FireWire 800 CompactFlash Reader and macOS High Sierra (10.13+) Delock 91694

We tested the Delock 91694 FireWire 800 CompactFlash Reader under macOS High Sierra (10.13.1). The Delock's 91694 FireWire 800 Reader worked flawlessly, mounting a SanDisk Extreme® CompactFlash 60MB/s UDMA 16GB cards, and a Transcend 4GB 133X card.

Under 10.4 through 10.9 iPhoto opened automatically when the reader was connected or when new CompactFlash cards were inserted. macOS High Sierra is the fourth macOS version to deploy the Photos app, which does not automatically launch. However, when we opened Photos and navigated to the "File > Import…" function, the CompactFlash card present in the reader was there and ready for importing with the preview feature.

The speedy Delock 91694 FireWire 800 CompactFlash Reader worked well under macOS High Sierra (10.13.1). Here's screen shots of the PCM-CR-FW81ECF-03 / 91694 working under macOS High Sierra (10.13.1). Our MacBook Pro has a FireWire 800 port and a Thunderbolt port.

EverythingHerePlus tests Delock's 91694 CompactFlash FireWire Reader with Xubuntu Linux

Just in case no one has tested the Delock FireWire 800 CompactFlash reader under Linux, the good folks at EverythingHerePlus have. They write about it here and here. The CompactFlash cards they tested aren't of much interest for DSLR folks, so I won't post the actual benchmarks here. Those interested can check out the previous mentioned posts. They used the benchmarking feature of the linux app Disk Utility 3.0.2, and listed their test platform as follows.

• Xubuntu 12.04.2 LTS
• Intel Core2 6300 @ 1.86GHz with 2GB RAM

For older Linux systems without SuperSpeed USB 3.0, using FireWire 800 or even FireWire 400 is going to provide much better performance reading high end CompactFlash cards. The Delock 91694 FireWire CF CompactFlash Reader FireWire 800/IEEE 1394B is an excellent piece of hardware. I'll try to get them to test some higher speed CompactFlash on their setup soon.

Delock FireWire 800 to CompactFlash UDMA Drive Read-Writer 91694

I got to spend several days testing the Delock FireWire 800 to CompactFlash Reader. It worked spectacularly with the 16GB Sandisk Extreme 60MB/S UDMA CompactFlash cards that I use in my Canon 7D. I'll be posting benchmarks here soon.

The Delock FireWire 800 to UDMA CompactFlash Drive Read-Writer is a must for pro photographers and other demanding users of high speed CompactFlash memory cards. Capable of exploiting the high speeds of the latest generation of CompactFlash memory cards, the FireWire readers 800 boasts incredible read speeds. The Delock FireWire 800 to UDMA CompactFlash Drive reader supports all the recent high-speed CompactFlash standards including PIO Modes 0-4, DMA Modes 0-2, and UDMA Modes 0-6. it features a single CompactFlash slot for CompactFlash Type I and II including Hitachi Microdrives and other CFII+ rotating media. It supports FireWire 800 (and 400 with and optionally purchased adapter or cable) connectivity on both Macintosh and Windows Operating Systems. The FireWire 800 to CompactFlash uses FireWire bus power, so the CFFire800 reader plugs and plays with no external AC power. The Delock FireWire 800 to CompactFlash Drive requires no drivers and comes with a one year limited warranty.

Announcing EverythingHerePlus.com

EverythingHerePlus.com is a new online shop that, among other things, is an authorized Synchrotech reseller.

Their prices on many of Synchrotech's most popular items are typically discounted, and they ship via USPS Priority mail instead of FedEx, so many items are much cheaper to purchase when shipping is taken into account. For example EverythingHerePlus.com sells and ships the ExpressAdapt PCMCIA PC CardBus to USB Mode ExpressCard Adapter for $27.92. Or have an Unibrain FireWire 400 to 800 Adapter delivered for less the the retail price of the Sonnet version.

CFFire800 Pro Benchmarks and Performance Shootouts

The CFFire800 Pro FireWire 800 to UDMA CompactFlash reader made the arduous task off offloading photos from my Cannon S-70 somewhat of a joy. Synchrotech published a few documents verifying my experience.

CFFire800 Pro Benchmarks
I use an ATP ProMax II CF 300X UDMA CompactFlash Card and see numbers very close to the top cards on this list.

Modern UDMA CompactFlash Reader Benchmarks FireWire vs USB 2.0
I use the FireWire 800 based CFFire800 Pro in FireWire 400 mode with a 9→6 pin adapter and can say it outperforms any USB 2.0 based CompactFlash reader I've ever tested by orders of magnitude.

Considering testing out the CFMulti with and Eye-Fi Card

The following is preliminary research I did to test out Synchrotech's CFMulti with and Eye-Fi card for use with my Canon S-70.

FAQ for CFMulti CompactFlash Type II to Eye-Fi™ + Multi-Card Adapter
CFMulti CompactFlash Type II to Eye-Fi™ + Multi-Card Adapter
http://photojojo.com/uncut/2008/06/14/eye-fi-canon-20d-30d-40d
http://support.eye.fi/faq/troubleshooting/#faq-388
http://johnmilleker.com/weblog/?p=29

A pro reader for the rest of us

When EverythingHerePlus.com released their CFFire800 Pro reader for CompactFlash cards, I was waiting for them to add a FireWire 400 option. Since I switched from my Pismo PowerBook to an iMac G5, I have had to download photos to iPhoto over the Canon S70's slow USB connection. I have been waiting for an affordable FireWire reader ever since. EverythingHerePlus.com's CFFire800 Pro FireWire 800 to CompactFlash Drive Read-Writer has a 9-pin FireWire 800 plug and I couldn't find a converter plug. Now EverythingHerePlus.com is offering such a plug for those of us that need to use the lightning fast reader with FireWire 400. Their FireWire 800 9pin (female) to 6pin (male) Converter Plug allows use of the CFFire800 Pro for the rest of us. From everything I have read, and my own testing so far, this reader is much faster than USB 2.0 models even when used over FireWire 400 (IEEE 1394a) mode.