Tom V
September 30th, 2002, 07:43 PM
I went to a Formula One race on Sunday. At first I was shooting with a 512mb 24x Lexar Compact Flash card.
When it got full, I switched to a 1gig IBM MicroDrive -UGH:mad:
I missed several shots waiting for the drive to spin up. The camera won't shoot until the MicroDrive is up to speed, which is only a second or two, but that way to long when you are shooting objects going180mph to 55mph to 150mph around some corners. I ended up holding my finger on the shutter before the cars even came into sight (using battery power) and prefocusing on the aprox area the cars would be in as I start my pan. It was not as easy as shooting film, or for that matter, with the solid CF card.
Shooting in a studio with static subjects (plastic parts, flowers, motorcycles on stands), the MicroDrive is an affordable way to store lots of shots. Shooting action, candids, or anything that requires you to fire off a shot at an exact moment - you would do better with a solid Compact Flash card.
I also think that the solid cards are much more reliable than a delicate little hard drive. I don't think I will ever buy a MicroDrive again. I will use my current MicroDrive as a backup only. Maybe I will end up using it as a PCMCIA hard drive on my laptop.
When it got full, I switched to a 1gig IBM MicroDrive -UGH:mad:
I missed several shots waiting for the drive to spin up. The camera won't shoot until the MicroDrive is up to speed, which is only a second or two, but that way to long when you are shooting objects going180mph to 55mph to 150mph around some corners. I ended up holding my finger on the shutter before the cars even came into sight (using battery power) and prefocusing on the aprox area the cars would be in as I start my pan. It was not as easy as shooting film, or for that matter, with the solid CF card.
Shooting in a studio with static subjects (plastic parts, flowers, motorcycles on stands), the MicroDrive is an affordable way to store lots of shots. Shooting action, candids, or anything that requires you to fire off a shot at an exact moment - you would do better with a solid Compact Flash card.
I also think that the solid cards are much more reliable than a delicate little hard drive. I don't think I will ever buy a MicroDrive again. I will use my current MicroDrive as a backup only. Maybe I will end up using it as a PCMCIA hard drive on my laptop.