Canon Rolls Out Another Reason to Use Big SDHC Cards...XP Fans, Are You Ready?

Posted 01/25/2008 at 4:22pm | by Mark Soper

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New Digital Rebel XSi Leaves CF Behind

Canon has announced that a new Digital Rebel, the XSi, will be hitting stores in April. It features a 3-inch LCD with LiveView (my favorite "steal this feature" ever since Olympus 'stole' the idea from point-and-shoot cameras for its E-330 DSLR in 2006). The XSi is also bundled with another hot feature, an image-stabilized 18-55mm zoom. It also bumps up the resolution to 12.2MP with an improved sensor that features better low-light performance and improved color rendition, swipes face detection technology from point-and-shoot cameras for better shots under backlit conditions, and uses the latest DIGIC III image processor. Oh, and before I forget - the XSi also joins the race to SDHC, the 4GB and larger sibling of the popular SD flash media.

8GB and Larger SDHC Cards Are "Too Much of a Good Thing" for XP Users

Cameras like the Rebel XSi and an increasing number of other DSLRs and high-end point-and-shoot cameras that use SDHC media provide plenty of reasons to move to 8GB and larger cards. Here's why:

You need large cards if you want to shoot in RAW mode, which provides for better-quality images, or RAW+JPEG, which gives you both image types at the same time. RAW files are much bigger than JPEG, and if you shoot RAW+JPEG so you have a JPEG for immediate enjoyment and RAW for maximum image quality, you'll be blowing through your memory card's capacity in a hurry!

Windows XP + Big SDHC Cards = Problem!

The problem is that Windows XP isn't designed to work with SDHC cards larger than 4GB! For example, if you plug in an SDHC card with more than 8GB capacity, Windows XP may think you need to format it. Why? Some devices designed to use large SDHC cards might use the FAT32x file system. FAT32x supports drives larger than 32GB. If you reformat the card using Windows XP, XP uses plain FAT32 instead. After you format the card, Windows XP can read the card's contents, but there's nothing to read. All those wonderful digital photos, music downloads, etc. - gone! Good thing there's a solution, eh?

KB934428 = Solution!

Install the hotfix described in KB article 934428 to fix this problem. Follow the link in the article to request a link to the hotfix by email. Once you install the hotfix, XP will be ready to handle 8GB and larger SDHC cards from any digital camera or other storage device. Bring 'em on!