S2 Downloading Oddity W/ Firewire

[davsachz]

I added a firewire card to speed up downloading today. I found that when the S2 is set to USB PC downloading it downloads files faster through Firewire than when I set it to Firewire PC download. About 2X as fast. I'm curious If anyone else ever saw this ? Dave

[Swampy]

Originally posted by davsachz
I added a firewire card to speed up downloading today. I found that when the S2 is set to USB PC downloading it downloads files faster through Firewire than when I set it to Firewire PC download. About 2X as fast. I'm curious If anyone else ever saw this ? Dave

I don't know exactly how you came to 2 times faster, but here's what I did:

Firewire download mode: 47.567 megs (10 pics) took 39.7 seconds.
USB download mode: 47.521 megs (11 different pics) took 39.7 seconds.
USB download mode: 47.521 megs (11 same pics) took 2.05 seconds to overwrite the existing files.
USB download mode: 47.521 megs (11 same pics) took 3.53 seconds to re-copy the pics into the same directory after deleting them. So basically, I copied the pics over, then deleted them, then re-copied the same pics over again to the same spot.

What I think you may be experiencing is Caching, where the files aren't really deleted and windows (or should be the same for MAC) took 3.53 seconds to compare the data and just re-instate the file instead of actually copying the original files back over since there weren't any differences OR, in the other case, it took it 2.05 seconds to compare the current files and just leave the current ones there.

Now, if you're only experiencing 2x difference when using the scenario of overwriting or re-copying above, then you're PC is in dire need of an upgrade. :) If you're really experiencing (with different picture sets) a 2x speed increase, I'd like to hear from others if they've seen this before!

Test Criteria:

P4 at around 3 ghz with 1gig Rambus memory, Firewire port through a Sound Blaster Audigy (back of the card) copying from a Kingston CD512 512MB CF card through the firewire cable (Belkin gold 4 pin to 6 pin cable).

Timer: Myself, a $300 dollar Citizen (same company used for the Olympics for timing - not that that may mean much these days) and a highly trained hand/eye coordination by playing a minimum of 4 hours of video games per day. :P

Let me know how you were coming up with your numbers!

Bryan

[davsachz]

Thanks for your very detailed reply. I think I found the problem. I found a patch for Win 98SE for Firewire that improves speed up to 300% or so claims Microsoft. Once Installed it took my download down to 45 seconds for 12 5MB Files. My equipment really needs updated. 450Mhz PII 396MB Ram, IBM 7200rpm 40GB hard drive Maxtor Firewire card, Ridata 512MB CF Card downloaded through the camera. It appears that it doesn't matter if the Camera is set up for USB or Firewire download it auto detects. And I think my initial speed differences were due to the Cache like you thought. Dave

[KPRussell]

Originally posted by swampy101
I don't know exactly how you came to 2 times faster, but here's what I did:

Firewire download mode: 47.567 megs (10 pics) took 39.7 seconds.
USB download mode: 47.521 megs (11 different pics) took 39.7 seconds.
USB download mode: 47.521 megs (11 same pics) took 2.05 seconds to overwrite the existing files.
USB download mode: 47.521 megs (11 same pics) took 3.53 seconds to re-copy the pics into the same directory after deleting them. So basically, I copied the pics over, then deleted them, then re-copied the same pics over again to the same spot.

What I think you may be experiencing is Caching, where the files aren't really deleted and windows (or should be the same for MAC) took 3.53 seconds to compare the data and just re-instate the file instead of actually copying the original files back over since there weren't any differences OR, in the other case, it took it 2.05 seconds to compare the current files and just leave the current ones there.

Now, if you're only experiencing 2x difference when using the scenario of overwriting or re-copying above, then you're PC is in dire need of an upgrade. :) If you're really experiencing (with different picture sets) a 2x speed increase, I'd like to hear from others if they've seen this before!

Test Criteria:

P4 at around 3 ghz with 1gig Rambus memory, Firewire port through a Sound Blaster Audigy (back of the card) copying from a Kingston CD512 512MB CF card through the firewire cable (Belkin gold 4 pin to 6 pin cable).

Timer: Myself, a $300 dollar Citizen (same company used for the Olympics for timing - not that that may mean much these days) and a highly trained hand/eye coordination by playing a minimum of 4 hours of video games per day. :P

Let me know how you were coming up with your numbers!

Bryan

I'm confused Bryan, you got the same download times for Firewire (400 MBS) and USB 1.1 (12MBS)? I feel like a chump for picking up the Firewire card I just got. I have been using a Dazzle 6 in 1 reader and taking the Microdrive in and out of the camera to reduce battery drain. I started to think I might wear down or possibly damage pins though and got the Firewire card to download straight from the camera. I was going to test it this weekend.

I appreciate your input!

[janetG]

i've been using the camera for download since i got it - i really don't want to handle the cards - so as little as possible. the firewire port is just fine for me - download speeds are not too bad -

but....i've got my software set up to delete the files off the camera once they've been downloaded...is this a bad idea?

janetg

[Swampy]

Originally posted by KPRussell
I'm confused Bryan, you got the same download times for Firewire (400 MBS) and USB 1.1 (12MBS)? I feel like a chump for picking up the Firewire card I just got. I have been using a Dazzle 6 in 1 reader and taking the Microdrive in and out of the camera to reduce battery drain. I started to think I might wear down or possibly damage pins though and got the Firewire card to download straight from the camera. I was going to test it this weekend.

I appreciate your input!

Re-read the first post by davsachz. We weren't talking about the actual Firewire and USB interface on the PC. Only using the firewire port on the camera to the PC and changing the setting on the camera from USB Downloading and 1394 Downloading in the menu on the camera. davsachz thought he was getting faster download speeds when he downloaded his pictures in USB Downloading a second time after being in 1394 Downloading mode where the PC had just cached the pictures and actually copied them from cache memory already in the PC.

As for wearing down the pins on the card... I wouldn't worry about it too much. As with any memory product, I'm sure you'll get at least a few years use off of them where the card you have now will be pretty much worthless by the time you "wear it out" and 5gb memory cards will only be $150 bucks. :)

Bryan

[Swampy]

Originally posted by janetG
but....i've got my software set up to delete the files off the camera once they've been downloaded...is this a bad idea?


I'm a jerk when it comes to data safety, so in my opinion, I think it's a bad idea to delete the pictures off the card immediately after downloading. What if there was some little freak error during transfer and the one (or God forbid, ALL of them) awesome shot that you took would only display halfway or not at all?

Not wanting to handle the card is fine. The camera transfers probably just as fast as any card reader would. I would transfer the pictures and at least view them on the PC first before deleting them. Myself, I copy them to the PC, view them, then back them up on a server, then delete the whole directory structure on the card with my card reader. Once in a while I'll use the camera to format the card to wipe everything on the card as well.

Another regimine that I'm on is that once a month, I'll take all the pictures from that month and back them up to CD. Some people might want to do it every couple of weeks since they may take more pictures than me. Last weekend, I filled 5 CD's with 700 shots. This took half an hour from my time, but it's worth it knowing that they're on something that it pretty hard to damage, short of a fire and mishandling, which is kinda hard to do and as for fire, I put the CD's in a firesafe. :) Afterall, for some of you, this is your livelyhood. Many people don't comprehend data safety. Some day it will happen to 90% of you out there. Just like owning a car. Some day 90% of you will get anything from a ding in your door to a fender bender to a totalling of the car. Think about that... Ding=lost a great picture or two. Fender Bender-Lost a day's shoot. Total the car=lose all/most of your pictures.

Anyway, off my data safety soapbox. Told you I'm a jerk about it. ;)

[bjnicholls]

My Sandisk 1394 cardreader is faster than the camera. I haven't done timings, but it is perceptibly faster even without a stopwatch to verify the difference.

I prefer using the cardreader for most transfers. I don't have to find a clear spot to rest the camera and I don't have to remove the CR123 batteries (or have them draining while the camera is powered on. I also like that the cardreader doesn't spawn the Fuji viewer ultility. I prefer to get the files into a folder with a minimum of fuss. Using the camera, you have to shut down the viewer before you can shut down the camera as a removable device properly.