Posted by Luke Ormand on October 10, 2009 at 9:40 AM
I'm getting a new camera which will allow me to shoot at 7fps and can shoot video. I know that you get what you pay for, and as such an expensive memory card should be faster. I usually use the basic SD cards, but I was wondering if the "extreme" label (and price) makes a significant difference. Thanks.
- Luke
Posted by Jim Harris on October 10, 2009 at 10:29 AM
I think to a point it does,, here is a link to a comparison chart that has some interesting info on there, you can chose the specific camera you are buying and compare for yourself,,
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/camera_multi_page.asp?cid=6007-9672
memory cards have come down in price these days, so with a new fast camera why not get a new fast card too
Posted by Hendrik BOSMAN on October 10, 2009 at 12:15 PM
It does make a difference!!!
Check the read and right speeds of the cards and you`ll see.
Another aspect is that the Extreme cards are also much more stable and reliable.
Posted by Bill Brennan on October 10, 2009 at 12:25 PM
Depends upon how much speed you need in your work. Go to Extreme if you are shooting fast action. Other wise, Ultra should work fine.
I use sandisk extreme 3 cards in my 1d3, recently I needed some sdhc cards for my compact and laptop, I bought 3 4GB sdhc class 6 cards from play.com, as a test to see what the cards were like, I fired off the 1d3 until the buffer filled and shutter lock out occurred.
I then started counting and stopped when the red light went out (buffer clear), with the extreme 3 I counted to 16 just as the light went out, with the cheap play cards I got to 63 before the light went out .
What this means, is that you won't be waiting for the buffer to clear, when you need to take that all important once in a life time shot, if you use fast cards.
Dani
Posted by Howard Cheek on October 10, 2009 at 1:11 PM
Only if you have the need for speed :)
If you do a lot of continuous mode shooting @ that 7fps, then you should use it..of course.
Wonder why you would ask? As you said, ya get what ya pay for ;-}
Posted by Jim Bullard on October 10, 2009 at 1:52 PM
I'll have to take exception to Hendrick's comment that the faster cards are more stable. I have four 1GB CF cards. Two are ordinary SimpleTech cards and the other two are Lexar Professional 80X cards with Write Acceleration. The only problems I've had were with the higher speed cards. The SimpleTech cards are totally reliable but occasionally (I don't want to give the impression that it is frequent) with the Lexar cards I will get a write error that produces a "Card problem" message and the camera won't do anything until I turn it off and back on again. The shot that produced the error is not recorded and I have to re-shoot. It is infrequent and the card functions after shutting down and restarting the camera but I've only had that problem with the higher speed cards. Since I'm sure someone will ask, I'm shooting with Canon 10D and XTi bodies. I never use the camera in rapid fire mode. I'm a landscape photographer. YMMV
It depends how fast you need to shoot, in combination with the buffer size and download speed of your camera. A LOT can happen while you're waiting for the buffer to empty enough for one more shot. The worst happens when you stuff the buffer just as you fill a card. You're going to sit and stare at your camera a long time, waiting till the buffer completely downloads so you can change cards and resume shooting. Been there, done that. Often enough, in fact, that I usually carry at least two bodies and sometimes three on really fast-moving jobs. But in nature shooting? The only time I've run into the need for speed is in fast paced wildlife shooting or when using the autobracket feature of a camera.
Having said all that, the only time I really see a demo of the relative speed of cards is when downloading them to the computer. I've got some older 1g cards that take longer to download than my latest 4g and 8g cards. There's not really a need for speed at that point, but you sure notice the difference.
Posted by Dan Borzynski on October 10, 2009 at 4:55 PM
As I understand it (and since I don't shoot video take it for what it may be worth):
There is also a difference if you will be shooting video on the card. The UMDA enabled are recommended for that application and it is also a feature on the higher end faster cards.
Posted by Paul DeCesare on October 10, 2009 at 9:31 PM
I shoot SanDisk Extreme IVs on my 5D Mark II, and one thing I noticed is that because the write speed is faster, my battery life is noticably longer over Extreme III cards. That's worth price of admission right there. The IVs are UDMA-enabled which is highly siggested for video (not mandatory though). UDMA cards do more of the processing work, taking the burden off of the camera's processor.
This is a pretty good deal with the rebate, although I can almost guarantee Adorama will drop the price as we slide closer to Christmas. Maybe when the deal is right, try one for yourself and see.
Posted by Austin Booth on October 11, 2009 at 12:42 AM
If cost is an issue and you feel you need that faster card you might consider going with a third party card. I have a couple Ridata CF cards that I bought about 3 years ago that have both functioned flawlessly. You may be able to get one of these third party cards for half the cost of the equivalent speed Sandisk.
Discussion
10 replies- Luke
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/camera_multi_page.asp?cid=6007-9672
memory cards have come down in price these days, so with a new fast camera why not get a new fast card too
Check the read and right speeds of the cards and you`ll see.
Another aspect is that the Extreme cards are also much more stable and reliable.
Bill Brennan
I then started counting and stopped when the red light went out (buffer clear), with the extreme 3 I counted to 16 just as the light went out, with the cheap play cards I got to 63 before the light went out .
What this means, is that you won't be waiting for the buffer to clear, when you need to take that all important once in a life time shot, if you use fast cards.
Dani
If you do a lot of continuous mode shooting @ that 7fps, then you should use it..of course.
Wonder why you would ask? As you said, ya get what ya pay for ;-}
Having said all that, the only time I really see a demo of the relative speed of cards is when downloading them to the computer. I've got some older 1g cards that take longer to download than my latest 4g and 8g cards. There's not really a need for speed at that point, but you sure notice the difference.
There is also a difference if you will be shooting video on the card. The UMDA enabled are recommended for that application and it is also a feature on the higher end faster cards.
This is a pretty good deal with the rebate, although I can almost guarantee Adorama will drop the price as we slide closer to Christmas. Maybe when the deal is right, try one for yourself and see.