CompactFlash: what's inside?
 

Hello,
I have a 32 Mb CF with the label "Canon FC-32M" and also Sandisk (on the
back) AA0305SI (on the side).
The 256 Mb from a Web site (manufacturer Ritek, they say) has a "memup"
label and a side stamp of 862865299 12C2561MY1-2CC00 ASS'Y IN TAIWAN.
Windows XP displays Samsung ATA for it.
No mention of Ritek, is it from them? The Ridata from Ritek has a good
reputation. Who knows?

I have found a document to decode the Samsung part number at
http://www.samsung.com/Products/Semi...deInfo/PartNum
berDecoder.htm but it doesn't help me a lot. And nothing for Sandisk.

So I am unable to compare these cards with the ones tested on the Net.

Is there a Windows program to display the internal characteristics of the
CompactFlash cards ? I made a long search with Google without success.

A card to computer test (10 2 Mb photos) gives the same performance for both
cards:
Write: 28 s, 740 Kb/s. Read: 6 s, 3500 Kb/s.
It is a surprise for me to have the same results. I don't know if I test the
cards or the PCMCIA/ATA interface.

cymago, lost in CompactFlash space.

Re: CompactFlash: what's inside?
 

Why do you care? Do the cards work?

"cymago" <CyberMagoo@MagooWorld.net> wrote in message
news:3f2ea8b8$0$27023$626a54ce@news.free.fr...
> Hello,
> I have a 32 Mb CF with the label "Canon FC-32M" and also Sandisk (on the
> back) AA0305SI (on the side).
> The 256 Mb from a Web site (manufacturer Ritek, they say) has a "memup"
> label and a side stamp of 862865299 12C2561MY1-2CC00 ASS'Y IN TAIWAN.
> Windows XP displays Samsung ATA for it.
> No mention of Ritek, is it from them? The Ridata from Ritek has a good
> reputation. Who knows?
>
> I have found a document to decode the Samsung part number at
>
http://www.samsung.com/Products/Semi...deInfo/PartNum
> berDecoder.htm but it doesn't help me a lot. And nothing for Sandisk.
>
> So I am unable to compare these cards with the ones tested on the Net.
>
> Is there a Windows program to display the internal characteristics of the
> CompactFlash cards ? I made a long search with Google without success.
>
> A card to computer test (10 2 Mb photos) gives the same performance for
both
> cards:
> Write: 28 s, 740 Kb/s. Read: 6 s, 3500 Kb/s.
> It is a surprise for me to have the same results. I don't know if I test
the
> cards or the PCMCIA/ATA interface.
>
> cymago, lost in CompactFlash space.
>
>

Re: CompactFlash: what's inside?
 

Lucas Tam wrote:
> It's hard to test cards for speed because CF readers are all
> different speeds, and revisions of the card may introduce
> variations.

I've found a source of quite cheap 256Mb CF cards. I've bought one for
myself and having no past experience (other than the original 16Mb card
that came with the camera) I have no idea if it's fast or incredibly
slow. It works for me.

I have friends who are interested in buying the same cards but want to
know how fast they are. How can we assess this?

We've got several cameras, with USB cables, and I have a CF to PCMCIA
adapter. The only ways I can think of are to see how long it takes to
move a fixed set of data into or out of cards using the PCMCIA adapter?

Graham.

Re: CompactFlash: what's inside?
 

"Graham" <zebedee@alphalink.com.au> wrote in message
news:3F2FCCA9.A5BD9201@alphalink.com.au...
> Lucas Tam wrote:
> > It's hard to test cards for speed because CF readers are all
> > different speeds, and revisions of the card may introduce
> > variations.
>
>
> I have friends who are interested in buying the same cards but want to
> know how fast they are. How can we assess this?
>
> We've got several cameras, with USB cables, and I have a CF to PCMCIA
> adapter. The only ways I can think of are to see how long it takes to
> move a fixed set of data into or out of cards using the PCMCIA adapter?
>

Actually, there is no such thing as a speed reading that is the same on all
cameras / card readers. Although the faster cards will be generally faster,
a data rate (or "speed" if you will) is dependant on many factors.
Therefore, a certain card will not perform the same on every camera or every
card reader.

For more info, you can take a look to what DPReview has to say about this:

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/mediacompare/

Bas.

Re: CompactFlash: what's inside?
 

"Bas Wientjes"
> For more info, you can take a look to what DPReview has to say about this:
> http://www.dpreview.com/articles/mediacompare/

Thanks, I found there some useful info:
- Don't care about the brand and what is inside (nobody knows).
- The Coolpix 995 tests show that any card, standard, ultra ... have a
chance to have the same performance (if it works properly) in this type of
camera (example: no operational difference between Sandisk "standard" and
Sandisk Ultra).

cymago