Do memory cards matter?

[mitchel_gandy]

I get the 4 gig, 8 gig difference, but does the speed matter for a Canon EOS XSI?

[richsimmons]

The higher the speed, the faster the photos will write to the card and be ready for the next shot. Your buffer will clear that much faster.

[michaelging]

Yes, I have found that dependability and writing speed are better with some cards that others.I use Sandisk III , extreme cards, and never had a problem. By the way they are having great rebates on these cards from the manufacture till Oct 11th.

[tibz]

May I mention that bad ones sometimes corrupt and the result is BAD NEWS BEARS. Expensive cameras don't cover for cheap cards, unless you use two cards.

[richard_oleson]

I use mostly Sandisk cards and have never had any problems; recently in a hurry I picked up a PNY card and came home with 2 bad shots (partial images)... I don't know if it was the card's fault, but I'd never had that happen before and it hasn't happened again since I put a Sandisk card back in.

[dogbert]

Cards do fail occaisionally and the only card I have ever had fail on me was a Sandisk. However, Sandisk replaced it with no hassles.

[curt wiler]

Mitchell, to answer your question: go to this link:

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

and find your camera.

[g dan mitchell]

I've always used inexpensive generic cards from reliable sellers and I've never had a problem that could be attributed to the

card's quality. I've used sizes from 512MB up to 8GB and have used cards from a range of sellers.

 

I'm pretty sure I've heard as many failed card stories from folks using the so-called brand names as from those using

generic cards. Actually, it is my understanding that many of the brand name cards come from the same factories as some

of the others.

 

Dan

[Spearhead]

Unless you are doing sports or professional pj, it's unlikely that you will ever see the difference in speed with your camera between memory cards. Even shooting sports professionally, it's rare for me to run up against the buffer limits with mid-speed cards.

 

Regarding brands, there are a number of semiconductor factories turning out memory chips, and many sellers of memory cards use chips from the same factories. Sandisk chips are made by Toshiba, for example. The processes and equipment are standardized. The biggest differences between brands are the amount of marketing their sellers have done to try and make their brand stand out. If a name is worth extra coin to you, then you should buy the name brands. Otherwise, it's unlikely you will ever see anything different.

[josh_baker]

I have had no luck with off brands. I have had two, and both crapped out in less than a week. Beyond that neither one could be recovered with software. I have had a Sandisk act up, but I was able to get the pics back using imagerescue, then I got a replacement for no charge.

You may be lucky, but if the images mean that much to you put in the extra coin.

On a side note I have read that for some reason people have trouble with Lexar in Canon products. I have no experience with this it is just something I have been told.

[bjscharp]

I shoot sports in RAW+JPG, and I like the fact that with Sandisk Extreme IV cards, the camera still clears its buffer relatively quickly. Quick enough for my type of shooting at least. I haven't used any other type of card though, so I can't really compare my results. :-)

 

Getting the images of the card to the PC is also faster, as long as you use a fast card reader of course. I've got a Lexar firewire unit.