compact flash card readers firewire 800

[John MacLean]

I see FW800 readers are non-existant now. Is this due to future Thunderbolt devices? I'd like to get something as fast as FW800 for my older Intel Mac Pro. If I need to get a PCI card to use it, I will.

Thanks,
John

[Josh-H]

I see FW800 readers are non-existant now. Is this due to future Thunderbolt devices? I'd like to get something as fast as FW800 for my older Intel Mac Pro. If I need to get a PCI card to use it, I will.

Thanks,
John

Lexar had a Firewire 800 card reader - now discontinued. They pop up on ebay a fair bit; but usually for silly money (Ive been looking for one for a while).

Im not aware of any thunderbolt CF/SD card readers. I wish there was one to be honest.

At the moment all the manufacturers seem to be transitioning to USB3.0 - great for win blows users - not great for those of us on macs.

[John MacLean]

Thanks Josh, The lack of sudden lack of firewire readers by Sandisk and Lexar is both perplexing and frustrating. I've been trudging along with my good ole purple Lexar FW400 reader, but it's tethered cord is getting finicky. I should have gotten a couple of SanDisk Extreme FireWire readers back in the day. I suggested them enough to clients I consult digital to, DOH!

[Josh-H]

Thanks Josh, The lack of sudden lack of firewire readers by Sandisk and Lexar is both perplexing and frustrating. I've been trudging along with my good ole purple Lexar FW400 reader, but it's tethered cord is getting finicky. I should have gotten a couple of SanDisk Extreme FireWire readers back in the day. I suggested them enough to clients I consult digital to, DOH!

I just checked ebay and there are quite a few sandisk firewire800 readers on ebay at the moment (I actually just bought one with buy it now). They range in price though from expensive to obscene.. but I know of nowhere else that you can get them at present.

Sandisk say up to 45mbs via firewire 800 and that is faster than their current USB2.0 offering; but slow compared to the USB 3.0 sandisk reader. All depends on the cards you load in it as well of course. Sandisk have just released 90mbs SD cards (previously the fastest were 45 mbs).

[John MacLean]

yeah, I don't want to pay more than $50-70 for a new one. I thought marked card speed was its write speed, not the read speed? My latest CF cards are Sandisk 8GB Ultra 30MB/s. I guess I'll need a USB 3 PCI card too.

[Josh-H]

Well hopefully (fingers crossed) someone releases a thunderbolt reader for us mac users - I Know its a longshot though and I'm not holding my breath....

[PierreVandevenne]

I just checked ebay and there are quite a few sandisk firewire800 readers on ebay at the moment (I actually just bought one with buy it now). They range in price though from expensive to obscene.. but I know of nowhere else that you can get them at present.

Ouch! Indeed. Having a couple of those things leaves me with a theoretical 200-300% paper gain on the investment. And they are worth more than my old Canon MKII...

[Go Go]

Would this work for you?
http://www.lexar.com/products/lexar-professional-expresscard-compactflash-cf-reader?category=213
Up to 133MBs transfer speed.

[bokehcambodia]

Manufacturers seemingly see no market for FW800 readers any more, USB 3 isn't a solution for Apple users.

Thunderbolt implementation for a CF reader currently would be too expensive. Just see the cost of HD arrays that need around $100 electronics for TB implementation.
That's ridiculous high to manufacture a CF reader with it. Next years lower prices with new TB chips will change this scenario, hold out for it.

[UlfKrentz]

Hi John,

this one works fine for us:

http://WWW.DELOCK.DE/produkte/gruppen/Card-Reader/Delock_Card_Reader_FireWire_B_Compact_Flash_91694.html

After a FW800 Sandisk reader died some time ago, we finally found this reader which is incredible fast and solid.
They offer plenty of exotic stuff.

Cheers, Ulf