why smart nedia and not CF?

[francesco]

Hi people, I'm very new to digital imaging.
I buyed some week ago a S2 Pro and I saw in the documantation that is recomended to use only smart-media type.
What is the difference between a smart media and a Compact Flash? Can I use a 1 GB Compact Flash card? What type?
Thank you very much.

[justinb]

Hi Francesco,

If you search thru the back threads here and at DPReview, you will find out more information than you want regarding memory cards...but, in short -

Fuji recommends the use of either smart media or microdrives in the S2. Smart media cards are only available, I believe, up to 128 Mb in size. Microdrives are available up to 1 gig in size, with larger versions soon to be in the works. They are the cheapest option per megabyte, although that gap has been closing in the last six months or so. Some people, myself included, worry about their durability since they are essentially a small hard disk, and probably more prone to failure under harsh use, as well as high altitudes. The largest pro shop in my town no longer sells microdrives due to the number of failure related returns.

Although CF cards are not expressly recommended by Fuji, many people still use them. They are available in sizes up to 1 gig, with 2 and 4 gig versions coming out. For some reason, the S2 is more finicky about what type of card you feed it than the S1 was. None of the cards that I used in my S1 would work in my S2. Most people seem to report success with Lexar and Ridata cards. In my case, I purchased a Microtech card from a local Fuji dealer that works fine, and I can tell you that Sandisk Ultra and Simple Tech cards did not (in my case).

There is a website (that I cannot remember the link to at the moment - I believe it was either on DPReview.com or Robgalbraith.com) that lists compatible CF cards for the S2 and their respective speeds. I'm sure that someone else here can come up with the exact link if you don't run across it in your searches.

Justin