THSCC Forums

Now that I have a fun digital SLR, it seems I need to upgrade some computer components to speed up the download of pictures.

I've already decided to stick with high speed flash cards (40-80X range), so those should not be the bottle neck. As of now, I'm using a basic card reader via a USB-1 port. SLOW is the result. Dumping 1GB of pictures takes a while.

My computer does not have USB 2.0, but it does have Firewire (400). The easy solution for me is to get a Firewire card reader ($30-40), that will increase throughput about 3X.

We also have a laptop, I've not confirmed if it's USB 1 or 2, but I know it doens't have Firewire. To get decent speed with the laptop I have many choices, I just wonder which one makes te most sense.

1) Firewire PC card (under $100), then use the Firewire reader.
2) PC card Compact Flash reader (cheap).

I just wonder what the throughput of the PC Card reader is, will it be limited by the speed of the card or the speed of the reader?

In the event that the laptop *is* USB 2, then I just get a cheap USB 2 reader.

Anyone have a comment about the "slow" CF cards, and will I see a tangible speed difference with te camera (assume rapid shooting).

Any better ideas?

Scott

Scott,

I would suggest you try and get the fastest card you can afford, especially if you plan to shoot quick multi-frame RAW or hi-res jpeg formats. A faster card will also speed up file transfers to your computer if you have a fast connection.

A good website on CF performance to checkout is http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_ ... p?cid=6007


As for the card reader, I would get both. A CF PC card adapter comes in handy if you want to travel light. I travel a bit with my laptops so, space and weight are a concern.

Jeff

_________________
GS - 17 Honda Civic Si
STS - 91 Honda Civic Si
S04 - 00 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS

http://www.kestrelracing.com

Either the card itself or the reader could be a bottleneck. It's possible for a device to be USB 2.0 _compliant_ and still not be any faster. Different flash chips, regardless of their "high speed" claims, can have different speeds, and certain readers/cameras may or may not be optimized to particular quirky cards.

I used to work at a place that designed CPUs for digital cameras and we wrote code for them as well: there were *plenty* of flash cards which absolutely did not meet the actual electrical/timing specs that they were supposed to. (And yeah, I'm talking about flash cards that you could buy right down the street, sold in the millions, big brands.) In order for the flash to function up to the level we desired, we would have to write special software for each case.

So, what I'm telling you is that you'll need to look beyond 'usb or firewire' and find something that actually evaluates the different products in use.

Cheers,
Anders

_________________
Lina Racing: As Seen On Radio

That's all good info, but I think it boils down to Scott needing a faster reader. You need a USB 2.0 reader for your desktop. Using a PC Card reader for the laptop is a great plan (the PC Card bus is plenty fast). Go buy a $20 USB 2.0 card for the desktop. Problem solved.

Then also note that if you use a USB 2.0 hub in the equation, do NOT plug any USB 1 devices into the hub or all your devices are slowed to USB 1 speeds.


--Donnie

FWIW - Buy.com seems to have a good deal on Kingston Elite Pro series CF right now. Apply the $10 email coupon and the $20 rebate nets a 2GB card for about $105 . Free shipping, no tax.
The Elite Pro certainly isn't the fastest CF on the market but seems capable of write speeds up to 3.5MB/s. So unless the camera is really fast its not likely to limit anything in the system.

Frank