A different 40D memory card question...

I ordered a Lexar UDMA 300x 8GB card, but as I got to looking through the new

specs in magazines and on the Canon website, some of the cameras actually say

they support the UDMA technology. The 40D does not. Has anyone used the UDMA

technology yet in this camera? I'm hoping this memory card will work, it's a

nice one!

Hi Erin,

 

My understanding is that only the more recent 1D-Series Canon cameras can use UDMA cards. At least, in their specifications these are the only cameras that Canon lists as compatible with UDMA. There's no mention of it at all, in the specs of the other cameras.

 

So, I'm fairly sure the 40D won't be able to use it... But, not 100% certain.

 

You might pose this question to Canon support, via their website.

 

Please let us know what you find out.

You can use the card in the camera - i just won't operate at the faster speed (if the 40D doesn't support it). I bought one to try out with my 5D and it is no faster than my Extreme III card.

There is more discussion on card speed <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00MjxK">here</a>. Of interest may be Mat Sallis' test that measured a 22% speed increase with faster cards (Extreme IV), even though the 40D does not support UDMA. I am not saying that this result will extend to the Lexars (I have no idea) but if it does work as Elliot says then it may be an idea to measure the speed.

Hey! I love the test that was done with the speeds, that was a lot of help.

 

I did write to Canon and asked about the card... here is their response...

 

"Thank you for contacting Canon product support. We value you as a Canon

customer and appreciate the opportunity to assist you with your EOS 40D.

 

Due to the ever-increasing number of companies manufacturing and selling

CompactFlash cards, we cannot test and evaluate all the different

brands, sizes, and speeds of cards available in the retail market. Any

card with a capacity up to 8GB that adheres to the Type I or Type II

CompactFlash card standard, and is formatted with a 16 bit file

addressing system, should work in your camera. Cards larger than 2GB

will be formatted with a 16 bit file addressing system.

 

Unfortunately, because we have not tested the camera with all speeds,

sizes, and brands of CompactFlash cards, we are unable to speculate as

to the performance of the camera with a particular card installed, or to

recommend a specific type of card.

 

The camera will not benefit from a UDMA card.

 

We hope this information is helpful to you. Please let us know if we

can be of any further assistance with your EOS 40D.

 

Thank you for choosing Canon."

 

So there. The UDMA technology will not benefit the Canon 40D. A little bit of wasted money? Probably. Faster upload to my computer, though. I'm an optimist, I'm looking at it that way. :)

PS - on the back of the memory card (I recieved it today) it does say it is "100% compatible with all CompactFlash devices".

http://www.lexar.com/dp/workflow/What%20is%20UDMA.PDF

 

 

 

 

 

UDMA CF memory cards are ideal for photographers who capture a large number of highcapacity

images, and for anyone who spends a significant amount of time transferring those

images to a destination device. UDMA CF memory cards let photographers capture images faster

and more efficiently manage that content later in their digital imaging workflow.

While it?s exciting to think that CF cards can achieve even faster read and write speeds, it is also

important to remember that UDMA CF cards only perform at those increased speeds when used

in conjunction with UDMA-enabled devices. When used with non-UDMA-enabled cameras or

card readers, photographers should expect to see their CF cards perform at the highest transfer

rates allowed by such devices.

 

 

http://www.lexar.com/dp/workflow/What%20is%20UDMA.PDF

I also purchased 4 Gb Lexar Professional UDMA 300x card with EOS 40D. Now as Lexar website says, "When used with non-UDMA-enabled cameras or card readers, photographers should expect to see their CF cards perform at the highest transfer rates allowed by such devices".

 

So the question is what is the highest transfer rate allowed by EOS40D?

http://dpnow.com/4445.html

I asked Canon a similar question for my 5D. There response was:

 

Thank you for your inquiry about memory cards for the EOS 5D. We value you as a Canon customer and appreciate the opportunity to assist you.

 

While a faster memory card will not greatly improve the performance of

the camera itself, it will improve the speed of pictures being

downloaded to a computer. This will especially be the case if you are

using a card reader.

 

We hope this information is helpful to you. Please let us know if we

can be of any further assistance with your EOS 5D.

 

Thank you for choosing Canon.

 

Sincerely,

 

Renee

Technical Support Representative

 

This says to me that the camera has a max. write speed to the card but the down load speed to my computer will be faster. The camera processes images fairly fast using a 133x card but down load to my computer is slow. I'll purchase a 300x card soon.