Do Firewire SD card readers exist? at DVinfo.net

Aaron Dunlap · April 14th, 2010, 11:44 AM

I figure if a few hours of Google searching turns up nothing, then the product doesn't exist, but I could be wrong. Why does something like this not exist, or if it does, why is it so hard to find??

Joel Peregrine · April 14th, 2010, 12:43 PM

Hi Aaron,

Even Class 10 SDHC cards are slower than USB 2.0 so there doesn't seem to be an advantage to having a faster interface. UDMA CF cards are inherently much faster, making a the Lexar FireWire 800 reader or an ExpressCard reader worthwhile. They make SD to CF adapters, but you're still only going to be able to transfer at the fastest SD cards are capable of, roughly 15 - 25 MB/sec.

Aaron Dunlap · April 14th, 2010, 12:51 PM

Perfect, this is exactly the explanation I needed. Thanks!

Sean Vergara · May 4th, 2011, 11:45 PM

This helped me as well!

Spiros Zaharakis · May 5th, 2011, 01:50 PM

Not so usefull at the moment for SD cards but if you want the fastest card reader available that will also take advantage of faster future cards then this is a good choice delkin card reader usb 3.0

Galen Rath · May 5th, 2011, 05:07 PM

Thanks, Joel, for finally making me happy with my USB 2.0 and SD cards. I have a USB 3.0 port on my computer and was itching to get a USB 3.0 card reader. No point in that. I have ESATA also, and I had gotten a combo card reader/SATA disk reader/ cloner that was advertised with an ESATA or USB 2.0 hookup. I was disappointed to find the ESATA cable hookup must connect only to SATA hard drives, and does nothing for the card reader part of the unit (hard to interpret the Chinese advertisment!).

Sean Vergara · May 11th, 2011, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spiros Zaharakis

Not so usefull at the moment for SD cards but if you want the fastest card reader available that will also take advantage of faster future cards then this is a good choice delkin card reader usb 3.0

I really like that Delkin Card reader, with most of these card readers I feel that they are always cheaply made.
Does this one have some nice weight to it and does the backwards compatibility slow it down a lot or just a little?

Spiros Zaharakis · May 11th, 2011, 08:43 AM

I Greece where I live the Delkin card reader is not available.
I have two Pretec P240 USB 3.0 card readers. They are tiny, their build quality seems to be good (but not exceptional) and they are extremely fast with CF cards and as fast as it gets with SD cards. I have not plug them on USB 2.0 port so I don't know if they are any slower than regular USB 2.0 card readers but I would guess that they will be at least as fast as my other USB 2.0 card readers when used on a USB 2.0 port.
Honestly though a PCI USB 3.0 add on card costs less than $15 so no point not to get one.

April 14th, 2010, 11:44 AM	#1
Aaron Dunlap Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 49	Do Firewire SD card readers exist? I figure if a few hours of Google searching turns up nothing, then the product doesn't exist, but I could be wrong. Why does something like this not exist, or if it does, why is it so hard to find??

April 14th, 2010, 12:43 PM	#2
Joel Peregrine Major Player Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 689	Hi Aaron, Even Class 10 SDHC cards are slower than USB 2.0 so there doesn't seem to be an advantage to having a faster interface. UDMA CF cards are inherently much faster, making a the Lexar FireWire 800 reader or an ExpressCard reader worthwhile. They make SD to CF adapters, but you're still only going to be able to transfer at the fastest SD cards are capable of, roughly 15 - 25 MB/sec. __________________ WeddingFilms.com>>

May 4th, 2011, 11:45 PM	#4
Sean Vergara New Boot Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: West Long Branch, NJ Posts: 12	Re: Do Firewire SD card readers exist? This helped me as well!

May 5th, 2011, 01:50 PM	#5
Spiros Zaharakis Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Chania Crete Greece Posts: 171	Re: Do Firewire SD card readers exist? Not so usefull at the moment for SD cards but if you want the fastest card reader available that will also take advantage of faster future cards then this is a good choice delkin card reader usb 3.0

May 5th, 2011, 05:07 PM	#6
Galen Rath Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Illinois Posts: 323	Re: Do Firewire SD card readers exist? Thanks, Joel, for finally making me happy with my USB 2.0 and SD cards. I have a USB 3.0 port on my computer and was itching to get a USB 3.0 card reader. No point in that. I have ESATA also, and I had gotten a combo card reader/SATA disk reader/ cloner that was advertised with an ESATA or USB 2.0 hookup. I was disappointed to find the ESATA cable hookup must connect only to SATA hard drives, and does nothing for the card reader part of the unit (hard to interpret the Chinese advertisment!).

April 14th, 2010, 12:51 PM	#3
Aaron Dunlap Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 49	Perfect, this is exactly the explanation I needed. Thanks!

May 11th, 2011, 08:43 AM	#8
Spiros Zaharakis Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Chania Crete Greece Posts: 171	Re: Do Firewire SD card readers exist? I Greece where I live the Delkin card reader is not available. I have two Pretec P240 USB 3.0 card readers. They are tiny, their build quality seems to be good (but not exceptional) and they are extremely fast with CF cards and as fast as it gets with SD cards. I have not plug them on USB 2.0 port so I don't know if they are any slower than regular USB 2.0 card readers but I would guess that they will be at least as fast as my other USB 2.0 card readers when used on a USB 2.0 port. Honestly though a PCI USB 3.0 add on card costs less than $15 so no point not to get one.