FC: A word of caution about Canon EOS D30 camera and IBM Microdrive

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Tue Jan 29 2002 - 14:01:40 PST

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    The 1 GB IBM Microdrive in my Canon EOS D30 digital camera seems to be
    dying.
    
    The first symptom was that images took longer and longer to load --
    increasing almost geometrically based on the number of images stored. The
    second symptom was that when reviewing an image I took today of Istanbul's
    Blue Mosque (yes, I'm playing tourist), the camera displayed a mysterious
    ERR22 and hung. Power cycling brought the camera back to what appeared to
    be normal.
    
    Third, in the hotel room this evening, when trying to either enlarge or
    delete one specific image -- there may be more problematic ones, I'm not
    sure yet -- the camera consistently hangs with a dread ERR22. A Canon
    engineer has said
    (http://www.robgalbraith.com/ubb/Forum8/HTML/000003.html) that ERR22 is a
    write error -- which is odd, since it doesn't make sense for viewing an
    image to require a write.
    
    It's not clear whether the Canon software has corrupted the drive or the
    IBM drive hardware is failing. Both are three months old
    (http://www.politechbot.com/p-02655.html) and under warranty, not that
    will help me much when traveling for three weeks.  Neither will the common
    suggestion of reformatting your Microdrive -- at least if I want to save
    two weeks' worth of photos. It does seem
    (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/viewtopic.php?TopicID=894) to be a
    pretty common problem with both the 340 MB IBM drive and 1 GB drive, a
    shame for equipment that's hardly inexpensive. Fortunately I brought my
    trusty analog EOS 5 and more than enough film, just in case, though I
    didn't think I'd need to rely on it. I brought two small Compact Flash
    cards as a backup to the backup, but they'll only store a day's worth of
    serious shooting.
    
    So if you're relying on a D30/Microdrive combination for long-duration
    travel or vital photo shoots, be warned: This appears to be a relatively
    common problem that IBM and/or Canon should have addressed long ago.
    
    -Declan
    (As a courtesy, I've copied Canon and IBM PR reps.)
    
    
    
    
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