I own 4 1GB Microdrives. I bought the first one when they first came out about 2 years ago. I have shot many thousands of frames with the Canon D30, D60 and 1Ds, as well as other cameras that I've had for testing, and have never had a problem.

I've used them at 11,000 feet in the Sierra and below sea level in Death Valley. I've used them in 100F temperatures with 100% humidty in the jungle's of Costa Rica and in -20F temperatures in the Canadian  Arctic.

Anecdotal, I know, but I see no reason to use anything but 1GB Microdrives, especially now that they have become so inexpensive (under U.S. $250 many places).

Michael

A Microdrive has essentially the same impact sensativity ratings as a solid state drive. When the head is not spinning it's essentially an inert piece of metal and plastic.

I wouldn't give you're situation another thought.

Michael

Microdrives are mechanical devices.  They are sensative to adverse treatment.  Thus said, if you treat the drive with a reasonable amount of care they are great.  Most problems that I have seen posted are due to the treatment of microdrives outside the camera.  Most people seem willing to be careful with their cameras, and installed microdrives, but are not so careful with the microdrive once removed from the camera.

Take your time removing the drive, be sure to handle it by the edges, put it in a secure storage case like the Hakuba or Microtech.  Just a little care in handling will help ensure its continued performance.

The 8 - 1GB microdrives that I use have been excellent.  Its just like any other piece of equipment, TAKE CARE OF IT, and it will serve you well.

Also remember that all equipment has the potential to fail,  if you are in a critical situation, have backup for it as you would for your camera, lens and flash.

Dan.  

Speaking of mechanical storage devices: I just got my old Apple II out of storage, with its (at the time, 1978) cutting-edge Disk Drive. I remember that to keep that drive from bugging out, I used to have to pull the controller card periodically and use a pencil erasure to remove corrosion from the silver pins. Oh, and the hotter it got in the summer, the more you had to do it. Ah, the good ol' days.  ::

On another forum somone posted that microdrives could suffer head crashes at high altitudes due to lower air density.  They specified 10K feet as the limit for safe use.  ???

Any comments?

Peter

Please note that Sandisk has just dropped prices dramatically. For example, a 1 GB CF card is now only U$299.99.

I have a Canon EOS D60. When I first looked into going digital, the prevailing thought seemed to be that Compact Flash cards were more reliable than Microdrives. That flash cards were nearly indestructible, and that microdrives broke easily if dropped, for example.

Over the last 6 months, I have purchased 4 flash cards (two 521mb and two 256mb). One of the 256mb cards went bad within the first week. One of the 512mb cards went bad in the middle of a recent two month trip to SE Asia (thankfully I had backup cards, and was able to retrieve all images before the card went dead). I had specifically bought flash cards instead of microdrives, knowing that I would be in a remote location for 2 months, and needing maximum reliability.

Given this failure rate (50%!), I am seriously questioning the supposedly superior reliability of flash cards.

Is it just me? Is it just an anomaly or a bad batch of cards? What has been your experience? Do you really find flash cards more reliable than microdrives?

Micheal, I noticed in your article about the workshop and 1700 frames through the 1DS that you were using micro drives. Are you finding them hardy and reliable enough to use on remote location?

If microdrives are adequately reliable, they are certainly far cheaper than flash cards. Should I switch to microdrives?

i wish there was more feedback on this issue.  i'm rather surprised by scott's experience with the flash memory cards.  i was planning on getting microdrives based mostly on michael's success, but i'm not sure because i've since read lots of bad things about them.  michael, do you think there would be any problem with running with a microdrive loaded in the camera?  i'm not talking about running while the drive is writing or reading, but when the platter has stopped spinning and the reading head as come to rest.  in other words, shoot, wait for the drive to write the images, then run to my next spot.  i'm thinking this would be very risky with a microdrive, but wanted some feedback.

thanks

Erik, the microdrives are designed for exactly this type of use. I don't have the amount of experience with them as Michael, but for the past 3 months, they have done very well for me. I don't abuse them, but I don't baby them either. When they are in the camera, I don't worry about them at all. When I need to remove them or install them, I do it carefully, not on the run, and make sure I grab them from the thin sides.

About the comments you read online: well, it seems to me that an equal number of people have problems with both microdrives and compact flash. It's just that when you are concerned about one thing, it seems that all you find are complaints about it! (The web is a funny place.) Also, people who are not having problems usually don't write about it "SUBJ: Still no problems with my microdrive!"  :)

Scott, I've owned a total of 5 Microdrives and maybe a half-dozen CF cards.  I've dropped 2 of the MDs from kitchen counters to hard floors, with no ill effects.  ALL of my MDs and CF cards--and not all of them were name-brand items--have been 100% reliable.  I recently bought a 1Ds and now have 3 1GB MDs and a 512MB CF card.  They all work well.

Don't be afraid of buying and using MDs.  There are thousands of us out here who use them 'most every day.

I also use nothing but microdrives -4 of them.  They have been to Canada, Europe, Australia, The BVI's and Puerto Rico.  Cold weather, warm and humid weather , dry and dusty and everything in between.  No problems.  Between the D30, the D60 and now the EOS1D and the 1Ds about 10,000 plus images over 3 years - they just keep on ticking along.

FYI, looking at the 1GB Microdrive spec sheet, you'll see that the maximum shock value for an operating drive is 175 G, and for a non-operating drive it is 1500 G. I looked around on the web for information on human G-forces, and the best I could find was information on jumping. When you land, apparently you generate between 4 and 8 G's on your body. I think it's safe to say that you can run with a spinning microdrive!

-Jeff

Microdrives (like any hard drive) use a (very) thin layer of air to float the the read-write head above the storage platter. As the air density thins as altitude increases, at some point there's not enough air to float the head reliably/safely. Microdrives are rated for a maximum altitude of 10,000 feet (3000 meters).

Note this only applies when the drive is actually in use (spinning). So it's no problem to fly with Microdrives, but if you're planning to shoot from mountain areas you'll want to check the elevation before you go (and invest in CompactFlash cards if required).