Advice requested re memory for *ist D

I am now very close to ordering my *ist D. I'll probably order from the USA as prices there are so much lower. The saving will pay for a trip to NY if I have to take the camera back. (Of course it won't pay for four trips!)

What I need is some advice on the best value memory to get. I don't want to pay more than I need to, but I don't just want to buy the cheapest if buying faster memory will bring positive benefits.

If anybody has experience of different memory types/makes/speeds I should be very grateful to hear what they think.

Thanks

Our experience so far suggests the following:

Use CF cards as opposed to microdrives (no moving parts and more reliable)

Use more smaller cards rather than one big card (if a card fails for whatever reason you will not lose too many pictures)

At the moment we use Fuji 128MB cards and would probably not go above 256MB card size, for the reasons stated above.

Thanks very much for that - it very much confirms what I have been thinking.

Any views on speed? Shops are pushing the 40X cards hard, but obviously they make more money on them. Obviously faster cards are, I presume, faster, but is that important in practice? A Ferrari may be good on the open road, but in the middle of London it's no faster than a Trabant.

Hi Geroge,

If you are really after the speed, maybe the F1 40X CF card from PQI can serve your needs. However, the price maybe a consideration as these cards costs much higher.

http://www.pqi.com.tw/eng/news/PQI%20F1%20CF%20-2003-0516.PDF

Also, as what Johnriley said, it is more practical to have many smaller capacity CF cards (say.. 128 or 256) than 1 or 2 512 or bigger ones. The saying goes "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" applies

Currently I am only using two 33x SanDisk 256MB CF card and a Portable Digital Storage drive.
http://www.prestigio.com.sg/Product.asp?category=7&ID=37

In my case, there isn't much difference in speed as my shooting doesn't require rapid shots (ie. sports).

Hi George,

The Lexar 40x 512Mb is a very good card to go for. I wish I had gone for that instead of the IBM Microdrive. The Lexar cards have WA - Write Acceleration - which is a technology that has to be supported by the camera. The *istD does support this. It should speed things up even more (see Lexar's site on the WA).

So you see, it is true that not all 40x CFs are the same
The WA will give you faster write times, which will be useful if you are using RAW or TIFF mode all the time. Having said that, I find the Microdrive speed to be adequate, and only very occassionally am I aching for speed I found it useful to invest in a USB 2.0 reader to speed the download though. Reading from the *istD via USB gets about 700k per second, as does reading through a 6-in-1 USB 1 reader. However, the USB2 reader clocks up 3.5Mb per second from the microdrive (Available from www.7dayshop.co.uk)

Don't forget, if you are ordering from the US, that you will have to pay import tax and VAT so the prices may not seem so attractive. When the courier delivers the goods, they will want the money from you before they leave the parcel. If you weren't prepared for it, it's a big shock! (Anything above $28 worth get's whacked with VAT, a customs handling charge, and a postoffice/courier charge too). It might make the Park Camera price look more attractive

Regards,
Matt

If everyone is going speed crazy why has a Firewire reader not been mentioned?

Malcolm,

Good point

However, the firewire readers I have seen were around £60, whereas the USB2 reader I bought for £18

(Just jump to http://www.7dayshop.com and search for "USB 2" and it should come up first on the list. Just in case though: http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=&products_id=86468 - I have the earlier 6-in-1)

Speed and price

Matt

So could I summarise this by saying that a very fast card merits consideration if you use RAW and TIFF, or shoot loads of pics very quickly, but not otherwise?

I am prepared for the VAT and duty. The camera can currently be bought for less in dollars than most UK shops are charging in pounds, and as the rate is nearly two greenbacks to the pound, there is room for the VAT and for a saving.

This huge disparity always happens when the dollar takes a dive, and is worth thinking about if you want to buy something a bit pricey.

The downside is that whilst most photographic goods never need to be returned, the *ist D chip appears to suffer from quality control issues. Tricky.

Maybe I'll buy the camera here and all the other bits from America. Bell & Howell has some good deals on the more expensive lenses, and I am not totally convinced of the quality of the 18-35mm FAJ zoom.

George,

Your summary, IMHO, is correct. For timings:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxistd/page9.asp

Hope that helps,
Matt

It certainly does help. Many thanks.

G

George - Do you have any good links for US shops with decent prices to buy the kit from?

Regards, Slime101

Slime101,

In the end I decided not to buy from the USA, mainly because of the problems reported on this board concerning dead pixels.
Most kit one buys these days is so well made that problems are rare, but the thought of perhaps having to send three cameras back to the States with all the attendant customs hassle made me pause.

In the past I have used Marine Park, and they were extremely efficient. They now call themselves http://www.MPsuperstore.com but their website doesn't list a very wide range and they don't seem to be very good at answering the phone. However, if you do get through you might find they sell rather more than what is on their site.

If you go into DPReview you'll find links to a few recommended suppliers. You should also be able to find a link to a site which evaluates the service provided by different online camera stores.

There are a number of photostores in and around New York and the East Coast, like Abe's of Main, which do not enjoy a very high reputation.

Basically, they advertise low prices, but when you phone up there is a great palaver about why the item you want isn't in stock, and then they try to sell you something more expensive.

I found this to be the case eight or nine years ago when I bought my Z1-P from Marine Park. They were fine, but some of the others were such obvious crooks that I am surprised they ever sold anything.

So, beware. Americans are usually reasonably honest, but these camera firms are Campbellian in their deviousness. Lord Hutton would probably say they are all fine fellows, though, and who can argue with Hutton?

OK, Thanks George.

I did some calcs the other day from prices i found for places in the US, and after the 4.2% Import tax, and 17.5% VAT it worked out at £794 for the body only ist*D - which is a pretty big saving over the £1099 in the UK.

I'm not sure if its worth the hassle tho, and i hope that the price comes down pretty soon, especially with the Nikon D70 being released and rumors of a Cannon 300D slight price drop - makes them both approx £700-£800!

It's a massive saving, but I think that prices are bound to come down here, as you say, although they'll probably come down in America too.

If they don't, I might fly to NY for the day and buy one there, having checked it very carefully first. The saving on shipping will go towards the air fare.

The other alternative is to buy the body here and the other bits there. The UK price on the battery pack is outrageous.

I received my *istD that I purchased on eBay this week. It is brand new, boxed, and UK based, and cost GBP 743 inc VAT and P&P, so there are good deals to be had.