I’m thinking of getting a new CF memory card and was wondering what people recommend. I was given my DSLR and it came with an assortment of different brands so I’m not sure whether one brand is preferable or not, I have read that SanDisk and Lexar are used by the pro’s. Is it also better to get a high-speed card or not? And finally, is it good practice to format a card each time you delete images from it, I had thought you only had to format new cards but I’ve read that re-formatting after each shoot helps prevent the card from failing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as the more I read on the net you more confusing it seems to get
Thanks
Jus
SelinaJ
Hi Jus, I am far from an expert but I personally like sandisk cards and generally format every few times but not every time. I never used to until i had a problem with the camera and the computer reading the card because it “wasn’t formatted” Result being I lost all the images on it.
blueeyesjus:
Thanks for the advice Selina, I’d never really thought of a card failing but I’m reading more and more that it can happen, so formatting it is from now on :) Thanks again
SD Smart
I’ve been using an 8gb and a 4 gb ‘SanDisk Ultra II’ which seem to have no problem keeping up with my 50D. You can also get ‘Extreme’ or ‘Extreme Pro’ cards which are faster and can be much more expensive. I tend to think these are only needed for video but the sales people may tell you otherwise.
I save image to my PC using a build in card reader and then delete the images from the card using the PC. I only format the card using the camera about once a month.
blueeyesjus:
Thanks Shane, that’s exactly the help I needed mate. I think budget wise I may have to go the ultra II as the extreme card do tend to jump in price as you say, I think I’ll definitely have to get a card reader too. I think I’ll probably end up getting a 4G as I’ve read that having a few lower memory cards is preferable in the horrible event that one fails :(. Thanks again my friend
Peter Hill
I have several cards, but the one I constantly have in my 5D Mark II is the SanDisk Extreme IV UDMA (45 mb/s). Combined with a card reader (a must), I can download several gigabytes in less than 180 seconds. A step up from the bad old days of connecting my 10D directly to the computer and going out for a few hours!
After downloading, I don’t delete from via the card reader and computer as it takes a while and residual files always remain. I got into the habit of simply putting the card back in the camera and formatting it. This takes a second and wipes it completely. I’ve been using the same card now for 18 months and have not had any problems. Although I will say the first one I got, with the camera, for some reason got full after 4.5 Gb (?!) but the supplier instantly replaced it.
blueeyesjus:
Thanks so much for that Pete, that’s a huge help. I was going to actually ask about card readers, I stumbled across these by accident when reading a photography forum thread and was wondering if I should get one. What one/s would you recommend, my Canon uses CF cards so I was looking at just getting one that reads these cards (as opposed to the mulit-format readers)? I was going to buy a SanDisk reader as they (SanDisk) seem to be reputable but then I read a review that they can be slow, which kind of defeats the purpose really, still anything would be faster than my old PC which takes about a minute per RAW file and is, as you know, agonising. I’ve also had problems with using a direct connection where the download just simply crashed, very frightening. Thanks for the advise on the formatting too, that’s what I’ll do from now on. Thanks again Pete, you are always so very helpful mate and it’s so appreciated believe me.
Jus
Peter Hill
No worries mate. I have a SanDisk CF Reader and never experienced any speed issues, but then again nor have I read any forums discussions about it. And besides, a bit shoot for me is around 4 GB of shots (Large RAW at that) and I can’t complain at a download time of less than 2 minutes. Well, I can – it gives me no time to make coffee! I even use it to transfer Word docs on an old old Lexar 1 GB card.
blueeyesjus:
Thanks for that Pete, I think I’ll end up getting a SanDisk reader, if in fact I can find one here in Perth, I can only seem to find them online, if you can recommend a good online store I would be eternally grateful, I recently ordered a Canon remote at an online store and after weeks of hearing nothing from them I revieved a refund (thank god for Paypal), I looked up the Discount Digital Photography site that you once recommended but they don’t seem to do accessories anymore :(. Sorry for yet another question my friend I promise it will be the last (for a while anyway :) )
SD Smart
For comparision, the Sandisc ultra that I use is only 15mb/s.
I never noticed it slowing down the camera but it isn’t as quick as Peter’s card when it comes to saving from the card to the PC.
blueeyesjus:
Thanks Shane, I didn’t know the card itself affected the download speed, to be honest I’m not that fussy as long as a new card reader is faster than direct connect, I’ll probably go the ultra route as the price does tend to spike with the Extreme cards, and I’ve read that because the actual write speed of my 300D isn’t great there’s no point getting a super fast card anyway, thanks again mate for your help
DWBphotography
I have had a 16gig ‘no name’ cheapy card in my 40d for over a year now and have never had a problem with it. I have no idea what the speed it, but iy has never choked with continuous exposures. Though if ur cam has video, they recommend a high speed card.
blueeyesjus:
Thanks David, much appreciated, I don’t have cam (and I’d never use it I think) so that’s not a problem :)
Peter Hill
I got my card, card reader, and camera from PRA Imaging in Perth, coincidentally. They have a physical store at 63 Newcastle St.
blueeyesjus:
Hi Pete, yup that’s where I sometimes get my equipment from too, a great store, they dont seem to have any SanDisk readers, maybe they’ll order one in for me, thanks again mate