“ImageTank G2”
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I tried testing my G2 thoroughly today. I found out that the cover of the tank addresses that “missing” support I was talking about in my previous post, so that problem is eliminated.
There were some other interesting things though…
“ImageTank G2”
“Newer version of FAT”
“File Allocation Table”
I did some tests with throughput. Filled up a Twinmos 512MB CF card (475MB) with RAW shots, and attempted to recopy the same card to fill the 28+GB (just to be sure that the full capacity of the HDD is usable). Transferring 475MB of data took about 3 minutes. This suggests that I’ll probably need an intermediate CF card to cover for the transfer time during an important shoot.
Also, the tank has been on USB mode without AC power the whole time. I did this so I can get an informal estimate of how long it could last on battery power, which is extremely important considering its use.
It took about 2-3 hours before the low power indicator popped up (and you can’t do anything but shut it down at that point). Since the tank is meant to be running only when you’re transferring your files. The rest of the time, it wouldn’t hurt to use it on AC power.
It is advisable to NOT attempt to transfer CF data on one bar The “low power” indicator popped up right after transferring the contents of a 512MB CF… that’s too close for comfort in my opinion. On an important shoot, that could translate to lost data right then and there. Lesson to be learned here is to keep your tank decently charged!
All in all it seems to be a very sold unit, I did find some nuances however:
- You have to take care of inserting your CF as it can go right through the hole and inside the tank totally – If you inspect the CF slot, you’ll see that there a wide area open after the hole (they didn’t put walls to guide the CF per se).
There is a CF railing however that guides the CF into the pins safely. So it’s just a matter of making sure you put your card through that railing to avoid mounting problems
- I don’t know if it’s just me, but you cannot do a thorough disk check and format on the HDD, just a quick-format and rudimentary scandisk procedure
If your HDD messes up beyond the point of a simple quick-format solving the problem, then you’d have to disconnect it from the unit, plug it into a laptop/pc/bay which can do the job.
- The G2 needs its HDD to be in FAT32, that much is clear in the manual. But having a CF with the same filesystem (FAT32) may pose some problems such as rebooting at the middle of a transfer, etc.
According to the site, you have to put your CF on regular FAT mode to circumvent this. If confirmed this to be true. If the mentioned workaround still doesn’t work, then your card is not compatible (eeeep!)
I’ve finally finished filling the ImageTank. Data worth approximately 61 CF cards of 512MB capacity was transferred. That translates to approximately 4,720 RAW shots. schweeeeet!