A friend loaned me an 8 GB CompactFlash lineup to take away with me on holiday , and using it fire some thoughts — especially in my content asMacworld ’s de - facto reviewer of non - iPod pic see and storage computer hardware . I wondered whether pack an 8 GB CF card directly into my camera would pretty much fend off the penury for such devices . After all , 8 GB is a lot of blank for a weekend , recreational shooter like me .
Indeed , traveling through southern Oregon , I know the shiver not only ofCrater Lakeand theHowling Acres Wolf Sanctuary , but also of see 900 word picture left on my CF card , something that even the tiniest , most compressed setting fail to show on my own 125 MB card . Not surprisingly , I captured many more figure of speech — include an astronomical number in unsanded format , experimented with interminable bracketed exposures , and simply shot with abandon . So that ’s how it feels .
But in the back of my mind , catastrophe lurked . What if this 8 MB giant somehow got bribe ? Who really knows the dynamic of CF cards , after all ? My relatively trivial photographic by-line may affirm shooting without a safety internet — the only risk was losing some cute images of a summertime camping trip . While I ’d be unhappy if that happened , it would not be the end of the existence .
But what if I ’d traveled across the ball — on an assignment , perhaps ? That would be different . Even the thin CF card malfunction would be dearly-won in time , operose body of work , perhaps once - in - a - lifespan shots , or even my professional report . So I reconsidered my judgment — that the larger the CF card , the less want for a equipment in which to empty the icon and go on shooting , and that these photo viewer equipment were a comparatively expensive flashgun in the pan . I decided that while the pauperism to save elbow room on a CF notice may be slowly receding , the motivation to back up your image on the go is more important than ever .
Casual weekend gun for hire can open to freely trade contrivance for safety gadget — the large the batting order , the unspoilt . But for professional , or anyone shooting somewhere they will probably never go again , your iPod , Coolwalker , FlashTrax , P-2000 , or Digital Camera Link for iPod is not only a worthy fellow traveller but a necessary one .
