Compact Flash

[julianhj]

I'm off to purchase a Canon 30D and could do with some advice on CF cards. I'll buy the CF card separately as I have a mate's card that I'm using at the moment. Are they all much alike? I'm aware there are different speeds, and am looking at a 2GB Sandisk Ultra II - is there a better brand? Is there any point going to an Extreme III or similar for a few more quid? I'm not going to be doing sports or anything where I can envisage a massively quick write speed being necessary.

[badbeachbuggy]

Ultra II will be fine.

The time when you will notice anything faster is when downloading to your PC. I have a 4gb Ultra II card and when full it takes about 20 mins to download via a card reader, but I can live with that.

[Podie]

There is a big difference between Ultra II and Extreme III. If you're getting a 30D then you may as well go for the better card.

In my 300D the difference is noticeable, and although the better and later cameras have a larger buffer, I'd still spend the extra.

Personally I've got 2x 1GB cards, rather than a 2GB card. At some point you WILL get a failure, so it helps to mitigate against that...

[CVP]

One other advantage of the Sandisk Extreme III card you mention is the low temp operating capacity. I beleive these are guaranteed good to -20 C. may or may not be important if you are considering a once ina lifetime trip somewhere really cold like Spitzbergen or the Antarctic.

Otherwise Sandisk and Lexar are two brands I have used and both have performed perfectly. Mrs CVP and I both use the Extreme III 2GB cards you metioned, bought as a job lot from Warehouse Express.

Cheers

Chris

[GetCarter]

I too would go for the sandisk 3 on good cameras the speed increase is substantial. I find www.pixmania.com both fast, reliable and cheap.

[julianhj]

Thanks for your responses, I think we'll get 4x 1GB Extreme III cards.

[julianhj]

Quinny said:

I've been using Ultra 11 with my 350d. No problems at all.
The camera will fire off about 20 shots in 4 or 5 seconds before it begins to slow down.

1 Gb ones are £16.99 each from 7 dayshop.com

Cheers for the tip. We're getting a few CF cards plus a couple of 1GB XD cards for my better half's Fuji P&S.

[julianhj]

We're trying to decide whether we want a LowePro Slingshot 200 or Stealth Reporter 100. I understand LowePro have a pretty good reputation.

[irm]

www.mymemory.co.uk/product-info.php?id=467&origin=Newsletter

20% OFF!
SanDisk 1GB Extreme III Compact Flash Card
£17.99

[SuperlightR]

been using a SanDisk 1GB Extreme III for a little while now, had no problems, wanted it to help write quickly from the buffer to the mem. Didnt know about the lower temputure, but thats good if it works well.

[Podie]

irm said:

www.mymemory.co.uk/product-info.php?id=467&origin=Newsletter

20% OFF!
SanDisk 1GB Extreme III Compact Flash Card
£17.99

No brainer at that price...

[jwyatt]

badbeachbuggy said:

Ultra II will be fine.

The time when you will notice anything faster is when downloading to your PC. I have a 4gb Ultra II card and when full it takes about 20 mins to download via a card reader, but I can live with that.

20 mins for 4GB??? Are you sure that's running at USB2 speed? It should not take anything like that...

[nick(bbb)]

jwyatt said:

badbeachbuggy said:

Ultra II will be fine.

The time when you will notice anything faster is when downloading to your PC. I have a 4gb Ultra II card and when full it takes about 20 mins to download via a card reader, but I can live with that.

20 mins for 4GB??? Are you sure that's running at USB2 speed? It should not take anything like that...

I'm using a crappy laptop, I think the hard drive speed may be the issue. The whole thing is on the go slow now, I wiped it clean and resinstalled everything but it's still struggling. I'm going to replace it soon.