Best memory card for EOS 5D?

[neinlives]

I'll be purchasing a 5D soon, and, along with it, need to acquire the best

memory card possible. It must be reliable, have relatively high storage capacity

and fast write times. I'd be interested to know what the best memory cards are

at different price points.

 

I'll be shooting a wedding in June. I am an amateur, but the bride, a friend of

mine, likes my work so much that she asked me to do the honor. (And believe me:

this is literally one of the greatest honors bestowed upon me in my 24 years on

this planet. :-D) I know, I know--someone will say, "Shouldn't you let a pro

cover the wedding?" Well, I raised the same question to my friend, and she said

that she wants ME to do it because she really likes my work--the same work I

turned out with just the D80 and 50mm f/1.8 I toted around for nearly a year.

Anyway, I digress . . .

 

Sorry if this post has been a little meandering! I'm just mad excited!

 

Any help you could offer with regard to the memory card question would be great!

[amol]

Any name brand is good. But, I prefer Sandisk Ultra II's or Sandisk Extreme Series (III or IV). So, probably several 4gb cards ought to do it.

 

I'm sure you will get lots of warnings about doing the wedding, it seems you might want to search the forums and read some posts regarding "first-time" weddings. Also, I believe there is a new article about weddings in the learning section.

[neinlives]

Hey, I'm totally open to advice and suggestions about shooting the wedding, just so long as the are constructive and not negative. I've already read the wedding prep article along with several dozen forum posts regarding the topic but will do so again. Thanks for the CF card suggestion. I am looking into it now . . .

[pjmeade]

I use Sandisk Extreme 3 4G cards in mine, sometimes an 8G. I've never had trouble with them.

[bob_mcbob]

I bought an 8GB Extreme III for my 5D. It can't really take advantage of the extra speed, but the card was only $5 more than the Ultra II, and my card reader can use it. Plus, I know I'm likely to be using the card in other cameras I own (like my 40D) or will buy in the future. I'm still using a 4GB Ultra II card in my 40D that was bought in March 2006 for use with the 30D I owned back then. I did consider the Extreme IV or Lexar equivalents, but they weren't really worth the extra money to me.

[seismiccwave]

What format are you shooting in? If you are shooting raw plus jpeg I suggest something that

can write fast. I use the Lexar 300X and Sandisk Extreme Dugati. Anything around 4 and 8 GB.

I wouldn't go too big because I don't believe in putting all the eggs in one basket.

 

If you can, carry a backup camera. Always carry a point and shoot in full auto mode. You

never know what you will run into.

[tscheung]

I used 4g extreme III, so far the speed is OK

[david_currier]

I got the Sandisk Extreme III 16GB at B&H for 300 bucks. I haven't had to change it yet. Seemed like a good deal compared to any other retailers.

[eigtball]

Sandisk Ultra II or Extreme III. You should get minimum 4GB. You can always swap out to another 4GB. Probably a good thing anyway to do it that way, IMHO.

[m_barbu1]

I'd say the Sandisk Extreme IV 8GB is about the best you can get. Make sure to use theire Firewire Extreme card reader, as well. With it, you should be able to get about 40 MB/sec transfer speeds to your computer. In-camera speeds will be slower, due to limitations of the camera.

[William Michael]

I defer to M Barbu`s more in depth passion for the speeding ones and zeros than mine, and in that regard agree blindfolded re the Sandisk Ex IV as the `about the best you can get`. :)

 

But for me they are too pricey and not a necessity for Wedding Coverage: thus an unnecessary business expense.

 

I use a combination of Sandisk Extreme III and Ultra II cards and shoot RAW + JPEG L. That is more than adequate for that dual capture format, to cover Weddings.

 

Regarding total capacity / card size you will need: my general comments previously have been 4 x 4Gb is sufficient and a useful set for a two camera kit, in most circumstances.

 

Better advice is: you should compute, depending upon what format you are shooting, what you think you will need and then increase that figure by 50%.

 

If what your computation in less than 16Gb: then get 16Gb anyway.

 

WW

[mendel_leisk]

Michael, you've got your priorities all wrong ;)

 

More seriously, I've never got too excited about fast write speeds and high capacity. I'm using the 5D with about 1/2 dozen of the *original* Sandisk 2gig cards. They're supposedly slow as molasses, but in real life I think the differences are hair-splitting. The 2gig cards hold around 150 raws per.

[steve_dunn2]

<ul>

<li>Get more than one card. Yes, it's annoying to have to change cards, but if one of them dies, gets stolen, goes corrupt, or whatever, you haven't lost everything.

<li>Buy from a reputable vendor. There are a gazillion stories of fake "name-brand" CF cards being sold on that big auction site.

<li>Figure out how much space you need. As others have pointed out, you need to know what file format(s) you'll be using; an entire wedding's worth of large fine JPEGs is a very different quantity of data than an entire wedding's worth of RAW files plus large fine JPEGs. And, of course, it's better to have more capacity than you need than not enough, so whatever you think you'll need, add quite a bit more, just in case.

<li>According to Galbraith's database, the 5D tops out at a little under 8 MB/s. That's about 53X. Now, you need more than a 53X card to get it, but (looking at the Sandisk results) the Extreme, Ultra II, Extreme III, and Extreme IV are all within 10% of each other in this camera; anything roughly 80X or faster will give you very similar write speeds. Faster cards will probably run faster if you trade in the 5D on something newer, and they may run faster in your card reader, but if the concern is how quickly your camera's buffer can drain to the card, don't spend extra on a 300X card that will perform almost identically to an 80X or 120X card.

</ul>

[m_barbu1]

All, please keep in mind that in-camera is not the only place where speed counts. With the Extreme Firewire card reader, the Extreme IV will exhibit read speeds that are about twice as fast as the Extreme III, and about four times faster than the Ultra II cards. That means that with the Extreme IV, you can read an 8 GB card in about 3 and a half minutes. With the Ultra II, that turns into 14+ minutes. True, we're talking about minutes, but in business, time is money.

[William Michael]

>>> All, please keep in mind that in-camera is not the only place where speed counts. <<< (MB)

 

All minus 1: I did factor that into my comments. ;)

 

On a previous thread, discussing printing on site at a sports event, (swimming), the card`s read speed was quite important to turn around prints to be available in concert with the medal ceremony . . . just a practical, on site example, of the general point you are making.

 

Whilst I do not see the need for fast reading in regards to workflow for my Wedding Coverage, other Wedding Photographers might: I sip the coffee, I do not gulp. ;)

 

WW

[Spearhead]

Sandisk is an incredible company when it comes to marketing. They have brainwashed many people into believing that a commodity product, produced in several standard semiconductor factories, are somehow worth more than others based on their logo. I give them a lot of credit for their marketing success. In the end, virtually any brand is pretty much the same, leaving aside the issue of counterfeits.

[g dan mitchell]

The least expensive generic card that is a bit below the fastest available, purchased from a

reputable vendor.

 

That's what I do, and I've had fine luck. (Probably own about a dozen cards in sizes

ranging from 1GB to a couple 8GB cards.)

 

As others have pointed out, CF cards are basically commodity items these days.

 

Dan

[m_barbu1]

<p><i>somehow worth more than others based on their logo</i></p><p>For what it's worth, I just purchased two 16 GB Sandisk Extreme III cards for $88 (after rebate). $5.50 per Gigabyte isn't expensive and, based on experience, I know I'm getting more value -- in read speed to my computer, as well as capacity.</p>