CF Cards - what's the real difference?

I was just on Adorama's site looking at CF cards. There is a HUGE difference in prices, even among comparable speed cards. I shoot landscapes so speed is not an issue for me, but you can pick up a 133x Dane Elec 4GB card for only $49.95. I've never heard of Dane Elec, but does this mean they're junk? I mean, I've heard of people having problems with very expensive Sandisk cards so is cost any indication of quality? I'm ignorant on this stuff (it's all magic to me). I don't want to throw money away, but neither do I want to buy junk.

What's the difference between a $219 4GB 133x card and a $49 4GB 133x card (besides $170)?

Need some straight FACTS (not opinions) if anyone has them to share. Thanks.

I have both a budget and 'pucka' 133 4GB CF card.

I did some write speed tests on the camera - basically how long to store 50 photos of the same scene in high speed mode holding my finger on the release - I got the same time.

I also did some download tests of said 50 files onto my PC - I got the same time.

Will the budget one's consistency and longevity be the same as the 2 year old 'pucka' one - I will tell you in 1.75 years - but to date no problems.

T

Rob Galbraith has a really useful article on CF/SD card performance. It includes data from his testing of various cards on a whole bunch of cameras, accessible from the popup menu on the upper right corner of the linked page. Best of all, he offers words of wisdom about fake cards, etc.

Thanks Tom & Hank. I'll check out Rob's link for sure. I'm not too worried about fake cards - I just don't think B&H or Adorama would get caught up in that mess, but I would never buy a CF card off eBay - I've heard many horror stories about fake cards there.

Opinion: Well, you didn't ask for it, but my opinion is that you shouldn't invest into great photo gear only to buy the cheapest card that you can find to store your photos (the PRODUCT of all your efforts).

Facts :
1) I've never had a single problem with SanDisk cards.
2) A friend of mine has had huge troubles with Kingston or Lexar, don't know which of the two - corrupted images all the time. Needless to say he got rid of all of them and now has all Extreme III cards.

Basil

One thing that you may want to look for in the specs on CF cards is the minimum recommend operating temperature. Many only go down to 32 F. SanDisk Extreme III for example go down to -13 F. below 0F

One note: Staples Office Stores have SanDisk Regular 1 gig cards on sale this week for $15.00
MK

Thanks Hank - I checked the article you linked to - very interesting and informative.

I've only been using digital cameras for about two years. I haven't had a compact flash card fail yet. I haven't really abused them, but they've certainly been filled and emptied many times. For those of you who have had failures, what happened? Single corrupt file, inability to read card, inability to write?

Pete D.