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anewman143

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 18, 2008
146
23
Looking for a FireWire Compact Flash card reader and the only one I can see out there is a Sandisk model that is almost $200!!

Are there any other companies out there making a more reasonable model? $200 seems crazy...

Thanks!

Adam
 

robbieduncan

Moderator emeritus
Jul 24, 2002
25,611
893
Harrogate
If you can find one there was also the "Lexar Professional UDMA FireWire® 800 Reader". It's very good but iirc discontinued.
 

anewman143

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 18, 2008
146
23
Yeah - I saw that it had been discontinued - I'll keep poking around eBay and see if I can get lucky...can't imagine paying $200 for a card reader...sheesh!
 

Piarco

macrumors 68030
Jun 24, 2004
2,529
0
Londinium
There's also the SanDisk Extreme CF FW800 reader. I had one right up until I bought a D7000, so it went the eBay way. Discontinued, but I did find one for $89 here. Can't say I've heard of the company though!
 

duncanapple

macrumors 6502
Jun 12, 2008
472
12
I was wondering the same thing - I was looking for a card reader that did FW and USB (so I can use USB now and when i ditch this macbook next year, FW) and couldn't find such a thing. I couldn't even find any FW only models with the exception of one very pricey model like the OP mentioned. I know FW isn't the most common port, but I have no problem finding external hard drives with FW? What gives?
 

Flash SWT

macrumors 6502
Mar 14, 2009
459
23
Houston, TX
For some reason all manufacturers of Firewire 800 card readers discontinued their FW800 readers several months back.

Almost every FW800 reader on the market used the exact same controller chip, the Oxford Semiconductor OXFW912, which gave them all almost identical speeds.

I haven't seen this confirmed but the discontinuation of all brands at the same time points to the the controller chip being discontinued in my opinion. Oxford Semi was acquired by PLX in early 2009 and there is no mention of the 912 chip anywhere on their website.

Unfortunately the manufacturers seem to be embracing USB 3 in favor of FW leaving us Mac users in an awkward position. Will be eventually see Thunderbolt readers? The $50 cable required makes me not so sure.

If you have a MacBook Pro with ExpressCard slot that is definitely the fastest way to get images into your computer these days.
 

HBOC

macrumors 68020
Oct 14, 2008
2,497
234
SLC
I had this exact one. This one.

worked great. There is a seller from San Jose that sold them for $24 new w/free ship. I got mine from him. I have a cheap $8 from Frys that seems to work ok. It is USB 2.0.
 

occamsrazor

macrumors 6502
Feb 25, 2007
419
16
Will be eventually see Thunderbolt readers? The $50 cable required makes me not so sure.

I doubt it... there's barely even Thunderbolt hard drives so far...

If you have a MacBook Pro with ExpressCard slot that is definitely the fastest way to get images into your computer these days.

Expresscard is good, if you have a slot. But they ditched all the expresscard slots on new models, leaving pro-photographers with few solutions. File sizes get larger all the time, and at this point using USB 2.0 readers is so slow. Am glad I have a Sandisk FW800 reader which I have been very happy with. It's smaller than the Lexar readers. Though the $170 they are charging for it now is nuts, am sure I bought mine for like $60 a year or two ago.
 

Flash SWT

macrumors 6502
Mar 14, 2009
459
23
Houston, TX
I doubt it... there's barely even Thunderbolt hard drives so far...

Am glad I have a Sandisk FW800 reader which I have been very happy with. It's smaller than the Lexar readers. Though the $170 they are charging for it now is nuts, am sure I bought mine for like $60 a year or two ago.

Yep, we use those Sandisk readers at home and work provides the Lexar FW800 ones. I'm dreading the day any of them stop working because I know there isn't an easy replacement out there. I really wish I would have stocked up when I first heard they had been discontinued. :(
 

PimpDaddy

macrumors 6502
May 9, 2007
359
75
Old thread, but it popped up at the top of my google search so I thought it could be a good idea to post the link to this article, http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-11673-12298 , which states that a new company has started producing a FW800 CF card reader.

It seems the maker of a FW controller used in the old card readers discontinued that controller:

"This reader type became an endangered species when Oxford Semiconductor (now called PLX Technology), maker of a key controller component found in all past FireWire 800 readers, discontinued the part. This signaled the end of the line for all FireWire 800 readers on the market at the time, including the Delkin Reader-39, Hoodman RAW UDMA FireWire 800, Lexar Professional UDMA FireWire 800, SanDisk Extreme FireWire and Synchrotech CFFire800 Pro. "

"That's the bad news. The good news is that a new FireWire 800 CompactFlash card reader has arrived on the scene, one that doesn't depend on the long-departed component used in earlier FireWire 800 readers. It's manufactured in Taiwan, sold under the Delock brand name and uses a set of internal controller and bridge components from JMicron and LSI, not PLX Technology.

Introducing the Delock Card Reader FireWire B (Nr. 91694)

Called the Delock Card Reader FireWire B (Nr. 91694), we've had two of them connected to the FireWire 800 ports of a Mac Pro 2.66GHz/12-core for about six weeks. In that time they've seen near-daily use, and each has been about as quick and free of glitches as the dependable SanDisk Extreme FireWire reader we've relied on for years."
 

anewman143

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 18, 2008
146
23
Thank you SO MUCH for posting this information - I've been going crazy trying to find a FW800 reader...but the only one out there (and it had been discontinued) was ridiculously expensive (~$200).

After checking the link above, I've ordered it from memorydepot.com and will post my impressions when it arrives...stay tuned!

Again, thanks so much!

Adam
 

PimpDaddy

macrumors 6502
May 9, 2007
359
75
Just received mine today, will post my impressions when I get home and test it.
168846_10150872886700143_22492360_n.jpg


:)
 

cosmokanga2

macrumors 6502a
I received my DeLock CF Reader a couple weeks ago and love it.

Pros: So much quicker than USB. 60mb/s write and 70mb/s read from a Lexar 32GB 600x daisy chained through 2 drives. It’s not the fastest FW800 can do, but 3x USB.

Cons:
- Only 1 port so no daisychaing from it.
- It does NOT mount at as a card reader. It ONLY mounts as a standard FW800 drive so it won’t automatically open in Aperture or Lightroom and they will not offer to erase the drive either. For some this is crucial, but I’ve learned to work around it.

Otherwise, great card reader.
 

rdsathene

macrumors newbie
Feb 17, 2010
2
0
Barrio Echo Parque
Delock FireWire 800 UDMA CF Reader now at U.S. Vendors

I just picked one up from EverythingHerePlus they shipped it Priority Mail for $5.20. I'm especially impressed by the diminutive size and aluminum case. I just wish Delock made a Thunderbolt version, like their XQD readers.
http://www.everythinghereplus.com/electronics/delock-firewire-800-to-udma-compactflash-drive-read-writer

It looks Synchrotech carries them too, and they've posted benchmarks with it and several alternatives:
http://www.synchrotech.com/support/reader-compactflash-performance-benchmarks-udma.html
 

anewman143

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 18, 2008
146
23
Happy but...
Got my FW800 CF reader - finally - since it shipped from China to Canada. But had to send it back shortly after receiving it - it kept disconnecting - couldn't tell if the reader had a problem or the enclosed FW800 cable, but either way, no go for me. Waiting (still) for the replacement...sigh...
 

pyc

macrumors newbie
Aug 29, 2012
1
0
delock 91694

Hi, maybe the reply comes somewhat late, but i hope the information could be helpful for other people having the same question and gotten in here! ;-)

Delock has this kind of product, for Canadians, you can also find it at "MemoryDepot"!

Seems like Delock is now the only supply for a firewire800 to CF card reader!
 
Last edited:

juanm

macrumors 68000
May 1, 2006
1,624
3,053
Fury 161
Funny I've been sitting on Sandisk FW800 without using it, while not realizing they were so scarce...
 

anewman143

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 18, 2008
146
23
So - an update. I returned my reader and got a replacement and continued to have the card reader mount and eject almost continuously giving the error message of being ejected improperly. I was using a 16GB Kingston CF card.

On a whim (and attempt to test), I tried a 4GB Sandisk CF card - and it worked like a charm...a VERY FAST charm!

So now I'm working with memorydepot.com in trying to figure out what it is about my Kingston card that is causing the problem. They have tested cards up to 64GB, so it's not the capacity. It's something about my Kingston card.

Anyone else had issues?

Adam
 

netvista

macrumors newbie
Sep 4, 2012
7
0
I have the same issue with this reader. Keeps ejecting, rendering it completely unusable. I've tried it with Sandisk Ultra, Sandisk Extreme III & a Kingston Ultra card. All tested cards result in the same error. However, i found an ancient kingston CF 256 MB card somewhere in a drawer, and this works !.....Slow ofcourse, but at least it doesn't get ejected.

Which version of OSx do you use?
 

Prodo123

macrumors 68020
Nov 18, 2010
2,326
10
Has anyone tried for a dual-adapter solution, where you get a FW800-SATA/IDE adapter and a SATA/IDE-CF adapter?
Speaking of which, how about doing the same thing with Thunderbolt?

If you're on Windows, then an eSATA-SATA cable + SATA-CF adapter combo is also available.
 

occamsrazor

macrumors 6502
Feb 25, 2007
419
16
My Delock reader works fine on my MacBook Pro running Lion... I have not had any of the problems others are mentioning. Sorry about your troubles, for me the reader has been great.
 
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