anyone have a good card reader?

[crackboy]

I have seriously gone through 3 card readers since i got my dslr. Needs to be able to read compact flash and not die after 2-3 months

[blackhand]

This is something I seriously need but keep putting off. Fuck I hate my card reader.

[saaka!]

I went through a similar scenario and then got a Lexar. It was about 80 bucks. No problems since, its been about 3 years.

[crackboy]

yea i have been getting by just plugging my camera into my computer but the connection is slow that it freezes lightroom, and now it won't open if i have it hooked up.

[Touring_Sedan]

My personal preference is this one....


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820134753

It's really compact, the USB cable is built in, and it handles a ton of formats. The only drawback, if you can call it that, is that the cable is short. I just plug the card in to the reader and THEN plug the reader into the USB port.
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http://www.lexar.com/readers/pro_udma_dualslot.html
We've got about 30 of these at my shop. They're pretty slick and have worked flawlessly so far. They're quick as shit.
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http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-High-Speed-U...#ht_3084wt_989
I picked this one up off of eghey around 5 years ago. It's also quick as shit, and has worked flawlessly.




The last two are UDMA readers. They access the system a little differently and are theoretically faster.

[jm2e]

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Lexar-Dual-Slot-Memory-Reader-RW035-001/dp/B0013TRZI2/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1276009125&sr=8-1-fkmr1"]Amazon.com: Lexar Dual-Slot USB 2.0 Flash Memory Card Reader RW035-001: Electronics[/ame]

[Todds]

I have a couple of old single slot lexar CF readers - they have worked for many years.

[bmg97]

I'm using this and have had no issues. It only costs $ 10.00

[Gunder]

I use the LEXAR pro CF card that has a FW800 interface. The thing is built like a tank, fast as hell and has ZERO issues. Was about $80 and worth every cent.

[upallnight]

got firewire? the lexar rocks and FW is the only way the interface won't be the limiting factor with your UDMA cards. the theoretical limit for FW800 is 80MB/s, and in practice i more typically get ~45MB/s (even with a 60MB/s UDMA card), so keep that in mind if you're thinking about paying a premium for 60MB/s or 90MB/s cards (and a hefty premium it is, particularly for the latter).

if you've only got FW400, you can get a cable to convert the output, but you'll sacrifice a bit of speed--and still likely come out ahead of the practical speed of USB2.

UDMA & FW are significant when you're downloading 16GB of images on a card.

stated specs for USB2 exceed that of FW400 (but not of FW800), but in practice, USB2 is far, far slower.

you can [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QU1QVG?ie=UTF8&tag=ericbalogcom-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeAS IN=B000QU1QVG"]get the lexar from amazon for ~$60[/ame], delivered.

there's [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013TRZI2?ie=UTF8&tag=ericbalogcom-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeAS IN=B0013TRZI2"]also the USB2 version[/ame], but it's slower in practice. it is only $30, though, and it accepts SD & CF.

[FreakofSnow]

School me.....why do I need one of these? Currently, I just hook up the cable from camera to PC and wait for them to download.

[crackboy]

no firewire for me. macbook from the year after they got rid of it.

might have to check out that kingston since i don;t care abut a short cable

[upallnight]

School me.....why do I need one of these? Currently, I just hook up the cable from camera to PC and wait for them to download.

first off, is the current interface usb2? that helps. (some cameras claim usb2 but still operate at usb1 speeds.)

are you dumping data from large cards (8, 16, 32 or 64gb)? how often?

how much is your time worth? if you don't mind plugging in your camera and getting dinner, then it's not worth spending the money. if you need to download the images and get to work, then $60 isn't too much, depending on how you value your time.

as an example, i've seen tests of FW800 vs d70 (usb1.1) and 20d (usb2). the d70's transfer rate was 28x as long as the FW800; the 20d's was nearly 9x as long.

what does this mean? well, for a full 16gb card you're looking at nearly 12 minutes via FW800 vs 104 minutes for the 20d and 336 minutes (not a typo) for the d70.

do you care about an hour or 5?

[crackboy]

yea my d70 crashes lightroom since it takes forever on a semi full card

[arild]

Just to throw something different into the mix, I bought a Sandisk Extreme firewire reader with UDMA capabilities in january. It is pretty awesome, can only read CF, and has a very sleak alu finish to it. Fast AND pretty. Dumping a full 4gig CF via my 1D/USB took well over an hour and a half, now it takes mere minutes to get them all dumped into LR.

[upallnight]

the sandisk reader arild mentions is another good one. i believe it comes with a FW800-FW400 cable, too, so that saves a little expense if you need it. on the other hand, the lexar includes one long and one short FW800 cable. this is cool if you travel with it/connect to a laptop.

the lexar can also be daisy-chained with other FW devices (or other lexar readers for max performance) and is the only device (i believe) with that capability.

this is a bit self-serving, but is at least somewhat relevant with this talk of fast transfer...does anyone need a month-old [ame="http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2897063#post2897063"]sandisk UDMA 16gb card[/ame]? i've got one for sale.

[arild]

the sandisk reader arild mentions is another good one. i believe it comes with a FW800-FW400 cable, too, so that saves a little expense if you need it.

True, it comes with both fw8 and 400 cables.

PM me on shipping to Norway for that UDMA card. I´m planning on saving some cash to get a 1Ds2 or 3, and in the latter case, UDMA is usable, and raw files are hudge. If you include your paypal address in the PM, I´ll probably take it anyway, since shipping (postage) is not really that expensive..

[upallnight]

True, it comes with both fw8 and 400 cables.

PM me on shipping to Norway for that UDMA card. I´m planning on saving some cash to get a 1Ds2 or 3, and in the latter case, UDMA is usable, and raw files are hudge. If you include your paypal address in the PM, I´ll probably take it anyway, since shipping (postage) is not really that expensive..

sorry arild -- i wasn't in a position to update my post. the card sold pretty much instantly, and it has already been shipped. i apologize to you for not updating that (and perhaps getting your hopes up). i guess i priced it right.

UDMA is pretty much essential for these cameras.

[crackboy]

Just a PSA but newegg has 15% off all card readers until 7/7/10

use this code
EMCYVYZ33