.
Right now CF has the general advantage, but I wouldn't mind if that changes.
--
Jesper
B
BobTrips
Guest
Personally,
I wouldn't let the storage medium (SmartMedia, Compact Flash or Memory Stick) control my decision.
(I don't like the fact that Sony has come up with it's own system for no apparent reason that to hang on to more of the media market, that's another issue.)
Micro drives are only available in CF. I don't see them as a big advantage. Maybe if you were an event shooting pro who needed to shoot non-stop for long periods of time.
My approach is to own enough cards to get me through a day. Then I use a portable hard drive (
--
bob
http://www.pbase.com/bobtrips
pictures from Thailand, Myanmar(Burma), and Nepal
I wouldn't let the storage medium (SmartMedia, Compact Flash or Memory Stick) control my decision.
(I don't like the fact that Sony has come up with it's own system for no apparent reason that to hang on to more of the media market, that's another issue.)
Micro drives are only available in CF. I don't see them as a big advantage. Maybe if you were an event shooting pro who needed to shoot non-stop for long periods of time.
My approach is to own enough cards to get me through a day. Then I use a portable hard drive (
--
bob
http://www.pbase.com/bobtrips
pictures from Thailand, Myanmar(Burma), and Nepal
It also may be wise, if out on an important shoot, to not use very large capacity cards in either format. If something goes wrong with the card, at least if you change out cards during a shoot all will not be lost. I'd personally not use anything over 256MB at a time because of this, unless storage was just plain a problem.
To get around storage probs, I have a laptop handy usually that has a SM card slot, coupled with a CD card reader, that I dump to after each card fills. Using a laptop also provides you with a big screen in order to review and critique images more accurately. Also provides the ability to edit on the spot for clients.
D.
To get around storage probs, I have a laptop handy usually that has a SM card slot, coupled with a CD card reader, that I dump to after each card fills. Using a laptop also provides you with a big screen in order to review and critique images more accurately. Also provides the ability to edit on the spot for clients.
D.
*isteve
Veteran Member
I agree with most comments so far but there is one thing not mentioned.
What camera are you going to buy next and do you want to have to replace all the memory?
Current 5MP cameras produce 2-3Mb images in Jpeg fine and 9mb in RAW. In a year or so the default will be 3-4Mb and 15Mb.
The microdrive and 256Mb CF cards I now own will still be usable. Any current 128Mb card will be pretty badly stretched. I will probably also have far more choice of upgrades since all cameras > 4Mp currently support CF -apart from Sony.
I also suspect SM cards are being phased out on favour of secure digital. Very few "new" digicams are coming out with SM as the only card and lots of the small form factor ones are switching to SD.
As the old computer saying goes, you can never have too much memory!
Interesting aside on Microdrives - the ones manufactured for IBM (have the IBM label on them) seem far more reliable. Mine has been handled, dropped, pushed in and out of card readers and taken 2000 pics with no problems. I know of others less lucky, but it has a 12 month warranty so...
Its ultimately not as robust as 4 256Mb cards or 2 500Mb cards but its MUCH cheaper.
---
Steve
What camera are you going to buy next and do you want to have to replace all the memory?
Current 5MP cameras produce 2-3Mb images in Jpeg fine and 9mb in RAW. In a year or so the default will be 3-4Mb and 15Mb.
The microdrive and 256Mb CF cards I now own will still be usable. Any current 128Mb card will be pretty badly stretched. I will probably also have far more choice of upgrades since all cameras > 4Mp currently support CF -apart from Sony.
I also suspect SM cards are being phased out on favour of secure digital. Very few "new" digicams are coming out with SM as the only card and lots of the small form factor ones are switching to SD.
As the old computer saying goes, you can never have too much memory!
Interesting aside on Microdrives - the ones manufactured for IBM (have the IBM label on them) seem far more reliable. Mine has been handled, dropped, pushed in and out of card readers and taken 2000 pics with no problems. I know of others less lucky, but it has a 12 month warranty so...
Its ultimately not as robust as 4 256Mb cards or 2 500Mb cards but its MUCH cheaper.
---
Steve
I believe there might be compatibility problems. The in-camera SD controller must support the higher capacity SD-cards (there were similar problems back when the first 128 MB cards started appearing, they didn't work in all SD-devices).
These issue can be solved by a firmware-upgrade, but of course that implies that the manufacturer provides an upgrade.
Jörg
Perhaps this might be of interest:
http://www.mittoni.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/1183
(it allows one to use SD/MMC cards in any compactflash-device)
I personally doubt the CompactFlash will be fased out in the next couple of years, as there currently are network-cards, wireless cards, modems, gps-cards, even cameras, ... available in the CF-connector form factor. The CF-standard is very well thought out, and still allows for growth. Most likely, the forementioned cards will not be usable in cameras, but the fact that they exist implies that the technology is there, and thus that the CF-standard in itself still has a future...
I thought the old saying was "Nobody will ever need more than 640 KB of RAM" ?
))Yes, but the prices of solid-state cards are constantly dropping. And even 1 GB versions are just around the corner; so for 1 GB storage in CF, you'll even start having alternatives besides the Microdrive.
For what its worth: the current crop of cameras using CF is limited by the FAT16 filesystem to 2 GB of storage. However, the cards (and the microdrive) can all be formatted in FAT32 - it can then not be used in a digicam - so it is possible in the future for digicam-manufacturers to move to FAT32 (in order to address larger storage devices), and still use the current crop of CF-cards and drives.
(don't know about SmartMedia...)
Jörg
Rob S
Forum Enthusiast
I understand the point you are making but this is only of concern to the kind of person that wants to buy a new camera every year but perversely has a problem with possibly having to change memory type. You will always get the same number of pics on a given card during the life of the camera. So if Smartmedia never goes above 128MB and you are satisfied with the number of pics you can get on it, then there is no problem at all if newer cameras would fill that card in half the time.
Of far greater concern would be having to buy the new dedicated accessories like Li ION batteries or add on lenses etc that maybe needed even for a newer camera from your existing manufacturer.
Keyboard shortcuts
- f
- Forum