Pete Chipman
01-20-2006, 10:30 AM
First off, yes it's still working.
But it adds (I think) light to a debate that's gone on for some time....the reliability of a microdrive card vs. the solid-state compact flash. Michael, over at Luminous-Landscape (who I have the upmost respect for) has long argued that people who insist on spending more on compact flash cards over microdrive cards are basing their argument over insufficient evidence, and are not paying attention to the fact that people have used microdrives with no problems in many adverse conditions.
Well, as much as I respect his opinion, I've always forked out the extra dough for the compact flash verison of whatever memory-size card I was buying at the time. I just couldn't picture a microdrive, with its moving parts and all, surviving a dunk in a stream, drop down the side of a mountain, etc., etc., compared to a solid-state compact flash. At the same time, I often wondered if I was indeed being overly cautious based on no experience between the two designs and came close on more than one ocassion to purchasing a microdrive.
The last time I considered purchasing a microdrive was when I was looking at the price of 4gb cards....the microdrive version at the time was more than $100 cheaper. My fears came to play again, and I spent the extra on the compact flash version.
Well, last night after shooting a hockey game, I made the cardinal sin of forgetting one of my 4gb cards in my jean pocket and then putting it in the drier (they were still clean, just got a bit wet in the rain).
Anyways, this morning I went to get my jeans out of the drier and....there was my 4gb card sitting inside the drier. I took it out and saw that the heat had popped the cover open on both sides (take apart one of the cheap 32mb cards that came with your camera and you'll see what I mean...but only do it if you don't care if the card might not work again). I snapped it back together again and then went to test it out on my compter....It wouldn't fit in my card reader, as the plastic at the end of the slot guides on the card had melted slightly. I scrapped the ends clear so that the card would fit in the reader, and presto...the card works fine!
Now, I'm not saying that I didn't get lucky, I'm not saying that the card shouldn't have gotten there in the first place, and I'm not saying that it's not possible that a microdrive, with a moving, spinning tiny drive wouldn't have survived just as well.....but I really doubt it. I'll stick with the compact flash cards for now.
Pete.
But it adds (I think) light to a debate that's gone on for some time....the reliability of a microdrive card vs. the solid-state compact flash. Michael, over at Luminous-Landscape (who I have the upmost respect for) has long argued that people who insist on spending more on compact flash cards over microdrive cards are basing their argument over insufficient evidence, and are not paying attention to the fact that people have used microdrives with no problems in many adverse conditions.
Well, as much as I respect his opinion, I've always forked out the extra dough for the compact flash verison of whatever memory-size card I was buying at the time. I just couldn't picture a microdrive, with its moving parts and all, surviving a dunk in a stream, drop down the side of a mountain, etc., etc., compared to a solid-state compact flash. At the same time, I often wondered if I was indeed being overly cautious based on no experience between the two designs and came close on more than one ocassion to purchasing a microdrive.
The last time I considered purchasing a microdrive was when I was looking at the price of 4gb cards....the microdrive version at the time was more than $100 cheaper. My fears came to play again, and I spent the extra on the compact flash version.
Well, last night after shooting a hockey game, I made the cardinal sin of forgetting one of my 4gb cards in my jean pocket and then putting it in the drier (they were still clean, just got a bit wet in the rain).
Anyways, this morning I went to get my jeans out of the drier and....there was my 4gb card sitting inside the drier. I took it out and saw that the heat had popped the cover open on both sides (take apart one of the cheap 32mb cards that came with your camera and you'll see what I mean...but only do it if you don't care if the card might not work again). I snapped it back together again and then went to test it out on my compter....It wouldn't fit in my card reader, as the plastic at the end of the slot guides on the card had melted slightly. I scrapped the ends clear so that the card would fit in the reader, and presto...the card works fine!
Now, I'm not saying that I didn't get lucky, I'm not saying that the card shouldn't have gotten there in the first place, and I'm not saying that it's not possible that a microdrive, with a moving, spinning tiny drive wouldn't have survived just as well.....but I really doubt it. I'll stick with the compact flash cards for now.
Pete.