Flash Cards

[Nikkofan]

My apologies for posting this again, because I am sure there is already a discussion here somewhere on this, but I can't find it.

I have a 4gb Transcend card, a Sandisk 1 gb card and a Sandisk 256 mb card, and now - thanks to the D200 - need at least (I think) another 10 gb or so of card. So far, I've had no problems with any of them.

So, my questions are:

1. Can you guys tell me what kind of cards you use? I've been browsing and have seen that some of you have had problems with the D200 and the Transcend cards, so is there a particular card that you D200 users can recommend for this? I've only used the Transcend with the D70 so far, but will be shooting a wedding on the 26th with the D200, hence the need for more cards asap;

2. I'm leaning more towards getting 2 gb cards than 4 gb cards. What do you think of this, relating to your preferences as above to 4 gb / 2 gb cards?

Thanks a lot guys. Hope you're all having a great day

L

[Geoff]

Hi Lynn,
I have a combination of Transend and Sandisk and so far haven't had any issues with either of them (touch wood). I would recommend getting a couple of 2gb cards so you don't have all your eggs in one basket. Memory is becoming more and more affordable so if you can, go for as many 2gb cards as you can actually afford. Good luck and let us know what you decide upon.

[MATT]

Yep I got a Transcend and astone, 1gig and 4 gig cards. Had not trouble at all.

I think the "not all eggs in one basket" is also a good idea. But would you shoot 10 gigs worth in one shoot??? @ gig cards may be more flexible but have to carry and look after( not lose).


Cards are getting cheaper, but just watch out for the scams on ebay with the fakes. Try to buy from someone yoou trust.

Thanks

MATT

[xorl]

I've used Sandisk Ultra 2 cards for a long time in a number of cameras (mostly D70/D200). I've never had any issues with them. Very fast and very reliable. I've found other brands to be a bit quirky at times, they never really gave me the confidence that I've got with the Ultra 2s.

[DaveB]

My cards are a mixture of SanDisk Ultra II, SanDisk Extreme III, Silicon Power, Delkin, and Ridata. I'm not in the market for more cards right now, but if I was I'd probably buy another Extreme III.

2. I'm leaning more towards getting 2 gb cards than 4 gb cards. What do you think of this, relating to your preferences as above to 4 gb / 2 gb cards?

Consider how many images you're going to get per card, not how many GB on a card. That's what matters, after all.
I suspect the D200 will fit ~120 images (RAW) onto a 2 GB card. Personally I wouldn't go smaller than 2GB (although I'd be happy to use smaller cards if I had them) and probably wouldn't go for larger than 4GB, but in the end it's up to you.

[Justin]

I've got a transcend 8Gb card - it's great - but is definitely a lot slower than my 2Gb card when you load it or format it. In terms of actually taking pictures, I don't notice a difference.

Main issue for me with 8Gb is on USB 1.1 I can actually drain the entire camera battery three times copying the pictures across (sometimes my card reader plays up).

therefore I am going to get a USB 2.0 interface...

[dooda]

Ultimately I think it makes the most sense to go with whatever is most efficient in terms of price/memory. I just ordered a Kingston 4gb for $140 Canadian. 2gb are 70 each so the 4 it is. I already have a 2gb, so this will suit me just fine. The whole not having all your eggs in one basket to me doesn't hold much weight. I've never met someone who's had a card malfunction, and I'm not going to lose one either. There are no moving parts in these things, and CF is built to be rugged. I suppose you could be worried about dropping it in water, but that's like worrying about dropping the D200 in lava (don't change out cards while swimming or doing dishes etc). Bigger cards are way more convenient, and you don't have to change out much, and you can go on trips and not have to bring a laptop or something along.

[greencardigan]

I'm currently using a couple of 1GB Sandisk Extreme II.

Highly recommended although I haven't checked recently where they fit in price wise.

[ATJ]

For me taking underwater shots, the size of the card is important because I can't change it underwater, however, with my D70, I have yet to fill a 1GB card on a single dive.

The rule I use when purchasing cards is to buy the card that is the cheapest if I was to buy multiple cards totally the same amount of storage. e.g. given the following (made up) prices:

256MB - $59
512MB - $89
1GB - $119
2GB - $250
4GB - $600

buying a 1GB card would be best as 4GB would only cost $476 where as the others would cost:

256MB - $944
512MB - $712
1GB - $476
2GB - $500
4GB - $600

[Justin]

My 8Gb cost $340... that table must be at least a week old!

[greencardigan]

For me taking underwater shots, the size of the card is important because I can't change it underwater, however, with my D70, I have yet to fill a 1GB card on a single dive.

I just realised you're the same ATJ off the MASA Forums.

[ATJ]

that table must be at least a week old!

given the following (made up) prices

[Greg B]

Hi Lynn

Have you considered a PSD? One without a screen perhaps? I have one with 40gig in it - can't remember the cost but prolly less than $300. So unless you are diving like ATJ, you can be dumping the contents of one card while filling the other one.

But I think the 4 gigs are the go for the d200 - you get 240 shots or so on RAW. And as I noted elsewhere, every card I have bought since the first one has had twice the capacity of the previous one, but they all cost about the same!!

[sirhc55]

My 4Gb cost $103

[Justin]

[Nikkofan]

My 4Gb cost $103

Chris, what type is it and where did you get it?

[sirhc55]

My 4Gb cost $103

Chris, what type is it and where did you get it?

OEM Samsung (i.e. no labels on it) and out of HK - total inc post $112.00

Also here: http://www.dslrusers.net/viewtopic.php?t=19833

[Blackspear]

When I researched CF cards, I found that the actual company that invented it was Lexar, the technology was stolen by its then partner Toshiba, who went on to partner SanDisk and give them Lexars’ trade secrets; Lexar recently won it’s court battle for justice over this matter.

In between research I needed to get a couple of cards urgently, so I purchased 2 x 2GB Kingmax 40x, the chips are made by Samsung and come with a 5 year warranty, you can deal with the local Kingmax Distributor BCSY who have branches in Melbourne and Sydney.

I read more about both Lexar and SanDisk at Ken Rockwells site, which also advised about speed; in a nutshell you are extremely unlikely to fill up the buffer within a Nikon D200 while it writes to the card, he was only able to after 28 shots in a row, and this was on slow 40x cards. So unless you are shooting sports at 5 frames per second on a 40x card then it is unlikely you are going to fill up your cameras buffer.

I went on to purchase an additional 4 x 2GB Lexar 80x cards because they were only $30.00 more than the Kingmax cards, yet double the speed and come with a lifetime warranty, another factor in my decision was they were the original developers of the technology.

Hope this helps…

Cheers