Reusing CF cards & portable storage media

Discussion in 'Badminton Photography' started by Cheung, Oct 29, 2006.

  1. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Title of the thread isn't quite accurate but here goes.

    CF cards have come down quite a lot in price and gone up in capacity (8Gb now).

    However, the future trend will be larger megapixels cameras taking up even more memory.

    Obviously, this means you end up having a collection of CF cards. Mine is rather small at the moment - 1x1Gb and 2x2Gb.

    In a situation where you might take a lot of photos (like in our favourite sport), you can dowload the photos to a portable harddrive and reuse the card.

    So here's what's been running through my mind:

    1) CF data is pretty stable. Is the data in the harddrive as stable? Is the hardrive more fragile when it comes to impacts and therefore the risk of data loss greater

    2) what about downloading the data? Is it possible that the data may not be fully downloaded. After all, if there is no screen, it's not possible to 100% verify if you have downloaded the majority of pictures?

    3) Given 1 & 2, should the portable harddrive be viewed simply as a means of backup to what's stored in the CF card?

    4) Given point 2, would it be better to get a media player where at least the files can be viewed and confirmed? (more expensive though)

    5) Does all of this mean getting another CF card is inevitable? And the next one is probably going to be a 4Gb one?:p (Imagine moving to a 12 megapixel camera - that would eat up the 1Gb CF card pretty quickly making the utility of the CF card poorer)
     
  2. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    no doubt solid memory is preferable due to ease of setup, i/o and transportation. I have a dvd writer and i hardly use it. I use my HD to backup for some stuffs from the CF.
     
  3. storkbill

    storkbill Regular Member

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    Those with colour LCD screens for image viewing cost more than twice as much as those without. And you are still at risk because all the data is on a single harddisk. Also if you shoot raw, no guarantee that you can view the files (probably yes, but no gurarantee if a newer camera comes out).

    Better to buy 2 storage devices (if paranoid, two different brands of storage devices) without colour LCD screens. This way you have the protection of the data in 2 separate HDDs (if paranoid, two different brands of HDD).
     
  4. red00ecstrat

    red00ecstrat Regular Member

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    in fact, storing data in a harddrive is pretty safe too! it can withstand a certain degree of impact when it's not running!;) so, if u are planning to store images, data and video files. i would recommend u to get a harddrive.

    not quite correct. even my low end digital wallet has a simple display which show me the process of data copying. from 0% to 100%. that's reliable!

    i would say it this way. cf card (for primary storage). digital wallet/pmp (for temporary/secondary storage). a portable harddrive (final destination).

    a pmp is just an enhanced product of a digital wallet. and indeed, we don't need to worry too much about the confirmation problem.


    from a convenience point of view. yes, it is inevitable. but what u've got now are quite enough. at least for the next 2-3 years!
     
  5. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    But that shows the data is copying. It doesn't what data are on the drive, right?:confused:


    So basically, is it quite safe to
    1) download the CF data on to the drive
    2) then delete all the images
    3) re-use the CF card again, all in the same photo session?
     
  6. red00ecstrat

    red00ecstrat Regular Member

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    yes, that's right. but my point is that. why don't u trust it?:D perhaps u need a pmp cheung!:D

    yes again.:D i did that at the hk open 05 and 06 with roughly 20 gb of images stored in my digital wallet. it had never failed me!
     
  7. silentheart

    silentheart Regular Member

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    One point I would like to add.
    Any CF based media (CF, SD, MS etc...) can only write to access about 2000~4000 before the memory start to corrupt. Portable HD has 100x more write to access.
    This is just my opinion. It is always good to keep old CF card as backup. Just in case you run out of storage, just pup in another one. In case of main one goes bad, you can pup in the older one while you wait for RMA the broken one.
     
  8. storkbill

    storkbill Regular Member

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    You are absolutely correct. even the file verify function isn't foolproof. As far as I know, total failure is rare for newer storage devices (in earlier generation devices there were known problems, esp compatbility with certain brands of CF) , but you may experience the occasion 1 or 2 pics that fail to copy over properly.
     
  9. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Storkbill, you got my point.

    red, it's not a case of trust. It's basically a system of checking and verifying.
    You only see a light that indicates "download". We cannot see any file names to verify the data. I guess it's partly due to the nature of my job!

    One day you'll assume you had the files downloaded but the pictures were lost. Hope that day is not when you are taking badminton photos:eek:

    Maybe I do need a pmp. Oh well still can wait. Plenty of others toys to play with first, colour management, CS2, video, new lenses or cameras:)eek: future;)) hehehe
     
    #9 Cheung, Oct 30, 2006
    Last edited: Oct 30, 2006
  10. red00ecstrat

    red00ecstrat Regular Member

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    ok i know what u mean cheung.
    for your job. then i will suggest u to bring your laptop as your secondary storage device. after all, save all data to a portable harddrive for storage then burn a dvd for an extra copy. that would be safe.
     
  11. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    When I meant my job, it was referring to my normal daytime work. If something goes wrong, a person could die within 3 minutes. That's why I like to understand each step.

    Two portable harddrives for downloading might be quite an acceptable tradeoff of weight and safety of data.
     
  12. morewood

    morewood Regular Member

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    No not at all, I shoot with a 10mp camera in RAW format and get 150+ shots too a 1GB CF card so your 5GB's should give you ample space too shoot all weekend without needing more storage. Also bear in mind that certain camera makers now are moving away from CF onto SD.
     
  13. AChan

    AChan Regular Member

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    plus regular badminton games.
    Agreed, pmp & laptop are too expensive to me if only just for storage.
     
  14. storkbill

    storkbill Regular Member

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    I guess your 10mp has some sort of compressed raw format. My 8Mp camera gets about 110-120 at high iso.

    If there is good stuff to shoot, be it half a day of badminton or half a day in Bharatphur National Park, I'll use around 4Gb shooting RAW. So one weekend of good shooting will be 16Gb for me....
     
  15. morewood

    morewood Regular Member

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    Your trigger happy:p

    In those circumstances I would suggest two CF cards, a laptop computer and a card reader. (oh and spare batteries as well).
     
  16. storkbill

    storkbill Regular Member

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    hardly. 4Gb in half a day is modest amount if the photographic opportunities are good. And we are talking about action photography such as badminton. If you I was shooting still life or garden flowers, i think a 128Mb card could be good enough for the whole day. :p

    I don't have a spare battery, i get at least 1,000 shots on one battery so that's ok....
     
  17. ants

    ants Regular Member

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    Anyone tried Sandisk Extreme 4G and Ultra 4G? Someone just gave me a new Extrme 4G. But i'm planing to get another one.. dont know which one is better.
     
  18. BadFever

    BadFever Regular Member

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    Definitely get the Extreme. It can read/write a lot faster. The speed to write to the card will effect the time the camera initialize and get ready for the next shot.
     
  19. storkbill

    storkbill Regular Member

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    Sorry, but the speed difference if any between the Extreme and Ultra is unnoticeable.
     
  20. lightsmash

    lightsmash Regular Member

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    Arent CF card going to reach EOL?
    they are quite phat. :eek:
     

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