Orded my Vosonic X Drive VP6210 or

[BBJ]

Hi All, Well just put my order in for the Xdrive VP6210 40gig, my photo sales from last meeting has paid for this and my 50mm lens i got so i should have this latest next week Monday or Tuesday so will put in a report on what i think of it. Hell the way i take pictures i thin i need it.LOL
The Epson P2000 would be nice but twice the price.
Cheers

[fozzie]

BBJ,

You have worked hard and long, so enjoy the fruits of your labour.
I see that you have already added the 50mm f/1.8 to the stable.

[BBJ]

Yeh Fozzie, i have and so far i like it, havn't used it a lot yet just to try out with the kids here the other nite after i made my backdrop as u can see that thread here. http://www.d70users.net/viewtopic.php?t=6613

All i can say mate is that i need a LOT bigger bag as i cant fit all the bits in what i have. Oh well if i get a chance when i am in Adelaide next week might have a look in a few shops.

Cheers
John

can see drive here.
http://www.jaldigital.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=27_89&products_id=301

[fozzie]

BBJ,

All i can say mate is that i need a LOT bigger bag as i cant fit all the bits in what i have. Oh well if i get a chance when i am in Adelaide next week might have a look in a few shops.

Cheers
John

If you are going to look at Lowepro products, the best place is 'Photograhpic Wholesalers'. To follow is there lame website with address details:

http://www.photowholesalers.com.au/

From memory their business hours are:
Mon. to Fri. 9am - 5pm
Sat. 9am to noon.

Then you could place an order with Birddog  BTW: I am going in there tomorrow to checkout out some stuff prior to ordering from Birddog.

[BBJ]

Hi Fozzie, yes it is a lame site as i have looked there before. I am not sure what type of bag to look at as it is hard to decide on something that you have not actually seen. I know i have seen your back pack which seems ok but well would have to ret 1 on before i was to buy one but if i can get there i might go for a look. I know i normally see the fella's at Eden Photographics, but they dont have a big range of bags. I can get the small stuff in my bag, camera, kit lens,blower,SB800, TC, few bits and peices but yeh tight fit. Well i be up there next Thursday,Friday so see what goes.

[fozzie]

BBJ,

Went to Photographic Whoesalers today, and saw all but one thing that I will be ordering from Birddog. While there a elderly man came in, late 60's to early 70's looking to buy a D2x. They had one out the back for him to look at. I just shock my head and walked out. Rip off here we come.

[rjlhughes]

BBJ let us know how the Vosonic goes. I've had a series of problems with mine in the couple of weeks I've had it.

[birddog114]

BBJ let us know how the Vosonic goes. I've had a series of problems with mine in the couple of weeks I've had it.

Go for the Epson P-2000 and you be very happy

[BBJ]

Fozzie, Mate i bet you near cried? because i would have. I am now thinking thatif i sell that bloody motorbike of mine well 1 of them that i could put that a side and save some more and by that time they might have come down in price.
It is either that or a nice 300mmF/2.8 which is a bit cheaper, not much but yeh. No way in hell seeing 1 down this neck of the woods but yeh i will keep saving then rattle Birdies email oneday. Lisa say im not allowed to have one till she wins the Lotto,LOL in her dreams.
Anyhow did you see any good bags while you was there?

Cheers
John
BBJ

[rjlhughes]

Birddog,

yes but I needed it in a hurry, unfortunately. Plus the Epson is a trifle expensive for me.

[birddog114]

Birddog,

yes but I needed it in a hurry, unfortunately. Plus the Epson is a trifle expensive for me.

It's expensive but less worry and trouble that made me got it.

[fozzie]

BBJ,

Fozzie, Mate i bet you near cried? because i would have. I am now thinking thatif i sell that bloody motorbike of mine well 1 of them that i could put that a side and save some more and by that time they might have come down in price.
It is either that or a nice 300mmF/2.8 which is a bit cheaper, not much but yeh. No way in hell seeing 1 down this neck of the woods but yeh i will keep saving then rattle Birdies email oneday. Lisa say im not allowed to have one till she wins the Lotto,LOL in her dreams.
Anyhow did you see any good bags while you was there?

Cheers
John
BBJ

I am sorry but I did not focus on bags while there. All I can say is that they have a good range of Lowepro products. Also went into Diamond's, Rundle Street, City and it looks like they had just received a fresh shipment of Lowepro products as several cartons open, waiting for someone to price and place on display. I personally prefer Photographic Wholesalers setup.

[BBJ]

Ok Thanks Fozzie, who knows i might get time while i am there depneds on if i stay friday nite and come home saturday as i have photo order i have to drop off as well, so if i can get a good run i might go for a looksey.
Thanks
John

[rjlhughes]

The PD70X was what I really wanted. Perhaps I'll see if I can put the hard drive from the Vosonic into the PDX shell.

The x's drive 3320 takes quite a while to write a gig card, and it only seemed to write about 5 gigs before the battery went. By the time you take a charger with you on a shoot you'd be as well to take a laptop, I'd think.

And then the pins bent in the CF slot. Perhaps I pushed too hard, but I haven't damaged the slot in the camera, so it may be a design fault, too.

And now it refuses to copy from compact flash. I've taken it back to Bits.com.au once - I guess I'll have to go in there again.

Not yet really unhappy with it, but not far from feeling that way.

All I wanted was the storage, not even the ability to see the shots on the machine.



B

[BBJ]

Hi Bob, sorry just read your earlier msg, but as soon as i get it and see what it is like i will let you know. Have you got the same model? or is it one of the lower ones? Anyhow will have it next week so will give it a try out.

[joolz]

Hi Bob,
Just got a PD70X a few days ago to replace my X Drive II.
The old x drive stopped dumping my CFs to harddrive for some reason. Both the harddrive and CF card reader worked when connected to the computer, but would stop transferring half way when on the go.
I cannabalised the 40Gb harddrive from the XDrive and it works very nicely in the PD70X.
I bought the PD70X on the basis that if the PD7X was well received, this would fill my needs nicely with its improvements.
It is much faster than the Xdrive for CF transfer. The Xdrive took about 10minutes to transfer a 512Mb card. The Pd70X takes less than 2minutes to transfer a Gb.
I am quite happy with it, despite my initial misgivings about the battery cover (seemed a little bit flimsy).
The only other complaint is that the CF slot is a little shallow, so I will have to be careful with the exposed CF cardin my camera bag whilst it is inserted.
My PD70X came with 4 2300mAH NIMH rechargables, but I have yet to test the claims of up to 50Gb of transfers from one charge. The old XDrive would not last more than a few Gb before needing recharging.
I have no need for a display to review images and just needed a cheap, fast and compact CF backup drive for extended shoots on the go. I have a few weddings booked in the next few months which will be the real test.

[rjlhughes]

BBJ,

it's a 3320, so it's a new model, but nowhere near the features yours has.


Julian,


thanks for an amazingly appropriate response! Extremely pleased to know that I can most probably transfer the HD.

I'll be very interested to hear how many gigs you can get across on the one battery charge with the new device. I was also disappointed that it only emptied a few gig cards before flattening. Although that helped at a big shoot. And the 3320 was faster than yours in transfer. But it did shut off fairly quickly leaving me wondering if it'd copied all the CF.

I guess it's "never be the first kid on your block to own the first one" syndrome for those of us at the bleeding edge of technology.

I'll drop in to Bits.com.au again soon before I totally give up on this one. But the PDX beckons.

Great shots at Catch Digital BTW. Did you ps the seagulls and reflections into those pics?

[zeb00]

i got my VP6210 a couple of weeks ago to replace my X drive II. and it is every thing i expected. plus a bonus i wasnt expecting is that it can read NEF files (probibly just the jpeg preview out of them).

The old x drive stopped dumping my CFs to harddrive for some reason. Both the harddrive and CF card reader worked when connected to the computer, but would stop transferring half way when on the go.

Did the full harddrive warning come up on the LCD this happend to mine even though there was 20gig left on the. all i needed to do was format the drive and copy the data back to it.

[BBJ]

Ok well my VP6210 and well it is what i expected or should i say was hoping to expect. Charged the nattery up and it's all go have dumped some mp3s on it and even a couple of movies just to see how it handles it and dumped a 512 CF with jpegs on it and a few RAW files and all is well.
Took me a lil while to work it out but didnt take long, JALDigital had already installed the hard drive and formatted it so was all ready to go, i guess the bif test will be out in the field but at this stage all is well and it will be going with me everywhere.

The screen is a breeze to watch a movie and veiw pics with a enlarge button and so on. Anyhow more i guess when i get out and about with it.
Cheers
John

[joolz]

Bob,
Yes, the seagulls were real - sheer luck. The reflection wasn't one of my ones, but IIRC, I think it was photoshopped.
Hmmm, hadn't looked at the website for a long time - thanks for making me look.
It really needs an update from the rudimentary state where we started it and it needs more photos. We've been busy with other things and put it on the back burner as we are still getting bookings.
zeb00,
It hadn't occurred to me to reformat. It seemed to be working fine connected directly to the desktop that I assumed that the harddrive was not the issue. I suspect that it was just an excuse to buy a new drive I guess I can still either use it as a very large multi-format card reader. The other option is I can sell it if it still works. Thanks zeb00

[Onyx]

Hey Big Bad John, I noticed the Vosonic became a part of your sig - so I guess it's a part of your shooting kit now.

[wile_E]

Hi guys, I think I'm going to have to get a PSD for my upcoming trip. I'm looking at either the PD70X or the Volsonic

BBJ/Joolz, how have you found battery life so far? How many 'downloads' can you get on a single charge of the battery?

Cheers
W

[rjlhughes]

The Vosonic is typically powered by an 1100mAh battery, according to Bits.com.au

they have an 1800 mAh version available at $34, but I suspect the PD has a much bigger battery.....

I was back there with more problems caused by bent pins. Perhaps this time it'll be right.

The salesman looked me in the eye and told me not to rely on the X's drive unit. Given he'd previously poured ill informed scorn on the PD70, I wasn't impressed. But I have lost the use of one pin in the CF slot, so I guess I can't rely on it. In which case what use is a memory storage?

[BBJ]

Hi Chi, Mate i have added this to the kit,LOL mate i need a bigger bag of some sorts, anyhow yes it seems ok.

Willy, i have only had it for a day so it hasnt yet gone flat yet and havent tried it in the field as yet and still needs a couple more charges before it is up to peak. But i am off to Adelaide tomorrow for doctors and friday so when i get back friday nite and might go to MotoX saturday so will try it out and i did get a car charger as well just incase, makes sence to get this.
So stay tuned for future post as i have already said so far it is good so i do take care putting card in slot and well time will tell.

Now what can i save up for now 300mm f/2.8??? LOL
Cheers
John

[joolz]

Wile_E
Still haven't had enough need for the PD70X yet. I haven't had an opportunity to shoot more than my 1Gb (+ 2 x 512Mb) CFs yet. The PD70X takes 4x AA batteries. I am using 2300mAh NIMH ones that came with it and I imagine the 50Gb wouldn't be too far off the mark. I only have a 40Gb drive, so even something in the vicinity of that number would be fine. I can't imaging shooting 40Gb worth without having an opportunity to recharge or at least swap batteries.
I have a car charger that came with it, but given that they are NIMH. I have a stack of rechargables that I carry for my SB800 and SD-8A, so I can always use them.
I guess that's another advantage to the PD70X - generic batteries that can be replace or charged with regular chargers rather than the proprietary (or at least uncommon) battery that the X Drive II used.

[WadeM]

Guys,

I'm looking @ getting some form of portable storage before my trip OS in November.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/digi_accessories.html (1/2 way down) is where I've been reading reviews of what's decent and what's not. Reading that, the Digital Album from Transend appears to be the stuff, but that's from 2004. We're now in 2005.

If cost was no option, but functionality, reliabilty and durability are the main 3 points I'm after, what would you suggest? I'm going to be backpacking for a month. I guess 40gig drive should do me. It doesn't need 2 play mp3's or have a massive screen.

Is Birddogs's Epson the must get or is there something else?

I think we're entering the second generation for such devices, so there should be something out there that's proved it's worth.

Thanks,
--Wade[/url]