I have a new Canon S1 coming in the mail shortly and I intend on using its video mode so my puny 128 meg CF card that did me well in my A60 digicam just isn't going to get the job done in the new camera. I've done some reading on the two technologies and the concensus seems to be that the only Microdrives that are worth buying are the IMB 1 gig or any of the Hitatchi's (if you can find one). CF seems to be fast enough for video providing you get a pro type card but they're much more expensive...but solid state so possibly more robust.

Anyone have any real world experience with the IBM drives?

Given they're about $250 cdn for the 1 gig model they seem like the way to go for video shooting and I'd keep some smaller CF cards for more typical every day shooting unless someone can convince me otherwise?

[John K Carter]

I considered microdrives when I got my Canon 10D. I ruled them out for a few reasons.

1. Moving parts fail.
2. Moving parts die when you drop them.
3. Moving parts need more battery power.
4. Moving parts are slower than memory chips.
(consider your PC's memory vs. accessing the HD)

The only MD advantage is price & maybe not that if you drop stuff often.

I decided on SanDisk Ultra II (read 10MB sec write 9MB sec)
& never gave MDs another thought. Of course we're not talking video with a 10D.

It's a little old but here are some speed tests for CF cards including IBM MDs.

[Cameron Yee]

Michael TLV informed me that some people have purchased mini iPods just for the 4GB Hitachi drive, which can then be used in the Digital Rebel. The Hitachi usually goes for almost double the price of the mini iPod.

[Cameron Yee]

The other MP3 player to use the Hitachi is the Muvo2. It looks like the drive from the latest round of mini iPods may not work in digital cameras.

[Max Leung]

Beware that the newly made Muvo2s have a hard drive that will NOT work in digital cameras. They changed the firmware on it so that it only works with the Muvo2.

(according to the posts on the dpreview.com forums)

[JohnRice]

Andrew, are you sure MDs are faster than the basic flash cards and less expensive than the better ones? I see 1 GB basic flash cards (Sandisk in this case) for $160 US and Pro models for $210. I really suspect you are best with solid state. Also, my understanding is the video modes on cameras like the S1 are not very good anyway.

[Max Leung]

So far solid state cards are much faster than the microdrives. Cards such as the Sandisk 1 GB Extreme compact flash card can read/write at 11 megaBYTEs per second.

john actually the S1's video mode is pretty good as it can do 640 * 480 at 30 fps. I'd prefer a CF card as well for the durabilty and since my card budget just got spent else where I'll have some time to think about it