D 700 - SanDisk Extreme cf 32gb 120 mb/s udma 7

<p>There has been some discussion about suitability of cards as approved by Nikon for the D700.</p>

<p>To date, I have only used up to 16gb cards. Have D700 users had any problems with this card, please? Questions have been raised in some consumer feedback.</p>

<p>Nikon's card approval list seems completely random, and certainly nowhere near comprehensive. Looks to me like they just tested it with whatever cards happened to be lying around in the office at the time! I haven't used that particular card with the D700, but can confirm that 32GB cards in general don't seem to give any problem. But do you really need a single card that holds in excess of 1000 RAW+JPEG shots? Since it only takes seconds to swap out a card.</p>

<p>Before you use that card, make sure that the firmware is the latest version. There was an update to allow larger sized cards to be used IIRC. Up to 64GB. </p>

<p> </p>

<p>RJ - thanks for that. I've seen these cards at a very good price from a reputable dealer - hence my interest!</p>

<p>When the D700 camera body was *new* -- the 32Gb card was not a item one could buy. That is likely the reason for the card you are looking at is not on the list. Worse case is the camera will not identify 32Gb's of memory when you do the format routine.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Nikon's memory card approval lists always include the top cards available from the top two major brands, namely SanDisk and Lexar, at the time the new camera's owner's manual and web page are prepared, which is a bit before the actual new camera announcement. Occasionally 1 or 2 other brands are included, e.g. sometimes Panasonic SD.</p>

<p>The problem is that Nikon usually doesn't update those lists at all. Since new cards are introduced every few months, occasionally such lists are already out of date by the time the cameras are shipped. As Jerry points out, since the D700 was introduced way back in 2008, its original approved memory card list is practically useless now. I just checked my D700 manual, and it only lists several SanDisk and Lexar cards between 1 and 8G. And I recall that I never bought any 16G cards until the latter part of 2009.</p>

<p>One thing to keep in mind is that while Nikon mainly tests a few cards from SanDisk and Lexar, most other cards from better brands such as Kingston, etc. are likely to be fully compatible as well; they are just not listed (and probably not tested) by Nikon.</p>

<p>In early 2010, Nikon introduced firmware version 1.02 for the D700 so that people can use 64G cards on the D700: http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00VQYU<br>

The latest firmware is now 1.04 to support the 800mm/f5.6 AF-S VR. As long as your D700 has firmware 1.02 or later, you should have no trouble all the way to 64G cards, but I would stick to high-quality brands. 16G and 32G cards that conform to CF standards are definitely not a problem.</p>

<p>Over the past decade plus, there have been recurring questions and complaints about memory cards not behaving in a user's camera, and I've noticed a bit of a pattern in the circumstances. People seem to run into problems when trying to use a card that either has a larger capacity or a faster speed than was available at the time the camera model was introduced. I realize why folks are attracted to higher speed or larger capacity cards, but venturing into territory that the designers of the camera didn't have available has to carry some opportunity for surprises in performance.</p>

<p>If you'd add links to the discussions and consumer feedback where the doubts are raised, it would be much easier to assess if it concerns isolated incidents, misunderstandings, hear-say of people who actually didn't try, or people expecting UDMA7-speeds on a camera that thoroughly predates that.<br>

It ought to work, but who knows there is some validity to the discussions you refer to.</p>

<p>What's interesting is I wrote Nikon a couple years ago and they mentioned I could use 64GB cards, but nothing about 32GB. Whatever you do, though, DO NOT USE KINGSTON 32GB CARDS. They'll fail after three or four times. Certainly not worth the money. I also had two Lexar 400x 32GB cards fail. Both of those were replaced by Lexar and have been solid since. What I learned never to do is delete photos from the camera. That seems to start the problems for me. I think 16GB cards would be fine though. </p>

<p>What I dislike about these threads is the misleading information that generates a lot of unnecessary anxiety. My D700 still has firmware version 1.02, and I have just tested the following three 16, 32, and 64G memory cards on it. All three cards work just fine.</p>

<p>There are definitely defective memory cards out there, but as long as you stick with name brands such as Lexar and SanDisk and a few others, 98%, 99% of all CF cards that are 1G ... 8G, 16G, 32G, and 64G will work just fine on the D700 with firmware 1.02 or later, and I have tried some old 256M CF cards as well. There are some rare compatibility issues such as this one for some Lexar cards with certain batch numbers and certain Nikon DSLR bodies: https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/18893/~/d4s,-d4,-d800,-d800e-and-lexar-400x-or-1000x-memory-cards<br>

If you run into such a situation, get the card replaced. And I would watch out for counterfeit cards as well.</p>

<p>P.S. I have a couple of Kingston 16G SD cards, and they work perfectly fine on my D7000, D7100, and D800E. I have no experience with Kingston CF cards.</p><div></div>

<p>I use SanDisk ExtremeIII 60MB/s 16GB on D700 and I have never had any problems. However, I have seen fake SanDisk CF cards in Asia, how common it is, I do not know, however.</p>

<p>I am most grateful for the help and advice.</p>

<p>It was because material elsewhere seemed confusing that I posted here. From several years' experience, I know there is a high standard of reliability on this forum, but nothing is necessarily perfect! I knew from memory that there had been 'issues and discussions' about suitability of cards, and when I looked at comments and feedback elsewhere there seemed to be possible glitches. However, as has been properly said, whether those were justified or because of matters not relating to the card itself, one can only guess.</p>

<p>My D700 is 1.02: I think there is no risk in proceeding with the purchase. However, one of our sons, who uses pro level equipment by another manufacturer (something to do with guns), believes that Lexar pro cards might have the edge. But can I trust his judgment when he chooses to use this other equipment!?</p>

<p>Thank you again.</p>