I am using a Nikon D-1 shooting uncompressed RGB images and fine images at about 7.5 meg and 1 meg respectively. I understand that the IMB has a heat build up issue which might be damaging to the Nikon D-1 due to lack of ventilation or placement of delicate components in the camera near the memory storage bay. I have no expertise in memory drives or flash memory devices or the internal workings of the D-1. I do not want to risk my $5000+ camera to save a few dollars on memory but the convenience and cost factors can not be ignored if it works. since I used up most of my savings for the camera and lenses and accessories, money is an issue but so is memory. I can not afford to pay for a camera that will not be repaired because of heat damage to a non authorized device, (the Microdrive) but I do not want to pass up on new technology that works. Is the risk worth the savings and convenience? I am interested in knowing if there is some actual testing going on besides Nikon or IMB. Both companies are very tight lipped and will not comment other than to say that it is not supported.

Is there anything I can do to reduce the risk, such as delay between shots, or shooting smaller files, etc.?

I Know it is being used widely and would welcome and appreciate real world experience and especially from someone with technical expertise. I am a layman in this area and the white paper from IBM was too technical and not very helpfull.

Any comments or advice is appreciated.

-- Scott Sherman (interactivephotos@home.com), May 15, 2000

-- Scott Sherman (interactivephotos@home.com), May 15, 2000

Answers

I have not heard about any heat buildup in the microdrive. I believe it is an issue of specmanship. Nikon specs a higher temp than IBM since the microdrive is designed for typica office uses not to be left in the sun in AZ for hours on end. However, IBM is usually VERY conservative in their specs. I would not worry about damaging the camera, but perhaps the temp in the camera will be too high for the microdrive in direct sun, situations. If the camera is too hot to hold on to, it's probably too hot to take a picture with ! (DUH HUH).

-- Bill Heybruck (wa2edn@attglobal.net), May 31, 2000.