CF Cards the only way to go with the S2

[shutterbugtae]

After a long love affair with my S1 I am getting used to my new friend. The first thing I found out is I needed two new 256 CF cards to add to my one and my two 128's.I think that maybe two more would be nice or maybe a 512 BUT I am not sure that I want to throw that much on one card already having had a card go bad on me in the field and losing precious images forever!!!:mad: ,thank goodness it was only on half the card , I had never had that happen with the S1 and when it first happened and I consulted the S2 manual it had as one of the faults "Faulty Camera"!But I believe I have narrowed it down to one particular 256 card that I have had for awhile(whew!).anyone else have a similar S1 or S2 experience? "Read Error" message?TAE:confused: :)

[SSonnentag]

I've only taken a few hundres shots with my S2 so far, but every thing is working great. I bought two 512MB Compact Flash cards, a 1GB Microdrive and I keep my 128MB SmartMedia card in the camera that I used to use in my Olympus C-2100UZ. All of the above media have been working just fine so far. :)

Shawn

[culturalvisions]

When I view my 256 mb CF card in the S2, it shows thumbnails. When I try to download it, the Fine Pix software says the card is empty. I am not happy about this. Any suggestions? The Fuji is my first digital camera and I'm already longing for film.

PS: I have tried to download the images on several computers and through several readers including the camera with no luck.

Frank

http://www.culturalvisions.com

[SSonnentag]

It could be a media compatability issue or a format issue. Have you tried formating the CF using the camera? Don't format it using your computer.

I bought Transcent CF cards: Aaronix Express (http://store.yahoo.com/aaronix/51comflascar.html)

I haven't even formatted my CF cards though. My cheapo 6-in-1 SM, CF, memory stick, etc, etc, etc reader has no problem at all reading the CF card. My Microtech Cameramate USB reader reads them fine as well.

I still say to try using the camera to format the CF card and then try reading it again.

Shawn

[shutterbugtae]

Have you tried to re-format the card In The Camera then see if you can load images to your PC? I will be honest I have never had that problem and untill this "read error " thing I really had no other problems(other that the ones I created myself!:eek: )Good luck!!!TAE:)

[robinchee]

I'm using the RiData 256mb cf cards with no problem ..

[SunbirdPhotos]

I'm using two IBM 1GB Microdrives and each one is good for about 80 shots in RAW format. That's only 2+ rolls of 36 exposure film and that's marginal for me on a good day. I can see the day when I buy another Microdrive or two. On trips I'll take my laptop with me to download the Microdrives to free them up for another day of shooting. Since the laptop only has 6 gigs total hard drive space I'm deleting a lot of stuff from it to make space. Does anyone know anything about digital wallets and what their price range is?

Don
www.pbase.com/airlinerphotos

[NIKKOR]

Hi
The Digital Albums go for:

20 Gig $489.00
10 Gig $419.00
5 Gig $365.00
The prices above are for the "standard" Nixvue not the newer 'Vista" series add about $100.00 to the above prices for the Vista version.

I have the 20 Gig Digital Album and have been using it since it came out without any problems. It will be even more important to me with the bigger file sizes with the S2. I carry it with me all the time. It's very small and easy to carry out in the field, comes with a good quality padded carrying case. I was able to download 2x's a day for about 6 days before the battery needed to be recharged. With the new "travel" accessory kit (about $60.00) you can charge it up in the car or use the AA battery pack for longer life between charges.

You can also print directly out of the Digital Album to certain inkjet printers (I haven't done it yet)

Don

[nat]

I have one 128MB Kingston and one 128MB SimpleTech. Only Kingston give me a card error display on my S2. Unsuccessfully formatting in camera! So, no hope using it with my S2. Both of which still work fine with my Nikon Coolpix990.
I've just got a 1Gb IOMEGA Microdrive and 512MB Ridata 20x. No problem at all. From my experience, the Microdrive works noticably faster than my SimpleTech (more than one year old). Ridata is a little faster than Microdrive.
In my opinion, Microdrive is a perfect balance between performance and price.

Nat.

[D-Ray]

I just got my S2 today. My CF cards I used in my E-10 did not work in my S2. Seller said they were not compatible. So I purchase IBM 1gig Microdrive. Now, I can't get my cardreader to recognize. I have SanDisk USB reader. According to IBM website this is not 1 of the listed compatible readers. Any suggestions on preferred readers. I would like a true plug & play, for both my systems...PC w/ win 2000 and Mac G4 w/ OS 10.2. Thanks for any suggestions!

[NIKKOR]

Look into the Lexar FIREWIRE card reader. A 1 gig Microdrive can take over 20 ~ 25 minutes to download on a USB card reader.
The Lexar plugs right in and works fine (at least on my Windows 2000 machine). I had a Microtech firewire card reader that would not work right -- sent it back.

Don't forget that the S2 has a firewire connection built in.......

Don

[SSonnentag]

Just curious how much faster the firewire is than the USB. Do you have a guesstimate?

Shawn

[NIKKOR]

Shawn
This is not very scientific just the way it works for me on my system.......
Same files that take 20 some minutes on USB reader (USB 1.0)
now takes about 5 minutes on my Lexar Firewire card reader. I have never actually put a stop watch to it but I do casually look at the clock when it starts transferring and when it's finished.......
Whatever the real time is -----is a whole shorter than the USB times.....
Don

[teski]

Here's an article on USB 2.0 vs. Firewire, but it does also mention USB 1.1 which is what is in the S2.

http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/supergeek/story/0,24330,3393571,00.html

Enjoy.

Teski

[Tom V]

?.c<?-?]Originally posted by D-Ray [/i]
I just got my S2 today. My CF cards I used in my E-10 did not work in my S2. Seller said they were not compatible. So I purchase IBM 1gig Microdrive. Now, I can't get my cardreader to recognize. I have SanDisk USB reader. According to IBM website this is not 1 of the listed compatible readers. Any suggestions on preferred readers. I would like a true plug & play, for both my systems...PC w/ win 2000 and Mac G4 w/ OS 10.2. Thanks for any suggestions! [/QUOTE]

I too have an IBM 1 Gig Microdrive. It was part of a "travel package" so it included a Microdrive to PCMCIA slot adapter. The adapter is slightly different than my older Microtech Compact Flash to PCMCIA adapter to allow for the slightly thicker Microdrive. I use the Microdrive/adapter in my Macintosh G3PowerBook’s PCMCIA slot. I installed no software and everything worked fine. After the files are in my PowerBook, I transfer them to my G4 desktop via ethernet.

I still have not tried using the direct FireWire connection from the S2 to the G4.

[Julian Tracy]

This web site has the Lexar firewire reader in stock for $31.00

http://www.enpc.com/cgi-bin/enpc/RW011001.html?mv_pc=Dealnews

Just bought one - should receive within a few days, USB speed is SLOW!

Regards,

Julian

[turbo-944]

I just returned from an evening wedding. I shot on IBM 1GB microdrives and have just finished downloading to my PC from the Lexar firewire reader. I didn't check the time until the last drive, and it wasn't quite full. 228 files totaling 960 MB in 5 minutes flat. Not bad. I found the reader at Sybercom Information, Inc. the drive was $37 with free UPS GROUND shipping. This is the same drive that was referred to earlier from Tallyns @ about 80 bucks... The following is the link to the Sybercom site. If for some reason it doesn't work just go to sybercom.com...

http://www.sybercom.com/cgi-bin/syb...v_pc=PriceWatch

Hope this economical option helps!!!


Dan. :) :D :cool: :eek: