Hi Bill, > Nonsense, CompactFlash cards are among the most rugged things in > photography.
I guess it depends on what you mean by rugged... > Didn't you ever read about the photojournalist that the World Trade > Center fell on? His CF card was the only thing undamaged and it held > all his photos. Yeah, well, it was INSIDE of his camera: "Finally, East turned his attention to the digital camera. It was covered by ash. The lens had been sheared off at the flange. But when he opened the chamber that held the compact flash card, it was pristine." So, that, in my book, isn't any indication of how "rugged" the CF card is. > ..or the reports of no photos lost after running a CF card through a > washing machine? > http://thefuntimesguide.com/2006/09/memory_cards.php The FLASH cards are reasonably well sealed, or sufficiently sealed in most cases, that no water damage would occur when not under any pressure. So, this doesn't surprise me, nor, IMO, does it make it "rugged". The CF cards aren't "bad", they are better than an unpackaged FLASH chip, but they can still be quite fragile. They're definitely better than most of today's cell phones IMO. It's physical impact damage, or exposure to extreme heat or cold, or any high current/static etc. that will do them harm. If the World Trace Center CF card had the label melted, or any type of physical damage, then still worked, that may be noteworthy, but being it escaped "pristine" it really didn't get much of a workout. As far as connections go, you are doing twice as many plugs/unplugs to a CF card taking it in and out of the camera and putting it then into and taking it out of a reader, than you do using a USB or FireWire cable, which is a one plug one unplug per dump. The USB and FireWire connectors have more surface area, and are typically better plated as well. Regards, Austin * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
