Customer Reviews

Viking 128 MB SmartMedia Card (SSFDC3/128)

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I am using this in my Olympus 3000 and it works great. I read lots of hype about Smartmedia being very corruptable. So, to be on the safe side, I decided that I would just buy a 128MB card and leave it in the camera all the time. The corruption we read about probably comes from mishandling the smartmedia cards and sliding them in/out and/or getting fingerprints on them. They are very thin and look flimsy, handle with care!

The 128MB card holds 169 images at the HQ (High Quaility 3 MegaPixel setting) in the Olympus 3000/3030 and so far so good, but I am still waiting on that rebate check from Viking. :(

Also, there is a "hack" to enable the panaorama feature of the Olympus camera's... It has to do with formatting with "Olympus PAN" in the header :) ....

From research, I found that there are only two companies that produce smartmedia cards and that the only difference between the two is the country in which they are produced. The Viking media comes from Japan, which is supposedly better.

Have owned 4 months. Bought 2 128MB cards. no problems for 3 months. camera stopped recognizing 1 of the cards, but Viking promptly replaced. Best customer service I,ve seen for a long time. rebate was extra slow to arrive, took about 3 months.

I recently received a Fuji Finepix F601 as a gift; the giver, a professional photographer, included a Fuji 128MB Smart Media Card as a matter of course. Thank goodness he knew what he was doing in terms of storage needs, at least -- the 601 only comes with a 16MB card, which on the 601 is only enough for 5 images at the highest recording level. If you're getting a compatible Fuji, Olympus, or other-brand camera, you really need the highest storage card possible.

But it turns out these cards are fragile, and fingerprints can short them out or cause problems with the camera or reader being able to access their contents. So the best way to keep them around forever is to get a 128 MB card and never remove it! Ideally, then, this should be a solution coupled with the purchase or ownership of a camera which interfaces directly (USB or firewire) with the PC, so there won't be a need to remove the card. Ever. That security, and the ability to store over a hundred 8x10 print-quality pix on one wafer-thin card, makes the bigger sized card easily worth the extra cost if you're getting a Fuji or other-brand digital camera.

As for brand...well, after trying a Fuji and a Viking card, and checking the wiring stats on both, it turns out the brand names of Smart Cards have almost nothing to do with quality -- these are, for all intents and purposes, interchangable -- so buying the cheapest one out there is the best bet. And, with rebates, the Viking card IS the cheapest Smart Media brand on the market -- by a factor of about 10% or more. Order now before the sale price changes!

Finally!!!!

Not much to say other than it is a 128MB SmartMedia card that works perfectly. I have purchased the Viking cards before and never had a problem with them either. Viking is a truly wonderful company that manufacturers only the best quality products and amazingly low prices.

I use this card in my Olympus C-3030 without a hitch. It even can utilize the panoramic feature.

I haven't bought this card, but was considering it due to the comments of the previous writer regarding its ability to work with the Olympus panoramic function.

According to Viking this is not the case I checked Vikings website 7 April 2001 and at this time Viking confirmed (under FAQ) that only Olympus's Smartmedia has panoramic functionality, due to proprietary software used by Olympus.

If you are buying this card for Oly pano functionality check with Viking first!

I bought this along with my Olympus C-4040Z a little over a year ago. It's been very reliable, and at the time I bought it was the least expensive of all the available 128mb SmartMedia cards.

Just for reference, my Olympus tells me I can put 46 shots on a blank 128mb card, although I've been able to get as many as 61 shots on the card shooting at 4.1 megapixels and SHQ mode on my camera (highest JPEG resolution).

Inserted the Viking 128MB SmartMedia card into my Olympus C-730 and it immediately worked without formatting. Formatted it in camera anyway and it still worked. Took pictures and uploaded it to my PC from camera directly just fine. Downloaded pictures (that I had previously uploaded from my 16MB xD card that came with the camera) from the PC to my camera. Viewed it fine with no errors. Even record sound on it. Took the Viking 128MB to Costco and inserted it into their digital picture reprint system. Made reprint choices & picked up reprints in an hour. 8x12's and 4x6's looked great. Could not see notable differences between 2Mpixel and 3Mpixel setting in the quality of the enlargements (from a vacation, casual photographer point of view that is). Card came in a nice plastic case to boot! My HP printer has a SmartMedia slot, but I haven't tried it yet to do uploads/downloads and proof sheets. That will be my next test.

In another review, I describe the negative experience I had with a Sandisk 128MB card. In summary, the card was defective and I lost 240 pictures. More recently, I have been using this Viking card and it has worked flawlessly, at least so far.

I have a 2 megapixel camera, and in HQ mode each photo is approximately 500K, and in SHQ mode 1MB. This means you can fit 256 or 128 photos in the respective modes. In my brief experience I have found the HQ mode sufficient for most photos, so for me this card stores the equivelant of 10 rolls of film. For my 2 megapixel camera, this has been a convenience. For those who plan to save even larger files, I would say that the 128MB size is essential. And with the falling prices on these cards, it makes more sense than ever to invest in a card this size.

I purchased the Viking 128mb card for my Olympus c720 camera prior to going on vacation. The card worked great, we got over 250 high quality shots. When concidering the number of shots we got, and the fact that the card is reuseable, our photos were dirt cheap compaired to regular film (you have to factor in the cost of the film and processing). This, coupled with the ease of use and great looking pictures, made buying this card a very worthwhile purchase. I also liked not having to reload, store and process the film. I found the price on Amazon.com beat most of the competition. I'm very happy with my purchase and I'm sure you will be too!

When shopping for additional memory for my Olympus digital camera I had two considerations, quality and price. In this instance Viking was a brand name with a good reputation for quality and between Amazon.com's discount and Viking's rebate the price was within a buck or two of the lowest anywhere for any brand of 128MB SmartMedia cards. This made buying it an easy decision.

In the camera it works flawlessly. As a novice digital photographer I'm still in awe of the freedom having a big memory card gives me to shoot 256 high-res pictures without changing "film".