cf card recommendations

[perry_cas]

<p>I have an 8gb sandisk extreme but want a second card. I know things change so any suggestions for brands?</p>

[craigd]

<p>I've been using 16 GB Lexar Professional UDMA 300x cards lately. They're fast and reliable. Not cheap, though.</p>

[markonestudios]

I have used Sandisk Ultras and Extremes for a number of years now. Never once had an issue. The one time I used a friend's Lexar Professional, it corrupted some of my images. Maybe just a random occurence in my case. Nevertheless, I don't bother buying any other brand than Sandisk...

[jim_h.2]

<p>I personally stick with the sandisk, if you buy the pro version at office depot online, what use to be the the ULTRA 2x or 15 meg speed has now been upgraded to the 3x or 30 meg speed for the very same price and if you watch you can catch them on sale, I bought 4 sticks the last round and they are just as fast as the original Extreme 111's that I have bought in the past, economy has lots retailers begging for business.Xmas is a ways off , but each year Adorama has been selling the extreme "4" 8 gig cards,iif you buy 3 for 90 dollars then you get a 70 dollar visa card back from sandisk ,which i was learyat first , but went on and did it as they have always been very truthful with me, so I i bought six sticks of the Extreme 4's and paid 180 and change, free shipping and i did get two seperate visa cards for 70 bucks each it took about a month , you can go online and activate them when you get them ,sometimes they do it in the summer, but so far the last three xmases,</p>

[peter_j2]

<p>Live by SanDisk. Die by SanDisk.</p>

[dan_south]

Lexar has never given me a problem, but I usually use sandisk and have never been disappointed. You don't need to buy

one with the highest speed available unless you shoot lots of video or long rapid bursts of shots. Size depends on your

camera. Some cameras struggle with larger cards. Consult Canon on this one.

[arnold_stipkins]

<p>SanDisk, Lexar, most name brand cards will serve you wonderfully for a number of years. I would stay away from generic cards however. One last thing, I like to use smaller cards, 2 to 4 gigs. That way if a card does fail you've hopefully not lost everything from a trip, session or wedding. Don't keep all your eggs in one basket in other words.</p>

[marc_felber1]

<p>Delkin makes a waterproof card with 8GB that is rated at 91mb per second and is made in the USA. This card comes with a lifetime warranty. Comes with a case. I also was using sandisk Extreme IV 4GB and 8GB, but I wanted to give Delkin a try. One pro photograher claims this card never filled up his buffer. I mean the Delkin card. I hope this helps.</p>

[perry_cas]

<p>thanks folks a wealth of info<br>

Perry</p>

[ken schwarz]

<p>Maybe I flirt with danger, but I've been using a 32Gb 133x card from Kingston with my 5D2 and it's been trouble-free for over a year. It wasn't expensive and is fast enough to keep up with 30 FPS, full frame, HD video.</p>

[isaac sibson]

<p>I use Sandisk cards, but I will not buy another one. </p>

<p>A colleague of mine was buying Sandisk Ultra II SDHC cards for his EOS 450D, and had no problems with them - they would write at 15MB/s. He went to buy some more recently, and received newer model cards labelled "Ultra 15MB/s*" - the * referring to "Up to 15MB/s". These cards would only write at 8MB/s. He queried the difference between the Ultra II he had been sold the cards as by the merchant and the Ultra, and got his money back. He went to another merchant and bought more cards being sold as "ultra II" and once again received "Ultra 15MB/s*" cards. These cards would only write at 4MB/s. </p>

<p>He raised the matter with Sandisk directly, who verified the cards authenticity and had him check their speed with their own program (which returned the same result). They said that the new "ultra" cards match the previous "ultra II" cards for performance. They finally said that the cards were "within spec" and have stopped responding to his emails. </p>

<p>I took a little time to browse through the sites of Sandisk and Lexar, and while both at the lower end (sandisk ultra, lexar platinum) use the nefarious "up to XXMB/s" (meaning any lower speed is in spec), when you get to the more expensive cards (eg Sandisk Extreme, Lexar Pro 233x) sandisk stick with the "up to..." speed rating, while lexar switch to "guaranteed minimum sustained write speed". </p>

<p>I think this is a poor show on Sandisk's part, and them saying that a 4:1 variation in write speed between cards is "within spec" and not being prepared to quote minimum speeds for professional-grade cards (presumably in order to hide behind this "within spec" get out clause) is cause enough for me to take my business elsewhere. </p>

[mark_james]

<p>I'm not a pro and don't need the absolute fastest card available. For the last decade I periodically upgrade by buying 1-2 year old "pro" cards. That way I get a lifetime warranty and decent technology. Lately I'm using the 32Gb 133x card from Kingston. The one drawback is slow download speed when the card is full (but that usually only happens when I shoot a bunch of video). I'm using the Kingston cards with the 7D.</p>

[model mayhem gallery]

<p>you didn't state which camera you are using. I use Calumet 16GB 305X UDMA cards and have washed and dried them with photos still on the cards and they still worked fine afterwards. I have even formatted these cards by accident and was able to undelete and retrieve every photo. I have come to the belief the only difference in any card is its speed and think they are all just as reliable as I have never had a card fail. </p>