mike simons Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Hi, gang - Good Saturday afternoon to you all. <P> Question for digital shooters among us -<P> Adorama's got a sweet rebate on Kingston cards right now, but they're 45x write speed. I'm in the market for 12-20 GB of new cards, and have used the Lexar 133X WA 2GB series so far --- for the price, Kingstons through Adorama would be an excellent buy, but I'm wondering what *practical* experience people have to share relating to write speed and impact on your event shooting...<P> For when you're "in the thick of it," have you noticed a help/hinderance relating to the cards you've chosen to shoot with and your shooting workflow, in terms of write speed (and apart from overall capacity) ?<P>Many thanks for your input -<P>-Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt wiler Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Depending on your camera, which you didn't identify, it can make a HUGE difference. See http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007 In terms of workflow, though, it depends whether you shoot fast enough to fill the buffer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_earussi1 Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Depends on your camera and what size of file you shoot. I think that a 45x card can handle around 6.7mb/sec., so just figure your average file size and go from there. For instance, if you're shooting a Canon 20D in raw mode this has a file size of 7.5mb., so it would take a little over 1.1 second to download one shot. This may or may not be noticeable since, according to dpreview web site, the file flush time for a 20D is 1.5 sec. You might also check this web site which gives the actual speeds for many combinations of camera and card: http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007 But my own taste leans towards conservatism. I would rather buy a card faster than I need so I know it's not going to create a bottleneck. Also as camera speeds improve, faster cards will be needed to keep up, and buying a cheap but marginal card now just means I will want or have to replace it later, which would wind up costing me more money in the long run. But since only you know your circumstances, no one but you can make that decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_earussi1 Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 One thing I forgot to mention. I also just bought a card 2 Gb that's on sale at B & H, but it's a Sandisk Extreme IV (266x equivalent I believe) for $55 including rebate. This card is faster than any camera on the market now, and won't need to be upgraded for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike simons Posted February 17, 2007 Author Share Posted February 17, 2007 ARGH! I *always* think I've got the "perfect post" - the question, the background, etc., and then I FORGET TO TELL YOU ABOUT MY CAMERA. ::sigh:: I shoot with a 5D. Thanks for all the input; apologies for being so $!&% forgetful. -Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conraderb Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Mike - I used to above galbraith page to determine that the Ultra 2 speed cards (I think they are 80x cards) are the fastest cards for me. I notice a huge difference between the ultra 2 cards and the regular speed cards. I notice NO difference between the ultra 2 cards and my one extreme 3 card - as the galbraith database suggests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conraderb Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 I should clarify that my post was to say that my results were exactly what the database predicted, not that a 5D and a 20D would have the same buffer writing/clearing specs. But checking this page: http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007-8198 makes it clear that there is very little difference in speeds between the extreme and the ultra speed cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_s. Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 One thing to consider is that if your buffer in the camera is large you can shoot a burst of pictures without noticing but you will always notice when you view your pictures. If that is important to you, you should avoid the slow ones like the one you are considering. BTW, I use Nikon/Sandisk but can't really tell the difference between ultra II and extreme III. Slower ones are very noticable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt wiler Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Whatever may seem cheap now - and the Extreme III cards I use are about 1/3 the price they were a year ago - may still be high: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070217/bs_nm/sandisk_dc_1 I have found with memory (including hard drives) it pays to wait until the last moment to buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen dohring Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 The speed of the card has little to do with the camera. Most cameras have a maximum buffer to card write speed. Oviously you want to match that and might not want to pay for a 233 if you camera can only go as fast as 80. However the speed of the card has everything to do with the transfer to the hard drive and that is what you really pay for with the faster cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben_rubinstein___mancheste1664880652 Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 The 5D has a 17 shot RAW buffer and 60 shot jpg buffer. I've yet to have a problem shooting RAW fast with the 66X Sandisk Ultra II's which apart from being excellent cards in every way, are extremely cheap at present and I think as fast as you can go in the 5D according to the RG tests anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdp Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 If you're not shooting fast, action stuff, the 45x will work, but if you need to do long bursts, in RAW.. you'll notice the speed lag immediately. If doing weddings/portrait work, you should be fine. I shoot weddings and used the Kingston Elite's and don't have issues with the write speeds, but rarely do I do bursts that surpass the camera's own buffer. Adorama also has a deal right now on the Sandisk 2gb Ultra II's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spearhead Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Most people never fill the buffer, which means that the higher speed cards have no value for most shooters. Even shooting sports, I have only once exceeded the buffer capacity. This is really important to understand, because the Galbraith tests are meaningless in almost all shooting situations except when holding down the shutter button for a period of time. It's a lot like the maximum speed for a car being 150mph in the US - nobody drives at that speed, but people still talk about the maximum speed. If you are downloading from cards live on scene, then the speed might matter. Otherwise, the primary value of the higher speed cards is for enriching the coffers of the card manufacturers. Music and Portraits Blog: Life in Portugal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wedding-photography-denver Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16820183021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wedding-photography-denver Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?SCriteria=BA22874 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wedding-photography-denver Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 And depending on your taste for size... http://www.mwave.com/mwave/Viewproducts.hmx?PID=FLASHMEDIA-CF-RIDATA&Updepts=FLASHMEDIA-CF&Dname=%3Cb%3EFlash+Media+%2D+Compact+Flash%3C%2FB%3E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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