Can any of the users of these adapters tell me what the difference is? Is one better built, more reliable, or more compatible?

John

I cannot say anything about the newer (lockable) MxR adapters (don't have any), but I prefer the MxM (both old type, and lockable). They work flawlessly with MxM-approved SDHC cards, and even are a better fit physically (the original MxR were a bit fat both outside and inside, so sticking them into my EX1 slots required some considerable force - just like inserting an SDHC card into them).

Also keep in mind that the Hoodman adapters are actually MxM.

Can any of the users of these adapters tell me what the difference is? Is one better built, more reliable, or more compatible?

John

I now personally prefer the lockable MxM adaptors. Their service is great as well. They managed to ship their cards from Australia to the UK in a quicker time than the standard delivery options from many UK retailers.

MxM also sell the ATP cards which are my weapon of choice in terms of SDHC cards.

In terms of performance, back when I tested there was a difference (the MxM lockables were faster than the MxR standard cards) but I would doubt if that is still the case.

I like the idea of the lockable adapters to avoid ejecting the SDHC card when you push the adapter in. The Hoodman version of the MxM cards don't have that feature. I don't have that problem with my six Kensington adapters because they don't have a spring eject, but of course they stick out preventing one from closing the media door on the camera.

John

I have the MxR adapters and they have worked well. Comfortable fit in the EX1, so I guess Piotr had earlier versions. I see that e-films (MxR) have a HDD kit for US$199 (supply own HD) and MxM are finalising their own version.

I saw that HDD kit also and thought I could make one myself for my EX1R. So I got an ExpressCard USB adapter and an HDD enclosure from DealExtreme for about 25 €. Combine those with a 500 GB 7200 rpm 2.5" SATA drive for about 75 € from a local computer shop and now I can record footage for almost 30 hours straight (or as long as there is power available). Overcranking works fine too. The HDD is powered through the USB cable.

So far I haven't had any problems with the 10 € ExpressCard SDHC adapter also from DealExtreme and 16GB Transcend class 6 SDHC cards (no overcranking though). It does stick out so the door on the camera cannot be closed.

--AOK--

I'm a huge fan of Deal Extreme in terms of buying interesting cheap tat, but do be careful if using any of their kit for pro use. It's often the cheapest Chinese stuff you'll see and the quality of cables and connectors can be very poor even through they look fine to the eye. You really wouldn't want one of the connectors to break mid-shoot.

That said with the disclaimer out of the way, that sounds very interesting.

I saw that HDD kit also and thought I could make one myself for my EX1R. So I got an ExpressCard USB adapter and an HDD enclosure from DealExtreme for about 25 €. Combine those with a 500 GB 7200 rpm 2.5" SATA drive for about 75 € from a local computer shop and now I can record footage for almost 30 hours straight (or as long as there is power available). Overcranking works fine too. The HDD is powered through the USB cable.

So far I haven't had any problems with the 10 € ExpressCard SDHC adapter also from DealExtreme and 16GB Transcend class 6 SDHC cards (no overcranking though). It does stick out so the door on the camera cannot be closed.

--AOK--


Antti,

DealExtreme seems to have a lot of different ExpressCard USB adapters, Hard Drive enclosures, and ExpressCard SDHC adapters.

I was wondering if you could link the three specific items you bought so we can find them on that website?

Thanks a lot.

John

Sure, I got these:
USB adapter (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.28900)
HDD enclosure (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18850)
card reader (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15268)

The HDD case is a little flimsy, but it's nice to be able to connect to PC with the faster eSATA interface too.

--AOK--

Thanks Antti.

John

Sure, I got these:

HDD enclosure (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18850)


The HDD case is a little flimsy, but it's nice to be able to connect to PC with the faster eSATA interface too.

--AOK--

There's a number of comments on the Deal Extreme site about how fragile the enclosure is which is slightly concerning (especially given how forgiving most Deal Extreme reviewers are in my experience).

Marcus,

For $16 USD I'll reinforce it if it works as well as Antti says.

John

Update:

The glue that holds the small circuit board to the inside one of the cases came loose when I pushed in the DC Power Plug (the DC jack is soldered to the circuit board). I cleaned out the remaining (hot melt) glue and put it back in with some Epoxy Resin. That has been the extent of the problems I have had with these units.

Again, I have two of them, powered by a USB hub instead of the camera USB power (nervous about using that). In fact the E-Films recorder has a separate power adapter for each recorder so my 4-port USB hub eliminates one power adapter if one wants to compare.

With the 84GB limitation on the EX1, the total record time is 268 minutes for slot A and 268 minutes for slot B.

John

Is one better built, more reliable, or more compatible?

Like Marcus, I've now started buying MxM.

Had one little incident: someone put an MxR card into my camera, shut the door, and somehow (probably because whole finger pushed the whole card in rather than using fingertip on adaptor only), the card popped out of the MxR card and came to rest on the sliding door. Result: couldn't slide the door open.

The solution was to find the right stiffness of plastic sheet (from a document binder IIRC), cut a little strip, get it through the door, up and over the card, and with a little application of a miniature Vulcan Nerve Pinch action, got the door open.

Never happened before, never happened since, but if handing camera over to another shooter, I'll hand them SxS or MxM, saving the MxR for me.

So what are the tips for pushing in the adapter without ejecting the SDHC card?

John

Apply pressure to the outer edges of the adaptor's rear face rather than the centre. IIRC, there's about 2-3mm either side of the central SDHC card. I can manage that even with my clumsy paws. :)

Apply pressure to the outer edges of the adaptor's rear face rather than the centre. IIRC, there's about 2-3mm either side of the central SDHC card. I can manage that even with my clumsy paws. :)

I find the "open" adaptors are a bigger problem in the Macbook slot personally. There's less room and no eject button. So you have to press down on the card to cause the mechanism to eject. Because I keep my Macbook in a hard shell case it makes it more fiddly and more often than not I would end up ejecting the SDHC as well as the adaptor.

With the new enclosed units that problem is solved. Although I still find it prudent to apply the pressure at the edges as the adaptor is more sturdy there.

The Efilms MxR was revised in May 2009 and released along with a new adapter, the lockable e-LCR, which both share the same high speed chipset which enables them to read and write to all 16GB and 32GB available on the market.

RELIABILITY

The Efilms MxR adapter PCB is built completely by a million dollar SMT machine with no hand soldering, whereas the MxM adapter still has the Timing Crystal hand soldered to it, which will make it vulnerable to failure.

CHIPSET USED

The Efilms MxR adapter uses a chipset that is able to read and write to the latest SDXC cards, and easily reads and writes to 64GB SDXC cards. The MxM adapter can only recognize the first 32GB of and SDXC card, perhaps because it was built on an earlier generation chipset, which came out before the advent of SDXC, or the design will not allow the camera to access the other 32GB on the SDXC card..

SPEED

The MxR adapter and MxM adapter are fairly similar in performance, and despite claims on the MxM website, (since removed), that MxM adapter was the “Fastest in the world”, we were never able to establish any significant difference. The two adapters were always able to read and write within 0.5Mb/s of each other. One could read one card at 20Mb/s the other 20.5Mb/s, the difference depended on the manufacturer of the memory.

EJECTION AND FIT

The e-LCR adapter is specifically designed to meet requests from professionals on set, who were concerned at “premature ejection”. The e-LCR allows the SD card to be locked into place, and and could not be accidentally ejected in either the camera or a mac.

Although the e-LCR has been very popular, we still see a huge demand for the MxR adapter, as many users prefer to be able to easily remove the SD card at the end of the shoot and give it to the client, and do not want to bother with a flimsy cover that breaks easily in operation.