�Consensus emerged of which size, quantity and speed of CF card(s) for a pro � events, weddings, location shooting ?

Has there floated to the surface anything resembling a consensus of

which size CF card(s) is preferable for a pro. One who might shoot

events, proms, weddings and other non sit down and take your time

photographic assignments.

 

The newer cameras, for example the 1D MkII, can do 20 consecutive raw

shots. That would be enough, in a burst, to fill the majority of a 256

MB card.

 

There seems to be a considerable dollar advantage to staying with

multiple 256 MB cards, as one can buy three 256 cards for the price of

one 512 MB card.

Also, if there were a card crash or corruption or loss, etc., one

would not have a full 512MB or 1 gig of lost wedding photos, for example.

 

These are suppositions of mine, rather than assertions. I have moved

over to digital cameras from scanned film relatively recently, and

presently use two 256MB cards, but I recognize the need for a whole

lot more memory available to me when I get back to weddings, in the

spring, this time with a digital camera, rather than predictable film.

Then again, even with agile film replacement, and multiple bodies,

there was a good bit of time taken to reload.

 

Previously I shot with a Nikon D1x w/ buffer upgrade and never noticed

any card slowness with the original (non �version II� faster) CF

cards. Now fully moved to Canon. Perhaps with the 10D the original

cards will be much slower, or a problem with waiting.

 

I don�t think this one has been maxed out as a response topic. I am

looking for others� perspectives and estimations of needed card memory

and most practical and best, overall, package of cards.

 

It would seem to boil down to:

1- the safety factor of multiple cards at, for example irreplaceable

wedding shoots

2- The inconvenience and possible shooting interruption of multiple

256MB size cards.

3- The value or not of the newer generation of CF cards, such as the

Sandisk Ultra II, which is supposedly much faster, with the 10D, for

example.

I think 256 can be a little "tight" (I have a couple). However, I prefer NOT to go over 1gb for "safety" reason. If the card goes bad, lost or whatever I'd rather not cry over 4 gb worth of material :)

 

Right now I am using 1g, 512mb and 256mb.

<i>The value or not of the newer generation of CF cards, such as the Sandisk Ultra II, which is supposedly much faster, with the 10D, for example.</i>

<P>

For my 10D I use a slow, boring, old SanDisk 1 GB CF card for which I paid about $170 on eBay and a shiny new SanDisk Ultra II 512 MB card for which I paid $150 at NewEgg.

<P>

In a burst of 9 RAW shots (1/4000, f/22, lens cap on for consistency) it takes the 1GB card about 4 seconds longer to finish writing. As much as I would recommend a larger number of smaller cards, I would also recommend NOT spending extra money on Ultra II cards that are only nominally faster than other cards that are half their price. At least for the 10D. For my money, I'd rather have two 1 GB cards than two 512MB cards.

<P>

Also, when I'm actually using the 512 card, I find that it fills a bit too quickly. It holds roughly 80 RAW files, and the 1GB holds 160. I find that after about 100-120 shots I like to unload it and switch cards. If something unexpected happens, there's always more room on the card, and I don't have to worry about switching cards while something really exciting is happening. So, for my usage, I'd rather have two 1GB cards than four 512MB cards.

I shoot motorsports, so I'm definately in the non-sit-down category! :)

 

My personal preference is towards multiple smaller cards - I have four generic 256 Mb cards which I use in my D60 - rather than one larger one. Having said that, I shoot large fine JPEG rather than RAW, so I get around 110 images on a 256 Mb card.

 

Aside from the obvious advantage of greater security in the event of a card corrupting, smaller cards speed up my workflow.

 

By this, I mean that I can upload a card to my laptop really quickly, and then be able to go through those images while the next card uploads (via a PCMCIA reader). This kind of approach keeps the time I spend in the media centre to a minimum - which also means that I spend more time trackside shooting! :)

I shoot weddings and in Raw mode my 10D will put around 70 shots on a 512meg card. This is like 2 rolls of 35mm. I feel safe at that size, not any higher in case I loose it. If you watch the ads here

in Los Angeles you can get the Lexar 512meg CF card, 12x speed for $79 once in a while, that's pretty cheap and they work great with the 10D.

 

That's my opinion, thanks everyone....

Hello Roberta,

 

I have 3 gigs of memory going into my weddings. 1-1G CF, 3-512M CF, and 2-256 CF's. I have two different cameras, a 10D and D30 and shoot both RAW. For all the PJ stuff, i have a zoom mounted on the D30 with the 1g card firing away. For the formals (you usually have more time here in the event you needed to switch cards) i use the 10D, 50mm Prime, and a 512CF inserted (For security reasons in the event something happened to the CF). I always keep one 256F for last, because, in the event i ran out of memory i would use this card and switch my camera mode to Large JPEG. This is only as a last resort though. Kingest Regards, Jammey Church

For me it is a trade-off between having enough room to shoot several images and not losing too many if something goes bad or gets corrupted. The 512 card drops right in to my comfort zone. So far I've lost exactly 2 images in 10 months to some kind of tech error (error 99). If you are shooting a bunch or RAW images something bigger might be in order but for my purposes 512 Lexar cards are getting the job done.

 

Rick H.

I have a 1g Microdrive, 2 512 CF's, 2 128 CF's and a 48 CF. I use all of them, plus a 40GB Digital Wallet. A card is a card, the camera shows me how many shots I've got left. I don't worry too much about corruption, as I only use digital for wildlife and for other peoples' parties that I'm constantly called upon to shoot. For the images I really care about and can't repeat I use film.

There is a <a href="http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/84356">thread</a> (<i>Boost CompactFlash Write Speed in-camera</i>) on FredMiranda.com discussing reformatting CF cards to boost write speeds - some folks are reporting good results and others are having some problems. <p>

 

RobGalbraith.com has a <a href="http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007">CompactFlash Performance Database</a> that you might find useful. <p> --

Roberta,

 

What camera you shoot with and what format you save in makes a huge difference in what cards you should buy if write time and cost are important. As to what your comfort level is about losing images it depends on how paranoid you are but generally solid state CF cards are extremely reliable. The same cannot be said for rotating memory CF cards like microdisc based CF cards, personally I'd steer clear of them.

 

For example, the 10D you mention above writes pretty slowly from the buffer to CF card and no amount of money thrown at it past about a 40X Lexar CF card can make it go significantly faster. The EOS 1D on the other hand is capable of CF card write speeds that are approaching 3 times as fast as an EOS 10D body can write to CF and has shown that faster cards make it a faster body in use. I think the newest generation of CF cards may have caught up to the the EOS 1D's buffer write speed capability. These newer 60X cards are very fast and the fastest cards that are just shipping are showing signs of topping out at the max. 1D buffer write speed because there is no longer as large an improvement in CF card write speeds.

 

Knowing this I wouild suggest that a 10D shooter who shoots and saves JPEG format I would suggest buying 40X Lexar, 45X Transend, SanDisc Ultra-II cards in the 512MB, if RAW look to the 1GB range. This is the best capcity/speed/cost point at the moment without regard to the paranoia of losing images due to data coruption.

 

For an EOS 1D shooter I recomend paying a bit more for reduced wait time given that an EOS 1D can take full advantage of the fastest CF card write speeds and that a 1D is more likely to be used for sports and PJ work. Also because the 1D has a smaller pixel count I'd go with the 512MB-1GB CF card sizes here too. Even shooting RAW the 1D's lower pixel count nets you about 3 full rolls of images per 512MB CF card. The LARGE JPEG capacity would much higher even using the largest, lowest JPEG compression.

 

You also mention the EOS 1DmkII body and this camera will be capable of very fast write speeds from the buffer to the CF card and will benefit from the fastest cards on the market in terms of write times probably for quite some time given the size of the buffer and the huge increase in processor speed over the EOS 1D. So for a 1DmkII buyer I'd suggest the fastest cards on the planet, 1GB-2GB due to the larger image file size requirements.

 

As you can see the camera and file format used makes a difference in what cards would be best suited to a particular photographer and camera.

 

About file coruption, I have not had any coruption problems or data loss with the Transcend and Lexar CF cards I've been using in my EOS 1D body in 14 months of shooting with them. I have a mix of 512GB and 1GB CF cards that seem to work well with the way I shoot (almost all RAW BTW), and the pace I like to work at. I use a SmartDisc FlashTrax portable storage device with 40GB of disc space and have yet to need more in the field.

 

Cheers/Chip

I had a microdrive, but my friend who also uses a 1Gb drive started getting "corrupt image" notifications on his 10D. So I sold mine before it could happen to me.

 

I use Kingston 512Mb cards (4 of). 512Mb is big enough to not swap too often, but 2 are cheaper than a 1Gb card. If on the unlikely event a card failed, I still have 75% to work with + the 128Mb reserve / emergency card which came with my camera.

Run, don't walk, from any photographer using a 10D or a rebel and charging you more than $0.29/proof.

Regarding corrupted data on CF cards, very often it can be recovered unless it has been written over with new images, even if you have formatted the card. I would put in a hardy plug for Photorescue, on different occasions it saved me and friends photographs from once in a lifetime events, trips to NZ, and Africa.

Money well spent.

recovery software may work, but for weddings, its a risk I just will not take.