gib_robinson Posted September 27, 2006 Share #1 Posted September 27, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) I've been looking for an SD card reader that connects via firewire rather than USB2. Firewire readers are made for CF cards but I haven't found one yet for SD cards. Has anyone found one and used it successfully? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted September 27, 2006 Posted September 27, 2006 Hi gib_robinson, Take a look here Firewire card reader for SD?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
wattsy Posted September 27, 2006 Share #2 Posted September 27, 2006 I don't think any exist. A pity because, like you, I prefer firewire to USB 2. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucek Posted September 27, 2006 Share #3 Posted September 27, 2006 I think your only choice is to get a Firewire CF reader and then use a CF-to-SD adapter. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gepetto Posted September 27, 2006 Share #4 Posted September 27, 2006 LCT bought one several years ago. I am not sure if it was the same model listed by Addonnics but I remember it looking very similar. The one problem I do see would be that it may not fit the standards to read the newer SDHC cards. I think these 4GB cards are not being seen by some card readers. Lexar and Sandisk make firewire compact flash readers. Sandisk has a high speed USB CF/SD reader. It is just stupid they do not make a combo FW CF/SD since these cards are the standard. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtmerideth Posted September 27, 2006 Share #5 Posted September 27, 2006 I use a firewire card reader made by a company "Addonics". My use is with my DMR. Using a past reader that was in usb format was terribly slow. The addonics unit works much faster and a full 2mb card (raw image files) takes about 6-7 minutes to download. I purchased the unit at Mac-Zone. Hope this helps. gary merideth Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted September 27, 2006 Share #6 Posted September 27, 2006 I bought a Sandisk USB2 SD card reader at the weekend, and it doesn't read SanDisk Extreme III cards... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsteve Posted September 27, 2006 Share #7 Posted September 27, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) I bought a Sandisk USB2 SD card reader at the weekend, and it doesn't read SanDisk Extreme III cards... My experience with card readers has been the Lexar USB2 Multi Card reader seems to have the best support. I was visiting a friend with a Mac this time last year and he had just recieved a couple of SD card readers and neither would read the DMR cards, while if he plugged my Lexar reader into the Mac, it worked fine. Lexar - Flash memory card readers - USB 2.0 Multi-Card Reader Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gepetto Posted September 27, 2006 Share #8 Posted September 27, 2006 Andy sorry to be a bother but could you show us which exact Sandisk reader is giving you problems. Is the Extreme III card new or old? Size? There are some real industry wide issues with the transition to the new SDHC Fat16>Fat32. Seeing that your reader and media card are made by Sandisk the companies seem to even have a problem with it in house. I have had problems in the past with card readers wasting money and time. It would be nice to catch it at the pass for a change. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted September 27, 2006 Share #9 Posted September 27, 2006 It is one of these. http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-SecureMate-Card-Reader-SDDR-33/dp/B000069UZ8 Although I just bought this new, it seems to have been around since the days when string was high technology No wonder it doesn't read 2 gig cards. Not happy at all... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gepetto Posted September 27, 2006 Share #10 Posted September 27, 2006 Thanks Andy. I hope they did not take you for very much. I am presently using this model by Sandisk. This model is getting old as well. It is working at USB2 with the older 2GB cards. I am not sure how it will fair with the newer ones. What are your return policies? Keep exchanging it for a model that eventually works. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvaliquette Posted September 27, 2006 Share #11 Posted September 27, 2006 I use a PCMCIA SD card reader to download my DMR 1 Gb SD card to my laptop, branded "Dazzle 4 in 1 Card Adapter". It is pretty fast, although I have not timed it formally. It does seem faster than the USB 2.0 reader that came free with the Lexar Professional 133x 2Gb SD card I recently purchased. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoff Posted September 28, 2006 Share #12 Posted September 28, 2006 Andy sorry to be a bother but could you show us which exact Sandisk reader is giving you problems. Is the Extreme III card new or old? Size? There are some real industry wide issues with the transition to the new SDHC Fat16>Fat32. Seeing that your reader and media card are made by Sandisk the companies seem to even have a problem with it in house. I have had problems in the past with card readers wasting money and time. It would be nice to catch it at the pass for a change. The "real industry wide issues" with Secure Digital memory cards and card readers is how well manufacturers have adhered to the SD Card Association standards and the fact that, unfortunately, many big names do not have a good track record to show in this area. The issue consumers should be aware of is in understanding the differences between the different Secure Digital specifications and in properly matching the right spec memory cards to the right spec card readers. As far as SD/SDHC memory cards and host devices are concerned, there are basically four variants to be aware of: • SD Specification Version 1.0 • SD Specification Version 1.1 • SD Specification Version 2.0 • Non-compliant SD memory cards SD Specification Version 1.0 provides for data transfer of 4bits at 25MHz. SD Specification Version 1.1 allows for data transfer of 8bits at 50MHz. SD Spec v.1.1 Secure Digital memory cards are usually denoted by speed ratings of 100X and above. SD Specification Version 2.0, aka SDHC, officially supports FAT32, which enables recognition of capacities beyond 2GB. To be more exact, FAT16 actually provides for 2.2GB. Of significant note is the fact that SDHC cards use sector addressing as opposed to the traditional byte addressing of previous SD cards. Properly designed SD Specification Version 2.0 host devices (read cameras and card readers) accept all previous SD spec version memory cards. Therefore, the latest SDHC compliant reader will host all previous version cards. A SD Specification Version 1.1 card reader will host all version 1.1 cards and below but not above and likewise a version 1.0 card reader will read only version 1.0 cards and not above. Things tend to not work if a non-compliant SD Card Association product is used or later spec version cards are attempted to be used in earlier spec version card readers and cameras. Basically, a FireWire card reader is only going to go as far as the SD spec version it supports. The Addonics Firewire Mini DigiDrive was very good in it’s day, during the SD spec version 1.0 period, but there is no reference to any updates since then. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted September 28, 2006 Share #13 Posted September 28, 2006 LCT bought one several years ago. I am not sure if it was the same model listed by Addonnics but I remember it looking very similar.... Yes the Addonics looks very similar to my discontinued Amtron which works fine with the SD cards below. But i did not try 4GB or more so far. Hagiwara (512MB) I-O Data (128MB) Leica (64 & 256MB) Sandisk Ultra II (256MB, 512MB, 1GB) Sandisk Extreme III (1GB) Transcend 150x (2GB) Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhoutman Posted September 28, 2006 Share #14 Posted September 28, 2006 It is one of these. http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-SecureMate-Card-Reader-SDDR-33/dp/B000069UZ8 Although I just bought this new, it seems to have been around since the days when string was high technology No wonder it doesn't read 2 gig cards. Not happy at all... Andy, wow, Robin Hood used the have these readers too;) T Try one of the new readers or the 12-in-1 in combination with the Extreme III SD's. Latter I use with both Mac OS 9.2.2. and Mac OS 10.4.7. btw. yesterday at Photokina I saw a lot of Lexar readers around the booths. Even Apple used them Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gib_robinson Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share #15 Posted September 28, 2006 Thanks for pointing me to Addonics. I'm going to try their reader. I only use "vanilla" SD cards (mostly SD Ultra II 2GB). With luck the Addonics will do the trick. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertwang Posted September 28, 2006 Share #16 Posted September 28, 2006 I wish that Sandisk/Lexar had a SD Firewire card reader. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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