DSLRUsers.com

Hi there,

I'm going to need to upgrade my measly 1GB CF card for my upcomming D2X...

I see that Birdy has some Transcend cards for nice prices. I'm looking at getting a 4GB 120x one to start off with.

However a few guys over at NSN seem to suggest I pay extra and get the SanDisc II or III cards as the Transcends aren't very reliable and their warranty (5 years) is worth nothing.

Can anyone here comment on their experiences with Transcend cards?

Thanks

Paul

No problems with either of mine. I have a 2GB Transcend that has served me well for a few months so far. I also own a 256MB Transcend that I have used with my Canon Ixus for probably 2.5 years with no dramas.

As always, there will be bad eggs occasionally, but I haven't had one

I also recall reading somewhere (not sure about the accuracy of this source) that all CF cards only come from a handful of factories anyway, so tehre wouldn't be much difference between brands.

Nothing wrong with the Transcends. Been hammering the 1Gb and it works a breeze.

NikonUser wrote:However a few guys over at NSN

MSN ???

So, what is the technical expertise of these people that they're using .....

MSN ????



Paul,

Look at the thread from earlier this week were one of our Canonites was asking about CF speed for the 350D. In that thread Thanh makes the observation that in 16 months he hasn't seen one return through all of the Transcends that he's sold.

Certainly, my experience with these is very solid, and I see no reason to pay for something that'smore expensive but unlikely to be a better product.

Eeer... NSN (Naturescapes.net) ... Sorry shouldn't have used the abbreviation.

Will put on my anti-canon glasses (kidding folks, kidding!!) and check out that thread, Thanks

Paul

Oops .... my apologies.



Bottom line is still the same though. All cards, regardless of the brand, may fail, and the best idea is to ensure you carry a measure of redundancy with you, in the form of several cards, all ready to use.

I think when i played with Oneputt's D2x.. that you will discover that 1gig wont cut the cheese... it only holds 56 images? roughly.. and 4gig will hold still hold less images then a 2gig card on a D70... Id suggest.. instead of getting one huge card like a 4gig.. which still costs a bit.. get 3 or 4 2gig cards.. .. I carry 3 2gig cards now.. and when i get my D200, i'll be ordering another 3 or 4 cards.. so.. I'll always have shitloads of space.. no matter what im using.. or what im doing..

Tim

Your plan is kinda the same as my plan Tim,

However my thinking was to go with getting a few 4GB cards. That would give me around 200 RAW images (about the same as what I get on my D70 with 1GB) per card and it would also be a nice size to get onto a DVD for backup.

Also I'm not sure that 100 images would be enough per card for wildlife photography (I don't like changing cards half way through the action)

Birdy lists 2GB at $145 and 4GB at $280. So going for 4GB cards would end up slightly cheaper than the 2GB ones





Paul

I've been using the 4GB Transcend 120x and find it very reliable and quick enough for my purposes. If you're into numbers - you can look at the CF database on robgalbraith and you'll see that the Transcend 120x performs within the top 10% of the fastest cards for cameras like the D2X and D200 - don't think you will notice the speed difference between the Transcend and the Extreme III. The Transcend 120x is great value at less than A$200 for 4GB.

gooseberry wrote: The Transcend 120x is great value at less than A$200 for 4GB.

Where did you see it for that much?

NikonUser wrote:

gooseberry wrote: The Transcend 120x is great value at less than A$200 for 4GB.

Where did you see it for that much?

I bought one 4GB Transcend 120x for S$205 here in Singapore about two months ago. Sorry, not sure of prices back in Aus - but figured they would only be slightly more.

gooseberry wrote: Sorry, not sure of prices back in Aus - but figured they would only be slightly more.

From personal experience and certainly not technical at all, but I do feel that in my 20D my 2GB Transcend 80x CF card feels slower than the Sandisk Ultra IIs I also have in 2GB. The buffer on the 20D just seems to take longer to empty.

Like I said - purely non-scientific and I could be talking out my bum since I have not done a proper back-to-back comparison.

However I can say that I have not had any data corruption or other problems with the card, and certainly it does not seem slower when copying from CF to PC via my Sandisk USB 2 card reader.

I am a very happy camper with Birdy's Transend cards, I only have the 1gb versions but not had any issues with either of them

Paul, can also confirm that I have had no problems with either Transcend or Sandisk.

I think you need facts here, go to this site, Rob Galbraith does extensive testing and has results on individual cameras. On the D200 he rated an Ultra 11 in 2GB at 6.596mb and Transcend 80X 1gb at 6.131mbps. The Transcend 2GB 120X 2GB rated at 7.759mbps. Top rated was a Lexar Pro 2GB 133X at 8.42mbps. All figures are raw on a D200.

When Transcends 5 year warantee is up, there will be no point in having the card anyway. Cards 5 years ago were, what 64MB? I dont think I want one of those in the D2x now - 3 images!!!

Thanks for that site.

On the D2X the Transcend 120x vs Sandisc III in 4GB is 7.9Mb/s vs 8.8Mb/s I don't think that speed difference will worry me too much as I doubt I'll be filling the buffer very often (17 NEFS).

I was more worried about the durability of the cards... and so far it seems all reports are positive from you guys

Paul

Heath Bennett wrote:When Transcends 5 year warantee is up, there will be no point in having the card anyway. Cards 5 years ago were, what 64MB? I dont think I want one of those in the D2x now - 3 images!!!

The problem they mentioned was that the card failed after about 1 year and Transcend wouldn't honour the warranty.

In 5 years... who knows... we might not even need CF cards anymore.

Paul

NikonUser wrote:Thanks for that site.

On the D2X the Transcend 120x vs Sandisc III in 4GB is 7.9Mb/s vs 8.8Mb/s I don't think that speed difference will worry me too much as I doubt I'll be filling the buffer very often (17 NEFS).

Paul

Tears well in my eyes, as the fastest transfer rate in my S3's is 2.156MB/sec. No, that's not a typo.

Add to this the size of the 14bit RAW files; 25MB, oh and the buffer only holds 3 RAW files.

And don't forget that every now and then after off-loading the pics from the card re-format it in the camera.

Bob.

.

padey wrote:

NikonUser wrote:Thanks for that site.

On the D2X the Transcend 120x vs Sandisc III in 4GB is 7.9Mb/s vs 8.8Mb/s I don't think that speed difference will worry me too much as I doubt I'll be filling the buffer very often (17 NEFS).

Paul

Tears well in my eyes, as the fastest transfer rate in my S3's is 2.156MB/sec. No, that's not a typo.

Add to this the size of the 14bit RAW files; 25MB, oh and the buffer only holds 3 RAW files.

Oh dear 35 seconds to clear the buffer of three RAW files

Paul

Get a Kingston card, they've got lifetime warranty. If the card dies, the warranty is over...

SCNR

Cheers
Steffen.

To get it right:
I think 3 or 5 years warranty is more than what we need, the short life and cycle of any IT related product at today technology won't stand at one spot.

What are you expecting to do with your 4Gb card at the end of the next five years? and how much will it cost?, perhaps it'll be cheaper than the postage you're going to send it back to suppliers/ resellers for warranty.

Just last year, the 4Gb CF is the most adequated, now 8Gb card iwill be flooding the market soon, guess what? 12Gb or 16Gb is on the horizon perhaps by October at Photokina.

For Transcend: Again, for the last 16 months, I distributed the Transcend & Astone cards (Over 200) on this forum, none of them returned or fault reported.

I'm among other members, happy to have Transcend CF cards in my cameras, I don't see much difference in transfer rate with other cards as Lexar or Sandisk 133X or Ultra III, but it's lot cheaper.

Are you thinking of or expecting the best result and greater take off by having the Holden V8 4.8l engine to be mounted on the Toyota Echo?

I have 1 LEXAR, 1 SANDISK Ultra III, and 2 Transcend of which 1 is a newer 4 gb 120x.

From my own experience and using in a D2x I cannot tell any performance difference. In fact the Transcend 4 gb seems to be the best performer but I feel imperceptible.

When downloading to a PC if transfer rate is a concern look at LEXAR's stackable card readers, you can download several cards at once.

From LEXAR's site:

Up to four Firewire CompactFlash Readers can be connected using Firewire daisy-chaining and up to four USB 2.0 CompactFlash Readers can be connected to the specially designed Lexar Professional 4 Port Hub USB 2.0 for fast, simultaneous CF card downloading.