50D memory card

<p>In my search for what type and size of card comes with the 50D, I think I discovered that it doesn't come with one. If this is true, what size and type do you recommend?</p>

<p>Size: Whatever size you need for your applications. 50D RAW files are big so larger cards would be better if you're likely to shoot a lot.<br>

Type: nothing from Ebay. Buy from a legitimate retailer only.</p>

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<p>it is all depend on your shooting style like if you shoot sport or birds in the flight you are going to need more than if you shoot landscape and cuz the 50d has big file been 15mp you are going to need even more.but i would start with 2X2gb and now b&h and adorama have realy nice cashback on sandisk and other memory cards.</p>

<p>Hi James,<br>

A quick Google on the 50D turns up this un-official spec page<br>

<a href="http://camera-and-photo.become.com/eos-50d-black-slr-digital-camera-kit-15-1mp-compactflash-card-slot--compare-prices--c212091085#productspecs">http://camera-and-photo.become.com/eos-50d-black-slr-digital-camera-kit-15-1mp-compactflash-card-slot--compare-prices--c212091085#productspecs</a><br>

and it indicates the 50D takes a CF card (compact flash) <br>

I think Lexar and SanDisk make quality picture cards, including CF cards. I would also now include Toshiba in that list, though I have used their SDHC cards, not CF.<br>

You do not want to go lower than 4GB in size. I would recemmend you start with an 8GB CF card and see how that works for your particular workflow. ( I happen to use a 3GB CF card in my own camera, and can only get 103 Large TIFF pictures on it, hence the suggestion to go with 8GB).<br>

Further, if you plan to use the camera for video or lots of rapid-fire picture bursts, you want to get the hi-performance version of the CF card to function at that level w/o hiccuping.</p>

<p><a href="http://lexar.com/digfilm/index.html?gclid=CNDWvvzD-ZwCFZla2godIHVxaw&ef_id=1705:3:s_b3fed3d39930d1d39713571af2c5d9ec_2949881423:SrKid0NIYWYAACtqdLEAAAKA:20090917205623">http://lexar.com/digfilm/index.html?gclid=CNDWvvzD-ZwCFZla2godIHVxaw&ef_id=1705:3:s_b3fed3d39930d1d39713571af2c5d9ec_2949881423:SrKid0NIYWYAACtqdLEAAAKA:20090917205623</a><br>

This link points you to a Lexar product page with 8GB and 16GB CF cards.<br>

hope this helps!</p>

<p><strong><em> "I happen to use a 3GB CF card in my own camera,"</em></strong><br>

Where do you get 3gb cards? Typo?</p>

<p>"what size and type do you recommend?"</p>

<p>As big as you can afford. Stay with name brands - NO EBAY !<br>

Personally, I prefer to go with larger cards that are a bit slower over the faster, more expensive cards. When I upload the photos, just go grab a coffee. High speed doesn't matter unless you are shooting and selling on site or taking huge quantities of continuous shots. I've never hit the buffer on my 50D and I shoot a lot of football action.</p>

<p>The 32gig cards are at a very nice price point now. The rebates on the Sandisk 32gig Extreme III's make them very attractive if you're in the US.<br>

I also have a 32gig A-Data that cost me about CDN$90-. Write speeds are about 10MB/s, but read speeds are 30MB/s, so they download very quickly.</p>

<p>I use 8 gig cards in my 50D. They are good for around 300+ RAW shots each. Thats about all I trust to one card at a time. It's easy to carry a spare or two in your pocket.</p>

<p>The 3GB CF card in my camera is a Hitachi 3GB CF-II+ Micro-Drive. I got it from Wolf Camera the same day I got my camera. These Micro-Drive cards are actually tiny hard drives, not solid state memory chips. I know they are not promoted or endorsed much any more. But the ones I have ( 2 3GB & 1 4GB, all Hitachi CF-II+ Micro-Drives) have been performing flawlessly, so I keep using them in a rotation sequence. I can get a lot of JPEG pics on them, but Large TIFFs take about 35 MB each, so you get less # per card. They run about $80 each, that is,if you can still find a Wolf Camera that still has some in stock. Like I say, they have been working well for me, even though they are tiny hard drives.</p>

<p>I use the Lexar 8gb 300x then I added 2 more 8gb Lexar 233x CF cards (both are UDMA). They all work well on 50D.<br />At first I thought I need the 300x speed but the 233x work very well and notice no different in speed. The 233x only $55+ per card and is a great card for 50D. You will save money buying the Lexar 8gb 233x card. Make sure you buy the UDMA USB Lexar Card reader to transfer your your photos to computer. The Lexar UDMA card reader has both CF and SD (SDHC) slots.<br />8gb card can shoot close to 320 raw (large), Raw + JPEG (large) 252, JPEG (large) over thousand.</p>

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<p>I may be in the extreme minority here, but I bought a CF to SD adapter and I use the much cheaper SDHC cards in my XTi. I bought my last Kingston 8gb SDHC card at Fry's for $20. I've never had any problems with this setup. Added bones--new laptops do not have built-in card reader support for CF, but they all have an SD reader.</p>

<p>I found a Lexar COMPACT FLASH 300X 8GB UDMA CARD at B&H for $109.95 with a $65 rebate. I went for it. I also ordered a 50D body and a Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS EF-S (USM).</p>

<p>WooHoo! It'll be here Friday, I expect a great weekend. Thanks for your help everyone!</p>

<p>Re: SD to CF adapter: which adapter did you get (adn where?) - the one I tried was a miserable failure<br>

Re: best CF card to use, whatever you do, avoid the seemingly good priced Kingston 8GB 133X Elite Pro. Had 2 bad glitches within first 800 shots (shooting raw + medium jpg). One, it jammed the cam and I lost one picture, the other time, the raw pict was distorted, altho the jpg was OK. '<br>

Interesting pattern for the distorted raw picture points to snafu while writing to card:<br>