Posted: 7/11/2005 5:38:32 PM EDT
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Is it worth the extra $$ to buy a compactflash card advertised as being blazing fast? I see Sandisk has a model that boasts something along the lines of 20 megs per second write/read speed. Is the speed of image writing usually limited by the camera or the memory? Thanks. 
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How do you know
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Nowdays, many digital cameras have their own buffer memory that allows several pictures to be taken in quick succession, without having to wait for each image to be loaded into compactflash - Which makes the write speed of the compactflash mostly irrelevant. IMO, Sandisk's "high-speed" compactflash sounds like a solution in search of a problem. |
He's getting a canon 20d i think, and the raw image format files on that camera are a whopping rough 8-9 megabytes a piece, with jpegs about 3-4 megs a piece. The buffer can fill up pretty fast and then its dump is limited by the write speed of the card, wasting precious time, possibly causing you to miss an important shot. I've heard good about lexar, but they also just had a recall on their 80x cards. So i dont know what the deal with that is. |
Oh.  I have a digital rebel. I know its not as big, but I've never had any problems. Like I said,  I really don't know much about HOW it works, I just know that it does. 
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Its probably something only a pro photographer would be picky about, but some of them are noticably crappy. My subjects tend to be stationary so i dont really care.
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hah, well im a photographer in the sense that i take photographs. However im just an enthusiast, and am not very good at composing good photos... yet. So in the sense that you describe no im not a photogpraher but i guess you could call me an amateur. |
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What kind of camera you using? If it is a decent one like a D70 or Digital Rebel, I suggest at least a 1gb Hitachi. My D70 will shoot as long as I hold the shutter because of it's buffer, so to take advantage of things like that, you need to have memory to keep up with it as well. Yes, I do recommend spending the extra dough. |
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I use a Lexar 80X professional (1GB) in my D70. You can hold down the shutter and shoot until the card is full. I've never had a problem with it. The micro drives are cheaper but not as fast. With my 2GB micro drive I can only get 7 pics in rapid succession before that camera needs a pause to record. YMMV Mike |
The buffer on the 20D can hold 23 JPEGs before unloading. Only 6 RAW shots though. |
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Paying for extra fast compact flash cards is only worthwhile if your camera and/or card reader support the extra speeds. Most readers will show a difference in transfer speeds from the card to computer, but most point and shoot digital cameras will NOT. When you get into the higher end cameras like the digital SLR's, then you will start noticing a speed difference. For instance, I have a Canon A80. Whether I use plain ol' cheap regular compact flash cards or super fast 80x uber flash cards, will not make one whit of difference in how fast the camera processes and saves pics to the card. When I get home and stick the compact flash cards into my Belkin 6 in 1 reader and download to my computer, then I notice a speed difference. Even though higher, end cameras will show speed differences in how fast it saves images, it is minimized by built in memory buffers to help mitigate slower writing speed compact flash cards. As long as one does not overflow the buffer, you still wont see a lot of difference. It's when you get into large multiple shots (that fill the buffer) that you will see the difference. When plugged into a card reader, the transfer speed from reader to PC is not that big a difference, as the read speeds are not nearly as great a difference as the write speeds between card brands (even those that claim 80x or whatever). It is in the write mode that the speed differences are much bigger. Thusly, unless you have a higher end camera "and" take a LOT of mulitple fast shots, or you can't wait thase extra seconds for transfering images to the PC, you don't need the expensive faster cards. I prefer to have 2 cheap reliable cards over one fast card when I am paying for them as I cant really take advantage of the extra speed . |
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I guess it depends on the speed of your camera and the size of your files. I have a D100, which isn't the fastest writing the RAW files I shoot. Not to mention the buffer isn't that big. So for me, it is a good thing to have the faster card. CompactFlash Performance Database |
The camera definitely needs to be cabaple of using the speed or it's not worth it. I have a Fuji S3000 that uses XD picture Cards. It's so freaking slow, that if you are walking across the frame, and you are directly in my frame when I snap the shot, I might get a part of your arm if you weren't moving faster than an old man. I'm not sure if it's the camera or the memory, but the camera specs said that I could take 3 sots per second or something like that. It takes 3 seconds or more to finish ONE shot. I'm not a photographer, obviously  , so it's more than likely that I have no clue on how to set the camera for high speed shots. I don't know, but I tried a few settings and it's still slow a s a snail.I wish there were a way to correct this, it's most annoying. I would try a different card if it helped. |
My experience with a Sandisk 256mb is that they are VERY slow, but it's not a digital camera that I use it in. It's in a OTC/SPX Genesys automotive scanner. Originally it didn't use the memory expansion slot and was decent, speed wise, but the program updates came pre-installed on the Sandisk 256mb Compact Flash Memory Card and take anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes to load. This is a heck of a lot slower than it was without the card. The Sandisk compact flash card is now the slowest link in the scanner. |
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I'm assuming this card is for your d20 / digital rebel / xt / D70 or whatever the final resolution of the other thread was. In that case, get at least 1GB 80x hi speed card as mentioned earlier. Your camera will take huge RAW pics and will need the fast read/write to keep up with burst shooting. |
I bought that 256mb Ultra card (supposedly wayy faster than a regular card at the time) and then a few months later, bought a 256 and a 512mb cards branded by Crucial memory to test out for my then-upcoming Alaska trip. Well the no names were just as fast or slightly faster in my cameras  . I paid a premium for that card and didn't get what I wanted.Google CF Card Tests or something like that; You'll get read/write speeds from several types of cards in the same camera. You can then pick a fast one based on that. FWIW, I'm almost never in a big hurry to get that next shot; I have a 5mp camera and unless I accidentally shoot TIFF files, I almost never have to wait for it to write before I trip the shutter again. I don't think I've missed anything due to write speed. I still consider the Crucial cards to be a very worthwhile investment. |
Haven't bought the camera yet, just trying to get some stuff I was unsure about answered and then I'll go from there 
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