UDMA CF Cards need a special reader for the speed??

[joe_degennaro]

Hi, i am looking at the new 8gb UDMA cards (san disk) and was wondering if I

absolutely must buy a new reader to get that extra loading speed. I do not have

firewire on my laptop, just wi-fi capability for internet, will that also

prevent me from getting a high speed reader...I know the card is fast but

without the reader to load it quickly is it worth the extra$$$. Thanks in

advance for your help..Joe D.

[ShunCheung]

I just use my old USB-2 CF card readers for my Sandisk Extreme IV and Lexar UDMA cards. Loading is slow but I just go do something else. Since I don't need to be there to baby sit it, to me it doesn't matter.

 

Since I believe that CF cards will likely be phased out in the next 2, 3 years, I am not going to invest much more on that format.

[joe_degennaro]

Thank you Shun, also does it matter if i use an old usb CORD..is usb-2 cord different and how the heck can you tell them apart???

[georges_walker]

The brand new D300 uses that format, so in a short time chances are they will no provide new technology for new cards?

[Peter_in_PA]

SD just makes more sense. Smaller, no pins to bend. That's, I'm guessing, why Shun thinks

they'll be phased out.

 

I have to admit, having used both extensively, I like SD a LOT more. Doesn't mean they'll be

unavailable. Heck, you can still buy Zip disks and drives, and even minidiscs, DATs, and audio

cassettes. Just means that maybe a D400 will have SD instead of CF. I was shocked when the

D300 didn't go to SD, but that's me.

[kohanmike]

If I'm not mistaken, CF design is such that it will always have a much greater capacity (up to

132gb) and will always be faster than SD can be. It seems to me that CF will around for a

good while.

[ShunCheung]

Personally, I prefer SD because of the lack of those vulnerable pins. However, there are at least 2 issues with SD: (1) There is still no UDMA-compatible SD memory cards, e.g. Sandisk Extreme IV. That would immediately rule it out for sports DSLRs such as the D3 and D300. (2) SD cards are too small; they are hard to handle with gloves on and it is easy to lose them. I have seen that happen although people lose CF cards also.

 

Again, the CF format will likely be replaced by a new CFast format that uses SATA and no pins, so CFast is incompatible with CF. That is why I am not going to invest much, or perhaps any, more money on CF cards and readers, as I have more than enough CF cards for the next couple of years.

[jared1]

I usually transfer my UDMA CF card from my D300, it take about 1 second per pic (RAW) so if I fill the entire card which is about 300 pics then it will take just over 5 minutes, not bad for 8GBs of info.