Best Media Card for Canon 5D, 30D, and Xti

[amy_wilson]

Hey, just curious what you guys think is best CF card for 5D, 30D and

Xti...thanks

[martin_howard1]

I use Sandisk Ultra II & Extreme III

[jay_lang]

Use sandisk extreme III cards

[robert_turner]

The Sandisk are fine, I've NEVER been let down by Lexar, but the important rule is this-

DON'T BUY CARDS ON EBAAAAY!

[brent andersen]

I have used Sandisk, Lexar and Kingston without any problems.

[gdanmitchell]

Frankly, CF cards are basically commodity items these days. I would not spend extra for

any particular brand among those that are widely distributed.

 

I'm currently using to 8GB cards in my 5D, one a generic "R-Data" 120x card and the

other a Transcend card. I've had other brands of cards in the past including SanDisk,

Kingston and other generic brands. Pretty much anything with a 100x or 120x rating is

going to perform equally.

 

Some of the supposedly very fast cards may spec out at very high transfer rates, but the

odds are that your camera cannot take advantage of this.

 

I buy more or less the cheapest 120x card from a known distributor, but I do not worry

about brand and I'm certainly not about to pay extra for, say, Sandisk.

 

Take care,

 

Dan

[m3rdpwr]

I use the Sandisk Ultra II's on my 20D.

I have 1 1GB and 3 2 GB's.

 

No problems yet...

 

-Mario

[mark u]

Check out your trade off of card speed against cost here:

 

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007

 

Much will depend on whether you tend to fill the buffer with continuous shooting: if you don't, then the only reason to get one of the faster cards is if you place a premium on upload time to your computer.

[smalinowski]

I have been exclusively using Sandisk (several Ultra IIs and an Extreme III) for several years now. I have never had a problem with them. I don't mind paying a little extra for a brand with proven reliability...especially not when my data is at stake.

[emre]

I agree with Dan; I just buy whatever is cheap and highly rated on newegg at the time of purchase.

[eos 10 fan]

Is there a 'useable' limit to the size of cards?

 

With the price of CF & SD cards falling by ~50% in the last year I'm thinking of adding to my 2x CF Lexar Pro 133x 2GB cards & 2x SD SanDisk Extreme III 2GB cards that were bought for my 30D & S3 IS.

[Former P.N Member]

I've been using these in my 1D MkII for about a year now with no problems:

<p>

<a href="http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0244663">http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0244663</a>

<p>

...can't beat the price and for me they're available locally.

[emre]

Yes, there is, Dan. Check the Sandisk compatibility database before making a purchase: http://www.sandisk.com/Compatibility/ManufacturerList.aspx?DeviceTypeID=1004

[steven_simonetti]

Just go Sandisk. Cheap memory is more likely to corrupt, and that's not a myth. Nothing more frustrating than getting home from a shoot to find you have no pictures due to a corrupted card.

[Former P.N Member]

<i>"Cheap memory is more likely to corrupt, and that's not a myth."</i>

<p>

This may be true for counterfeit memory cards (i.e. some of the Sandisk cards available via e-Bay) but I find it hard to believe it's true for brand name media. Do you have a reputable source of this claim?

[joseph_chapman1]

I've owned San Disk, Lexar and others. I bought two lesser known 8GB cards for my 5d

(from New Egg as it happens) for about $130 when everyone else was getting $450 or so.

They were and are as fast and reliable as the high end 4gb and smaller cards I had. I've

added a couple of additional PQIs from NEgg.

 

I've had two bad experiences with cards, both resulting in a total loss. One was a Lexar

which turned out to be a not common problem with Lexar and some Canons. I didn't lose

anything of consequence, but that was a case where I would gladly have swapped a cheapo

for the Lexar.

 

The other loss on a not-major brand 8GB was far more serious. The card was full although

partially backed up. I would still strangle the Paris cab driver who took off with it and a

couple of other things. Unusual for Paris.

[Spearhead]

<i>Cheap memory is more likely to corrupt, and that's not a myth.</i><p>

 

If it's not a myth, then give a reputable source on this.<P> It seems that the semiconductor industry treats Sandisk as a fabless company, despite Sandisk's efforts to appear as a manufacturer. Sandisk chips are manufactured in Toshiba plants. Other companies use Toshiba chips, including some of the "cheap memory" companies.

[gdanmitchell]

"Just go Sandisk. Cheap memory is more likely to corrupt, and that's not a myth. Nothing

more frustrating than getting home from a shoot to find you have no pictures due to a

corrupted card."

 

Evidence?

 

I sure haven't found that to be true. I've used a variety of cards (perhaps 10 in all) from

various sources ranging from no-name cards from reliably vendors to Sandisk, et al. No

problems with any of them and I can't tell the difference in any other way - e.g. camera

speed, etc.

 

If I'm not mistaken, many of these cards a produced by the same factories and resold

under many different names.