Canon 40D - what's the best CF Card choice?

[gizard]

I am now begining to shoot alot in RAW mode and my 1GB cards just aren't big enough anymore - so I am thinking of buying some 4GB ones. I think the best ones are the SANDISK range (correct me if I'm wrong) but I cannot find any evidence as to whether I would get any benefit having an Extreme IV over an Extreme III, does anyone know whether the 40D in particular will be able to use the extra speed available with the EXtreme IV 4GB card?

[kybo]

Hi,

I believe you can't go wrong with Sandisk. Apparently, Extreme III are rated 130x with Extreme IV rated 260x

2 reviews:

IN CAMERA USE
"I am in the market for a few more Sandisk compact flash cards, and I thought I would run through a quick test to determine if I should purchase the Sandisk Extreme III or the Extreme IV lines of compact flash cards. The only way to find out, since speed is the differentiator between the two lines, was to put them to the test.

I setup my Canon EOS 1DsMkIII camera on manual mode, continuous high speed shutter, and clicked away. Here is what I learned.

20 shots from the first shutter release until the 20th frame was fully written to the card (red light stopped illumination)

Sandisk 8GB Extreme III = 25 seconds

Sandisk 8GB Extreme IV = 18 seconds

Ok, so I thought I would stress the cards just a little bit more.

30 shots from the first shutter release until the 30th frame was fully written to the card (red light stopped illumination)

Sandisk 8GB Extreme III = 38 seconds

Sandisk 8GB Extreme IV = 25 seconds

This test was one of those informal tests that aren’t all that scientific, but somehow give you satisfaction that you accomplished a goal for the evening. What did I learn? I learned that the Extreme IV cards are worthwhile for me to continue to have in my bag. This speed in crease comes at nearly double the cost, however. I would like to wait until Sandisk comes out with 16GB Extreme IV cards, but I am not sure how much longer I can wait.

Your mileage may vary."

CARD TO PC TRANSFER
"“The best CompactFlash cards on the market until now are capable of real-world throughput of between 15MB-17MB/second in the best shipping readers we’ve tested. By comparison, the 2GB SanDisk Extreme IV card, when inserted into an Extreme FireWire Reader, tops out at a whopping 38.6MB/second. Given the blazing card-to-computer speed of the Extreme IV CompactFlash cards, the time it takes to transfer a big assignment’s worth of photos is about to be cut significantly.”"

PRICES:
PLAY.COM
4GB Extreme III = £22.99
4GB Extreme IV = £37.99

FREE DELIVERY

Depends if you want to pay for the little extra speed. I don't really need the extra speed, as the FPS of a 350D is not great, anyway. Way it up according to the abilities of your camera.

Cheers,
Kybo

[gizard]

Thanks that - I have ordered a couple of 4GB Extreme IV's as they should perform slightly better.

Here's hopeing the weather is good for next weekend as I have a friends wedding to attend too - said friend's sister was so impressed with the results I had at her wedding last year* - I suspect they might well be expecting someting of me this time around

• - wedding was in June and was one of the hottest and sunniest days we had last year which helped a bit!

[AlfaFoxtrot]

So long as you're not paying a massive premium I'd always go for the fastest card you can - why not! The Extreme III isn't exactly slow (certainly for wedding photos!), but it can never hurt to be able to motor drive full res RAW for longer :P

[te51cle]

I've found that the biggest advantage with the high speed cards isn't so much with the increased number of frames you can shoot off in a row, its more in the huge reduction of time it takes to upload them to your computer afterwards. Much less boring waiting for them to appear so you can start manipulating them !

[MonkeyHanger]

Just use the Extreme 3 or 4's. Given the prices at the moment buying a lesser card is pointless.

[poah]

extreme3's can be had for silly money these days in 4gig size around half the cost of the IV's with my 40D I've had no problems at all using slower cards either in normal situations.

[DodoRacing]

Couple of 4GB Scandisk Extreme III's is all you need. With 2x4GB, you get risk reduction compared to 1x8GB in case of SD failure at the wrong place, wrong time.

[cannedheat]

have a look here... nearest they have is the 30d but it should give you some idea.

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?ci...

btw, don't buy the cards off ebay or from small retailers - chances are it's a fake!!! LOADS of fake SanDisc cards out there...