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Synotic · May 22, 2003, 11:41 PM

OK, I recently bought a Canon PowerShot G3 and I wanted to get some additional storage as the 32 MB storage isn't enough. I am planning to have it over vacation, and I probably will take second to best quality shots. 300 or so should be good so I am looking at a 256 or 512 MB solution.

Does anyone have any compact flash suggestions? I really want to be on the safe side and get a reliable card. Viking and Amazon have a combined 10 + 20 dollar off deal on a 256MB CF card equaling about $34. This is a good value but a good half of the reviewers claim CF read problems. Is this specific to this card/Viking or compact flash cards in general? I'll be fairly safe with it, keeping it either in the camera or in the case.

Then there is the microdrive option, it's a better value, but still it starts out a GB and is rather expensive as an overall cost. But if it's more reliable, i'd be willing to make the investment. Is it really safe to have a miniature hard drive the size of a compact flash card? Movable parts and whatnot?

I am really concerned on what to get because I want something reliable, because it wouldn't be a happy scene if I paid an excessive amount for storage and it corrupted all my photos.

Thanks

icruise · May 23, 2003, 03:47 AM

I've never actually had any problems wiith compact flash memory, and I've used everything from SanDisk to bargain-basement brands, as well as the IBM microdrive. The problem with the Microdrive is that it is slower than compact flash because it has to spin up every time you use it. And it takes more battery power. I think if you go with a well-known manufacturer like Viking or Sandisk you will be fine.

TMLai · May 23, 2003, 08:43 AM

You can take your camera to the store and test out the CF card before you buy. If it work the first time, it will work forever. CF always provided the most reliability over the microdrive. Remember those solid state ultra reliable harddisk offer by Quantum some year back!

Have said that, I am using a Microdrive at the moment. At the time I brought it, the price density ratio was much better then CF. But it no longer the case today.

itai195 · May 23, 2003, 12:35 PM

I've read a lot about this and, frankly, CF card manufacturers are all pretty much the same. Even a relatively elitist digital camera site like dpreview thinks so...

That said, the best deal I've seen lately is for the Transcend 30x 256MB cards at newegg.com. Last I checked, they were $54. You can find 256MB cards for a little less, but not 30x cards. A lot of people at dpreview also buy these cards and I haven't heard of any problems.

klinux · May 23, 2003, 05:34 PM

Go with CF; solid state is more reliable than moving parts. Dell sells the 1GB CF for ~$170, which is cheaper than Microdrive.

Eug · May 23, 2003, 09:42 PM

Originally posted by itai195:
I've read a lot about this and, frankly, CF card manufacturers are all pretty much the same. Even a relatively elitist digital camera site like dpreview thinks so...

That said, the best deal I've seen lately is for the Transcend 30x 256MB cards at newegg.com. Last I checked, they were $54. You can find 256MB cards for a little less, but not 30x cards. A lot of people at dpreview also buy these cards and I haven't heard of any problems.

Actually, dpreview says fast cards are, well, faster. (However, some moderately priced cards which advertise fast speeds are not as fast as other cheaper brands.)

However, it also depends on the camera. The older cameras can't really make use of the extra speed.

Synotic · May 24, 2003, 08:36 AM

I am more concerned about those reviews that said they bought the CF card it worked great, and then they started getting CF errors and losing their images. Is this due to their negligence, or just sub-compatibility? Thanks again