d200 compact flash card speed compatibility

<p>I need to purchase new compact flash cards for my d200. As this is now an "older" body, I am concerned about compact flash card compatibility given the higher speed of the newer cards. Will all the newer cards be compatible, or need I avoid cards above a certain speed? If so, where is the speed ceiling?</p>

<p>I wrote this back some 3 years ago: The D200 can not make use of the faster write speed of the latest UDMA-enabled cards - in fact, the D200 maxes out at below 10MB/s no matter the card (and of course slower for cards with a slower rating than that). Also, for cards of the same speed, the larger ones write always a little slower than the smaller ones. There was very little improvement going from a SanDisk UltraII to an ExtremeIII (old).<br>

Read the whole thread here: http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00Xbyv</p>

<p>There should be no problem using a newer card - but there is no point in going for speed - the D200 won't deliver.</p>

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<p>Will all the newer cards be compatible</p>

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<p>"All" is an extremely strong word to use here, but I would say most new cards should be totally compatible with the D200, especially if you are talking about name brands such as Lexar and SanDisk. However, D200 simply cannot take advantage of the newer technologies such as UDMA and UDMA7. Therefore, if you are going to use a new card on the D200 only, there is no point to pay for expensive cards that are fast with the latest technology, as Dieter points out above.</p>

<p>On the other hand if you have a USB3 port and a USB3 card reader, it will be able to take advantage of a faster card for downloading your images to your computer.</p>

<p>Homer has a good point about download speed; it's there where faster cards really 'pay' for themselves rather than in the camera. Also watch that the size of card doesn't exceed that of the D200's firmware version. 8Gig seems to have been the biggest available size when the D200 was introduced, and there's nothing bigger than this on the approved list, but you might want to go through the various firmware upgrade reports to see if bigger cards are supported.</p>

<p>Sometimes smaller capacity cards are more expensive to buy because they're less popular or no longer made in any quantity, and I've seen 2 Gig cards priced about the same as 16 Gig ones.</p>

<p>Good point by RJ - there are enough reports online to indicate that 16GB will work, and Shun has tried at least one 32GB that worked too: http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00b3f4<br>

64GB could be problematic: http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00Zq0V</p>

<p>A decade ago, CF cards were pretty much standard. Today, only a few higher-end DSLRs still use CF, such as the Canon 1DX, Canon 5D III, Nikon D4, and Nikon D800. Even most of those also have a different type of card slot. Most DSLRs, mirrorless and consumer digicams use SD cards. For example, the D600 and D610 have two SD slots, the new Df uses one SD only ....</p>

<p>CF is still fairly easy to find, but nowadays they lack the economy of scale. Unless there is a D4 or D800 in your future, I wouldn't spend too much on a new CF card. The D200 is a 10MP DSLR. Even your uncompressed RAW files are not going to be that huge in today's stanards. I don't think upload time is going to be an issue.</p>

<p>I bought that 32G CF when I got the D800E last year. Earlier I considered getting a 64G CF before a recent trip but decided against it as the world is clearly moving to other types of cards. It is not worthwhile to spend money on electronics that has a limited future.</p>

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<p>On the other hand if you have a USB3 port and a USB3 card reader, it will be able to take advantage of a faster card for downloading your images to your computer.</p>

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I don't think there is going to be a significant advantage buying a faster card for this. My own testing shows that 8GB of image data on an older Kingston 133x 16GB card downloads to the computer in 1:37 on USB 3. I can't see anyone needing faster download times except for a working PJ uploading in the field. It takes longer for me to unpack the camera and pull the card out, walk to the computer and insert it in the slot. Does anyone really need 20 seconds extra? <br>

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However, what is very evident is the huge difference between USB 2 and USB 3, which might make a new card reader worthwhile if one has USB 3 available. The same data downloaded in 7:50 with USB 2. </p>

<p>I am now armed with sufficient info for my purchase decision. I thank all of you for your time and input.</p>