compact flash -- all the same?

Randy Sluder · Oct 22, 2002

Keith:

Like I stated in my first post...

"Before you critique the battery life and intrinsic value of the 1GB IBM Microdrive...you might want to own one for yourself."

Randy Sluder
"Shoot more, shoot more often."

http://www.pbase.com/randy_sluder
http://www.sluderdesignstudio.com

Radu® · Oct 22, 2002

Ridata is pretty much a region-dependent name for some Ritek cards. They come with lifetime warranty and they are serviced by the manufacturer or the vendor, if it is a genuine dealer.

Ritek's homepage is at http://www.ritek.com.tw , and you'll be able to find out that they are a pretty serious company. They also list the contact information for US on their website.

Mark Wagar said:
The Ridata cards might be the fastest, but when they go bad, they
have no contacts for a warrenty claim. The package has no info at
all. I can find no web site that is in this country, only Asia
someplace. Retailers claim to warrenty them, but what do you do
when they are no where to be found either?
I think they do this to get out from standing behind their products.

pixels120931 · Oct 22, 2002

Just a note...

SimpleTech has a new $50 rebate on their 512M Card through 10/30.
Through buy.com ($199), it comes out to $149 after the rebate. Ship is free.

The card got good marks here from the DPReview on CompactFlash cards,
on everything but a Nikon, if memory serves.

Randy Sluder · Oct 22, 2002

Keith Monahan wrote:

So you are saying that with ONE CAMERA, the G2, the IBM Microdrive is not a battery killer. Great. How about the 48,000 other cameras on the market? Do you have empirical evidence on those too?

No Keith, I don't have "empirical evidence", but I DO HAVE a 1GB Microdrive that works perfectly in my G2...and Tuna Boy (the original poster) asked specifically about storage, Compact Flash in particular, for the G2. I don't give a rats ass about the so called "48,000 other cameras on the market"!

How about a camera which has 1/4 the battery capacity of the G2's battery? Think it would make a difference then?

Keith, you got to be kidding?! There are NO digicams on the market with 1/4 the battery capacity of a G2, with the features of a G2, that will even except a Microdrive.

Ignoring the battery drain the microdrive uses in comparison to compact flash is stupid.

The only thing stupid is...this subject has been addressed on this forum before and you are just not aware of it. Research it for yourself.

Keith, before you give us more of your expertise in the future, you might want to use the product first instead of just reading about it. Quasi experts are a dime a dozen.

Randy Sluder
"Shoot more, shoot more often."

http://www.pbase.com/randy_sluder
http://www.sluderdesignstudio.com

=pa= · Oct 22, 2002

Peter Nguyen said:
I just bought the Viking 256MB, but am still not sure how it is
compared with Sandisk Ultra 256MB. Both currently have pretty good
rebates.

Can you please give me some insights? Which one is faster for
write, and of course read? I will use it for my new G3 that is
arriving, Lord who knows when.
Did I make the right decision?

Thanks for your responses.

Check out the dpreview speed tests for CF cards. As I recall, Sandisk were the slowest cards by a wide margin, while Viking were one of the fastest.

BokenRose · Oct 22, 2002

Seems to be a waste of time. I bought the 4x Lexar despite the salesman warning me that things would go wrong. Never had a problem. Remember, even the slowest CF will be faster than MicroDrive, so what are you worried about? Save some money, buy larger.

Evan Scheessele said:
Evan

Moody said:

Evan Scheessele said:

The Ridata 512 mb card costs $440 as opposed to $150 for the
Viking. Is there that much of a performance difference?

Click to expand...

$440 is too expensive!

you can better buy 2 x 256 mb transcend (or ridata) for about $180
(2 x $90)

there's a CF test on dpreview...

--
G3...come to daddy!!!

Click to expand...

Mark Wagar · Oct 22, 2002

Radu® wrote:
. They also list

Radu® said:
the contact information for US on their website.

Thanks for pointing the web info out to me.

However, I just checked their US site again and no info there about CF. The Ritech web site in the US seems to only handle CD/DVD media and duplacation.

Why should I have to hunt and hunt to find this company, if they are really in this to build trust from the buying public shouldn't they be easier to find than this?

Mike K · Oct 22, 2002

I agree with Randy, the difference in power drain is small compared to how much power is consumed by your LCD during an average shoot. I have had a 1gb MD for almost 3 years in a G1 and have always gotten 200-300 shots on a full battery charge. This isn't enough for you ? Carry a spare battery and fill up your MD, I have done that several times by shooting exposure bracketing on everything. Now you will really drain your second battery as you critically review 400+ shots on your LCD trying to firgure out which ones to keep. The bottom line is that the extra memory is very liberating. It will help you become a better photographer faster by encouraging you to shoot. If you want a bit more secruity and are willing to pay for it, go for 512 mb CFs, there are several good ones out there 175-200$. But the MD is still the best deal at about $230 for a 1 gb and it works fine for the vast majority of folks, just be careful when handling it out of camera. Here is one good place to buy memory:
http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/index.cfm
Mike K

Randy Sluder said:
Keith:

Like I stated in my first post...

"Before you critique the battery life and intrinsic value of the
1GB IBM Microdrive...you might want to own one for yourself."

Randy Sluder
"Shoot more, shoot more often."

http://www.pbase.com/randy_sluder
http://www.sluderdesignstudio.com

Matt Dawson · Oct 22, 2002

Not true MicroDrives are very fast. They are around 20X. Also depending on the camera the speed of the card will make a big big difference.

Take this for example. http://www.dpreview.com/articles/mediacompare/page2.asp?sort=eos1djpeg

Very card sensitive (Also notice the MicroDrive is very fast.)

Don't think it only makes a difference with the pro cameras ether. The G2 with a Transcend vs. the G2 with a Sandisk will feel like a completely different camera.

Matt Dawson

BokenRose said:
Evan Scheessele said:

Evan

Moody said:

BokenRose said:

The Ridata 512 mb card costs $440 as opposed to $150 for the
Viking. Is there that much of a performance difference?

Click to expand...

$440 is too expensive!

you can better buy 2 x 256 mb transcend (or ridata) for about $180
(2 x $90)

there's a CF test on dpreview...

--
G3...come to daddy!!!

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
I like it: I like it Allot!

=pa= · Oct 22, 2002

Mark Wagar said:
Mark Wagar said:

the contact information for US on their website.

Click to expand...

Thanks for pointing the web info out to me.
However, I just checked their US site again and no info there about
CF. The Ritech web site in the US seems to only handle CD/DVD media
and duplacation.
Why should I have to hunt and hunt to find this company, if they
are really in this to build trust from the buying public shouldn't
they be easier to find than this?

http://www.Ritek.com.tw/ritek_e/office/index.htm

Mark Wagar · Oct 22, 2002

=pa= said:
http://www.Ritek.com.tw/ritek_e/office/index.htm

=p=

Yes, thanks I have seen this site, but no where do I see anything about flash memory warranty claim or customer service.

I do appreciate your suggestions, but my point still stands that this is a hard company to deal with.

There are good companys manufacturing this type of product and I will choose there products from now on.

Seems to me there must be a federal law on the books that pertains to the location of a manufacturer. I can think of no product that is packaged that does not have a name and address or at least a web address, (in this day in age) on the packege.

This may seem like a small thing, but when you spent this kind of money on a memory card, is customer service too much to ask for?

Mike K · Oct 22, 2002

If you have doubts go to the Storage and Media forum and do a search for Ridata, or Vasa, the owner of Powerinnumbers site. there is lots of praise for his customer service & responsiveness.
Mike K

Mark Wagar said:
=pa= said:

http://www.Ritek.com.tw/ritek_e/office/index.htm

Click to expand...

=p=
Yes, thanks I have seen this site, but no where do I see anything
about flash memory warranty claim or customer service.
I do appreciate your suggestions, but my point still stands that
this is a hard company to deal with.
There are good companys manufacturing this type of product and I
will choose there products from now on.
Seems to me there must be a federal law on the books that pertains
to the location of a manufacturer. I can think of no product that
is packaged that does not have a name and address or at least a web
address, (in this day in age) on the packege.
This may seem like a small thing, but when you spent this kind of
money on a memory card, is customer service too much to ask for?

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compact flash -- all the same?

Randy Sluder

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Radu®

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pixels120931

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Randy Sluder

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=pa=

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BokenRose

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Mark Wagar

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Mike K

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Matt Dawson

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=pa=

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