gcs118

I am going to purchase some more memory for my digital camera before vacation, but I want to know one thing. I know the CompactFlash cards you can toss around and drop and they will be just fine, but what about IBM's microdrives? How fragile are they? If I spend the money for a good one, I don't want it breaking on me! Thanks.

tonkabui

in my experience working at the paper, we had microdrives for a while. even when we made sure they were never dropped or abused to any severe magnitude, they still broke. on the other hand, the first 128mb card we got about three years ago is still going strong. i had a microdrive on a shoot once and it took a shat right after the third shot. luckily, i traveled with backup and was able to continue the assignment, but that card was toast. for vacation pics that might be a once in a lifetime kind of thing, i wouldn't trust the microdrives. 512mb cf cards can be had for about 250-280. not bad at all for bulletproof security.

ZoomZoomH

solid state storage will always be more rugged than discs w/ moving parts.

flash memory all the way

JJB

Agreed! After talking with a bunch of people about their experiences with the IBM drives vs. FLASH cards I went with a 512MB card for the new camera.

gcs118

Alright, sounds like CF cards are the way to go then. I had found the 1GB Microdrive for $183, so I was very interested. I still might go for it, we'll see though. Thanks for all the input, I will definitely weight it into my final decision.

Opus

Plus CF is much faster than the Microdrive, which is a real plus if you're shooting rapidly or at higher resolution. Less wait time between shots.

gcs118

Thank you guys very much. Since you forced me to look into the CF more, I found a 1GB CF card for only $157 total! Better than $183 for a Microdrive plus shipping. I am getting excited now about my digi cam. I just need some new lens, flashes, batteries, and oh yeah...more money!

Opus

What kind of camera?

I've got a Canon G2. Great camera overall. I'm looking to get a waterproof cover eventually so I can take it kayaking.

ZoomZoomH

not really

1 GB = 256MB x 4

you got 256MB for $45

if he got 4 256MB cards at $45, he would have paid $180 for 1GB total memory

according to my math, $180 is more than $157

good find gcs118!

JJB

as long as they are the newer faster transfer rate cards that would be a great deal for 512MB, when you're into big megapixel cameras (5 and up) the speed of the card starts to play big time into the shooting speed of the camera (recovery time after taking a pic and being ready for the next one). I know that most cameras today also come with a decent RAM buffer inside them, but I can tell you from personal experience that the faster card does make a difference.

gcs118

I've also got the Canon Powershot G2. I think it's an awesome camera, works very well and takes high quality stills and decent videos as well. Do they make a waterproof cover as an accessory, or is it universal or custom?

gcs118

Where are 512MBs for $60-70? I wouldn't mind getting a couple of those. Turns out the sale ended on the 1GB card, so I missed it by one damn day. Went up $50. Like hell I'm buying it now...gotta find a better deal.

Opus

Yeah, I love this camera. The only real drawback I've found is it doesnt do so well for macro photography. I've got the lens adapter and some +1 diopter filters that helps a little though. I'd like to try the telephoto atachment sometime.

Canon makes waterproof surrounds for alot of their cameras, but not for the G2 for some reason. This is the only other one I've found:
http://www.keepitdrycase.com/ewdig.html

Maxx Mazda

Compact flash? SD is the only way to go!

gcs118

Good find. My 1GB CF card should be here within the week. I think mine was around $160. Good deal!