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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Screaming fast card reader
Jesse Beals, Photographer
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Tracyton | WA | USA | Posted: 3:11 AM on 05.11.10 |
->> I am in major need of upgrading my card readers for my laptop. Is there a model that stands out above the rest? I have been using lexar card readers for the past couple of years, but am finding that the 4 gig cards take way to long to download these days.
Nothing worse then coming in at halftime of a game with 4 lexar 4gig pro series cards and having to wait 40 minutes for them to downlowed my Mark IIN files. |
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Patrick Fallon, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Columbia | MO | USA | Posted: 3:38 AM on 05.11.10 |
->> Jesse,
What kind of reader are you currently using? Also, are you sure you have enough space on your hard drive? 40min seems awfully slow. |
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Eugene P. Tanner, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Honolulu | HI | USA | Posted: 3:39 AM on 05.11.10 |
| ->> If your laptop has an ExpressCard slot, try a Lexar Professional ExpressCard CompactFlash Reader. I believe ExpressCard CompactFlash Readers are the fastest card readers. |
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Wally Nell, Photographer
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CAIRO | EG | EGYPT | Posted: 6:00 AM on 05.11.10 |
->> Are you on PC or Mac? Not sure if this is an issue or not. Even if you only have USB2, your download speeds should be very high. Of course it also depends on which cards you use. If you are using cards with higher speeds, it would download faster.
On my previous laptop (PC), I had a Firewire 800 port. However I used a PCMCI (sp?) card and it was like lightning; 2 or 3 minutes for 4gb. With the Firewire 800 reader I had (Sandisk), it was also in the region of 3 minutes. I now have a PC laptop where I do not have Firewire 800, only an Express Card. That also is very quick. When I download using the USB2 connection, 4gb takes about 4 minutes.
So I am not sure why yours would take that long. Perhaps check the cards you are using, or make sure you have enough space on your hard drive.
I almost sounds like you are using USB, but it is not USB2, just USB. |
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Wally Nell, Photographer
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CAIRO | EG | EGYPT | Posted: 6:01 AM on 05.11.10 |
->> Sheesh, I meant to say:
It almost sounds like you are using USB, but it is not USB2, just USB. |
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Mark Peters, Photographer
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Highland | IL | USA | Posted: 7:49 AM on 05.11.10 |
->> I have a SIIG expresscard/54, which works for me. PCIe bus with transfer speeds over 30mb/s. I'm using Sandisk Extreme IV and Extreme cards so I could get some improvement going over 30mb/s. As is, I get around 2mb/minute. If I plug in an old UltraII card, the time more than doubles.
If I were to buy today, I would consider one of the ones below.
The Lexar Pro expresscard reader fits 54 or 34mm slots and is rated at 133mb/s. The downside (to me) is that it does not mount flush - it sticks out almost an inch. The fastest speeds require the high end, fast cards. ~$45.
http://www.lexar.com/readers/pro_eccf.html
The Sonnet ProDual allows you to insert two cards at once. Also claims 133mb/s and sticks out about an inch. ~$85.
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/produalcfadapterexpress34.html |
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Tim Vizer, Photographer
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Belleville | IL | USA | Posted: 10:39 AM on 05.11.10 |
->> I use Lexar 300X UDMA 4GB CF cards, with the matching Lexar card reader hooked to my MBP via FW 800 (actually have two readers, as Photo Mechanic allows multiple card ingesting simultaneously). The cards and reader all take advantage of UDMA (Ultra Direct Memory Access) protocols, and short of using the ExpressCard slot, are just about the fastest setup available IMHO.
http://www.lexar.com/digfilm/cf_udma.html for more info.
My MBP, with SL OS, has 4GB RAM and even shooting in RAW, I can download both cards in three to four minutes for editing with PM.
40 minutes is way, way too long, you have something else going on there, maybe system-related? I'd check every single step of your ingest workflow, looking for ways to shave time -- maybe tweak settings to speed things up?
Good Luck!
Tim |
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Jana C, Photographer
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Ottawa | ON | Canada | Posted: 11:01 AM on 05.11.10 |
->> Here is the link on Rob Galbraith that looks at card speeds and card reader speeds (It's continually updated). Your results will depend on fast your cards are and how fast your reader is. Which ever is the slowest will be what limits your max speed.
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-6191-6217 |
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Shaun Sartin, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Glenview | IL | | Posted: 11:13 AM on 05.11.10 |
->> Jesse,
I'm going to tackle this from a slightly different angle. I have two SanDisk ImageMate All-in-One USB 2.0 Reader/Writer.
When I say I have two, it's in part because I have had two fail. First you should have at least one back-up reader incase of failure. That said, I'm not totally thrilled with the reliability of these readers and the process through SanDisk to get an RMA for return/replacement is a total PITA. The first time, it took more than two weeks to get approval. This for a $30-40 device, when the next unit failed, I sent a pdf of the receipt and all the information and they still kept asking me for proof of purchase. You can walk into an Apple store and get an iPhone replaced with less hassle.
In conclusion, I'd stay away from SanDisk readers for both the reliability issues as well as the customer support pitfalls. My next readers will be Lexar.
Good luck, Shaun |
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Jesse Beals, Photographer
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Tracyton | WA | USA | Posted: 8:50 PM on 05.11.10 |
| ->> I use a Lexarmedia USB 2.0 Multi-Card Reader. My laptop has a 250 gig harddrive so space is not an issue. I use lexar pro cards and sandisk pro cards. |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 9:46 PM on 05.11.10 |
| ->> Forty minutes? Something is seriously wrong with your setup. Are all four of the cards full? If they are, after one half, you might want to stop hammering down on that motor drive. |
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Stew Milne, Photographer
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Providence | RI | USA | Posted: 8:38 AM on 05.12.10 |
->> So which is faster, the Lexar Pro expresscard reader or the Lexar FW800 reader?
I currently use the dual slot Lexar FW400 CF reader and it's fairly fast. Takes about 3 minutes for a 4 GB card to ingest.
-sM |
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Joe Morahan, Photographer
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Chuck Steenburgh, Photographer
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Chuck Steenburgh, Photographer
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Lexington | VA | USA | Posted: 10:33 AM on 05.13.10 |
| ->> Should be "you'll only get the highest speeds if you are using UDMA cards" in the first part of my response...not "USB cards." |
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