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Sandisk 4GB Extreme III or Ultra II Compact Flash Card

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 1:26 pm
by fenger
I'm thinking of buying a 4G card. I have a Canon 350 and will buy a better body in the near future. The price between the Extreme III and Ultra II is about $25. Is there any practical difference between the two? I do not often shoot continuously and when I do, the number of frames is small and probably will fit within the camera buffer. What do most people use?

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 1:38 pm
by Yi-P
The difference seen on a 350D will not be noticeable in real uses. It can only be seen if you show up the numbers and take very serious measurement, but who cares about that 2 second extra or .3sec faster?

If you don't shoot burst at all, then a slower card can do for you. Even if you have a very fast card, if the camera cannot write that fast, it will be the same.

Tho, the speed is more pronounced when transfering data back/from the computer using a card reader. In the end, I don't think this can be much a problem unless you're seriously in a rush. PS. If you are planning to buy a 1Ds MkIII somewhere near close, then get the extreme III version :lol:

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 2:11 pm
by fenger
If you are planning to buy a 1Ds MkIII ...

I'll be banned from buying photographic gear forever if I buy the 1Ds MkIII :wink:

Tho, the speed is more pronounced when transfering data back/from the computer using a card reader.

Thanks. I havn't thought of that. I usually transfer data to the computer using the USB link because it is a lot more convenient to do so. It's quite slow and I suspect that the slow speed is due to the USB speed. Given that I can stand the speed the of USB, I guess the speed of the card when used with card reader matters little to me.

Even if you have a very fast card, if the camera cannot write that fast, it will be the same

For the 5D, will the limit be in the camera or in a card like the Ultra II?

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 2:23 pm
by gstark
fenger wrote:I usually transfer data to the computer using the USB link because it is a lot more convenient to do so. It's quite slow and I suspect that the slow speed is due to the USB speed.


You should try to use a card reader as much as possible. Quicker, and you won't wear out the USB bus in the camera. ;)

For the 5D, will the limit be in the camera or in a card like the Ultra II?


Your limits will nearly always be imposed by the camera: cards are always getting faster and are updated frequently. How often will you buy a new camera body?

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 2:30 pm
by Yi-P
fenger wrote:
Even if you have a very fast card, if the camera cannot write that fast, it will be the same

For the 5D, will the limit be in the camera or in a card like the Ultra II?


How many frames are you planning to burst? For the speed and buffer of a 5D, you will have a camera buffer to fill up 17RAW or 60JPEGs at full resolution of 12MP. The card's speed kicks in when you filled up the camera's buffer. That is, 60JPEG (12 seconds of continous burst @ 5fps) and then it will start to slow down, will you be shooting this much in continous burst?

I cannot confirm this, but some site out there claims that faster cards on higher end camera can reduce battery drain by a few milli-ampere/hour over the few seconds it saves on writing to the card. I cannot test or confirm this, but it sounds reasonable to me, tho the difference can be negligible from my PoV.

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 2:39 pm
by Oz_Beachside
Adorama have a great sale on, check this out, 12GB, extreme III, USD 189... I just paid that for 2 4gb no-names :shock:

http://www.adorama.com/IDSCF12GE3.html

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 4:05 pm
by the foto fanatic
Oz_Beachside wrote:Adorama have a great sale on, check this out, 12GB, extreme III, USD 189... I just paid that for 2 4gb no-names :shock:

http://www.adorama.com/IDSCF12GE3.html


For some reason, Adorama uses UPS only. Their sister store, B&H, allows you to select from a panel of methods.

As we know, UPS seems to feel obliged to levy GST on everything.

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 4:20 pm
by big pix
I am using a 4 gig Extreme 4 card in a DX2s...... works very good with burst shooting, and colour is fine.....

sold with rescue pro software, not sure if that is good or not

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 6:06 pm
by fenger
gstark wrote:
You should try to use a card reader as much as possible.

I'm afraid that taking the card in and out often may cause wear & tear to the pins faster.

Yi-P wrote:
will you be shooting this much in continous burst?


Never. I guess I still use a digital camera with a film camera mindset.
Anyway I have come to the conclusion that it is not worth to buy the faster card. By the time I buy a new body, the price of faster card will have dropped significantly.
[/quote]

PostPosted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 10:04 am
by Gordon
Oz_Beachside wrote:Adorama have a great sale on, check this out, 12GB, extreme III, USD 189... ...


I've been waiting nearly a month for a Sandisk 12GB extreme III from http://centre.net.au/ , it seems that are disappearing further into the future each week ;(

PostPosted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 1:08 pm
by radar
cricketfan wrote:As we know, UPS seems to feel obliged to levy GST on everything.


As for this, it is a pain that they only use UPS but just received my order form them and no-GST and it was very quick, shipped on Tuesday, arrived on Thursday. Total was about $500.

Maybe I was just lucky. :-)

André

PostPosted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 4:52 pm
by the foto fanatic
radar wrote:
cricketfan wrote:As we know, UPS seems to feel obliged to levy GST on everything.


As for this, it is a pain that they only use UPS but just received my order form them and no-GST and it was very quick, shipped on Tuesday, arrived on Thursday. Total was about $500.

Maybe I was just lucky. :-)

André

Great! Pleased to hear it. Maybe they have changed - it would be good. Thanx.

PostPosted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:21 am
by binky
Hi everyone, just noticed on the D-D-Photographics website that they are advertising the sandisk 4GB extreme IV for $139.. which is probably good value considering Centre.net.au sells the 4gb Extreme III for $108 + $13 or so for shipping.

PostPosted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:33 am
by michael_
what body do you have? i know that with say a canon 30D paying the extra for a E4 over E3 you wont notice it unless you are using a 1 series body

PostPosted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 12:31 pm
by Yi-P
Been using a 4GB Ultra II on a D2H for a while, I don't really see a difference in the bursts, I don't shoot over 30RAWs at a time either... that is crazy...

Tho transferring back to the comp using card reader, it does seem to be bit slower than the 100x or 120x cards...