I have been testing the Hoodman USB 3.0 RAW Steel UDMA Reader for nearly 6 months now after buying it at last years Photoshop World in Las Vegas and it has traveled along with me for over 40,000 miles. In that time it has been thrown around in my backpack traveling to the heat of the Florida Keys and to the freezing cold of the Scottish Highlands and it has never missed a beat once.
Construction
The first thing I really noticed about this reader when I first saw it was the strong metal body construction.
All my previous card readers have been made of various types of plastic and the one thing that always did annoy me about them was that although using plastic made them cheaper to buy, it also made them much more prone to cracking and breaking from a period of abuse of being chucked around in the bottom of backpacks. Because let’s be honest, a card reader is not high on the priority care list for a photographer. So having something that could take my lazy abuse and still be reliable really appealed to me.
As you can see from the picture above, the metal housing on my reader has got a few bashes and scrapes on it but it is fairing very well relative to the abuse I give it!
USB 3.0
The next thing that appealed to me was that it has USB 3.0. Having bought a new MacBook Pro last year that came with USB 3.0 ports and I wanted to take advantage of that added speed. I’m not going to bore you with technical stuff about how fast it downloads a 32gb card of images. It won’t accurately reflect your experiences and every other review of the web will have that stuff if you’re really interested in that data. Let’s just say that there is a definite difference between 2.0 & 3.0 and you will love the added speed that USB 3.0 gives you if you can use it!
Another good benefit that this reader has is that the USB cable is detectable. Any reader that I have tried that had a cable integrated into them inevitably stopped working and I had to replace the whole reader. Major pain in the butt.
Memory Card Slots
Unlike some cheaper card readers you can get online that have up to 6 different memory card slots, this only has 2. One for a CF card and one for a SD card. That helps eliminate a variety of issues that can arise from having more slots than you know what to do with.
Another thing I like about these slots is that they are have a tight fit and go deep into the reader. Being a clumsy fellow, I have knocked over old card readers and screwed up the slot that the memory card goes into because it had a bit of a loose fit and that messed up the mechanism inside the card reader when I knocked it over and it would eventually start to lose its connection or not connect to the memory card all together. I’m confident in saying that you won’t get any of those issues with this reader.
There’s Always Room to Improve
As with all things tech, there is room for improvement with this otherwise great card reader.
In the process of writing this review I remembered reading something about this reader having a guard system in the memory card slots of some sort, and since I couldn’t see any form of protection I went to the Hoodman website and did some research. In doing so I discovered there is indeed a protection system that Hoodman call “Pin Guard”. It’s a metal flap in front of the CF memory card slot to help protect it from any dirt getting inside. After seeing a picture of the guard I do remember seeing it when I first got it.
Unfortunately when I went back to my reader to have a look for it, it wasn’t there! It was only when I grabbed my torch and had a good look inside did I notice that this flap was permanently down. It looked as if one of the springs that held up the flap had gone from my rugged abuse. I tried to prop the guard back up with a tiny screw driver but that only made it worse and the metal flap became loose in the reader and started to slide around inside it. Which meant I had to open the reader up and remove the loose metal plate and the other tiny spring that came loose too.
The job of opening it was straight forward with 2 screws on either side. As you can see from the picture above, the reader only has a few parts so it was a simple task of just picking out the loose metal plate and putting it back together.
Above is the offending metal flap and spring that caused all my confusion. In all honesty, I have had readers in the past that have these protective flaps and they are always the first thing to break as they are the piece that gets the most abuse from memory cards being inserted and removed all the time. I understand why they put it in but I would have hoped that they would have used higher quality and more durable springs; which is the piece that ultimately failed. Which I’m not surprised about when you look at how tiny and weedy the spring is.
One other small thing I have also noticed is the tight fit of the memory card slots themselves. It can make it difficult at times to get the memory cards into their slots if you get the angle a little wrong. It’s not the end of the world. It can just be a bit unnerving when it goes in a little squint and you gotta wiggle it to get it out then put try to put it back in again. Not a huge deal but it could be a bit of an issue for someone who isn’t very delicate with their technology.
The final thing I have noticed is about the USB cable that is supplied. Because the cable is quite thick and due to the way it was packaged made it quite stiff and there were times when the reader wouldn’t sit totally flat because the cable was bent. But after a few uses the cable did smooth out so it wasn’t a big issue. It’s just something to keep in mind.
Conclusion
I know from looking at my review above it seems that I had more negatives to say than positive. But minus the “Pin Guard” system which was let down by crap springs, I am nit picking an otherwise great product.
This reader has seen some abuse and it’s never let me down. Even with the metal flap in its permanently down position! Hooman have done a great job with their USB 3.0 RAW Steel UDMA Reader and hopefully when they make the next version of it they will address some of the issues that are stop it from being one of my all time favourite camera accessories.