Camera Labs

My wife`s multiple USB 2.0 memory card reader has died. As her laptop supports USB 3.0. I was wondering if it was worth looking for a USB 3.0 multiple card reader.

The fastest cards we have are sandisk extreme udma enabled 60MB/s.


http://www.everythingusb.com/speed.html
From what I can gather, in real world USB 2.0 delivers about 40MB/s.
Therefore at best I can only expect a 50% improvement in speed. Only worth it, if its not much more expensive.


google hasn`t been that helpful yet, too much confusing information, and discussions about where the bottle necks are. I don`t know what to believe, info dates pretty quick and not my area of expertise.

Any thoughts?

_________________
Canon Powershot S95, Canon 7D, 15-85, Canon 85 1.8 USM, Sigma 30 1.4, 50mm 1.8, Canon 100 2.8L IS Macro, Canon 70-300L IS USM+Kenko 1.4 Pro 300DGX, Canon 430EX II and RS 4 Classic

Hmmm, yes I'd like one of those too!

How about this one from Lexar?

just ordered that one.
My wife wanted it.
Will see how much faster it is.

_________________
Canon Powershot S95, Canon 7D, 15-85, Canon 85 1.8 USM, Sigma 30 1.4, 50mm 1.8, Canon 100 2.8L IS Macro, Canon 70-300L IS USM+Kenko 1.4 Pro 300DGX, Canon 430EX II and RS 4 Classic

Looking forward to hearing how you get on - I may get one myself...

just did a bit of a test. Used the Lexar readers and plugged into my desktop and wife`s laptop. I also used a stop watch to confirm the transfer rate.

Card used = 8GB Sandisk Extreme UDMA 60MB/s
Desktop 3 years old, runs Vista 64 bit premium. USB 2.


To transfer a 2.2GB file from card to HDD around 25MB/s.

To write from the HDD back to the Sandisk around 17.8MB/s


Wife`s laptop, its an Asus G73JW runs Win 7 Pro using the USB 3.0 and the Lexar reader I get a transfer rate to HDD of 56MB/s. Just under half the time.

But the write rate from HDD back to card was surprisingly slow only 24MB/s.

Not sure why the write rate was so slow, I formatted the card and repeated the write test and speed is the same.


So yes much better read but little improvement in write speed. I did a transfer from one internal HDD to the other and the speed is 150MB/s+, seems to rule out the HDD`s as a possible bottle neck.
Interestingly the desktop, two identical 750GB internal HHD, was only around 60MB/s when doing that test.


Is the card write speed the limit or is there another possible bottle neck?



PS : used card reader build into my DELL monitor and desktop and did the test, around 9MB/s read and 7MB/S write. Clearly all readers aren`t equal.

_________________
Canon Powershot S95, Canon 7D, 15-85, Canon 85 1.8 USM, Sigma 30 1.4, 50mm 1.8, Canon 100 2.8L IS Macro, Canon 70-300L IS USM+Kenko 1.4 Pro 300DGX, Canon 430EX II and RS 4 Classic

My 8$ Transcend SD card reader transfers 15MB/sec,which is great for the price. I'll buy something like this Lexar or a Sandisk equivalent in the future.

_________________
Gear: Nikon D80, 18-105mm, 35mm F/1.8, 85mm F/1.8, SB-600
Visit my work here

As I think most people will use this for getting data off the cards than putting data on it, I don't feel the potentially reduced write speed as a major issue. Think I might have to get one of these myself now...

edit: and that's one ordered via amazon.co.uk affiliate link.

_________________
Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Thanks for the results maxjj, normally write speeds are slower than read speeds on most media, so you're probably seeing the maximum write speed for your card now...

PS - Thanks popo!

My reader came today... just gave it a quick test with a Lexar Pro 300x. Read speeds: 42.5 MB/s with the USB3 reader, and 19.2 MB/s with my old USB2 one.

_________________
Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I'm very satisfied with this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Usrobotics-All-in ... B005584U8K

Best regards,
Paulo.

_________________
quality = preparation + attention + luck

I love this one, esp for the price, reads my 32GB sandisk extreme pro CF card at over 100mb/s

http://www.amazon.com/Kingstons-Reader- ... 043&sr=1-2

_________________
Cameras - Canon 400D | Canon 600D | Canon 5D Mark III
Lens - 24-70 2.8 L | 50 f/1.8 | 18-55 II non-IS f/3.5-5.6
Other misc Gear - Vanguard Alta Pro 283CT Tripod | Manfrotto 680B monopod | Speedlight 580EX II

I have just acquired a USB 3.0 card reader with a "no name" brand from Taiwan. I now need to get a USB 3.- hub since there are just two 3.0 ports on my laptop and they are already occupied with backup drives etc.

However, I am wondering if others are experiencing durability problems with CF card readers. Those little rows of pins are more fragile than the contacts on SD cards, and with at least one and sometimes two card insertions every day, I am finding they bend and break quite easily. I am terrified of leaving a snapped off piece of pin in a large capacity (expensive) CF card.

Any brands more durable than others? Any techniques to avoid stressing the pins?

_________________
Brian,
Canon 5DII, 7D, EF-S 10-22, EF 50 USM 1.4, EF-S 60 macro EF 16-35 L USM, EF 24 -15L IS USM, EF EF 100-400L, Canon SX130

I have had this problem with USB readers, fortunately I have not had this with the camera bodies.
Maybe, at a guess its all down to the quality of the metal in the pins in the reader and how well the card is held in place as it slides in. Both my 7D and my A100 still work fine obviously and they card is held snugly as you push it in. Possibly the problems comes from readers that don`t line the card up properly.

_________________
Canon Powershot S95, Canon 7D, 15-85, Canon 85 1.8 USM, Sigma 30 1.4, 50mm 1.8, Canon 100 2.8L IS Macro, Canon 70-300L IS USM+Kenko 1.4 Pro 300DGX, Canon 430EX II and RS 4 Classic

Does anyone have any experience with this kingston card reader?

http://atcomp.sk/zbozi/kingston-externi-usb-3-0-hi-speed-ctecka-karet/detail.aspx?p=z:230282

_________________
I'm new to DSLR's, so please be patient and take my opinions with reserve. Thank you : ) Yes, i am Canon man.
Google + My picasa photos My 500px album
Canon 60D + 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 IS, Canon 70-200 F2.8L IS II, Canon 430EXII, polarizing filter 72mm,
Canon AT-1, 50mm FD F1.8
Canon A430,

Haven't tried that one. Got a similar looking one of some obscure brand. It uploads data really fast when connected to the 3.0 port. I have reached the conclusion that the shallowness of the slot in most readers, does not line the card up sufficiently well to prevent lateral forces damaging the pins in the CF slot. One vendor told me that the expensive brands were no better than the cheap ones in terms of durability for CF connections.

Loving the high speed uploads though.

_________________
Brian,
Canon 5DII, 7D, EF-S 10-22, EF 50 USM 1.4, EF-S 60 macro EF 16-35 L USM, EF 24 -15L IS USM, EF EF 100-400L, Canon SX130