skyline_kid
Suspended / Banned
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- Name
- Chris
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I don't want to rain on anyone's parade here, but I hope you guys understand that many cameras will gain no practical advantage from cards of this speed, at least according to the test results on Rob Galbraith's site. e.g. the fastest speed a 40D can write out at is around 11MB/s and an Extreme III is pretty much just as fast as an Extreme IV when used in the 40D.
40D CF card speed results - http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/camera_multi_page.asp?cid=6007-9257
The 1D3 is a little quicker, but I doubt it can benefit from these EXtreme IV cards either.
1D3 CF card speed results - http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/camera_multi_page.asp?cid=6007-9038
The 50D, on the other hand, can pump out files at 33MB/s with the right card, but on these older cameras the faster speed is of no value as far as buffer clearing is concerned. Of course, download speeds will be quicker, but it's a big price premium for (IMHO) little worthwhile gain.
FWIW I have a 1D3 and a 50D (as well as a 30D and 40D) and I chose to invest in capacity rather than speed and for similar money (£54 each) I have 32GB 133x Transcend cards and their "slow" speed does not impinge on my shooting. My pocket sure notices the difference though!
Not wishing to pour cold water onto this thread but ..... I purchased a Sandisk 4Gb Ultra II card via Amazon about two years ago. It failed about a year ago.
I got in touch with Sandisk for a replacement. They asked me to photograph all six sides of it which I did and they replied saying that it was a fake. Amazon didn't want to know as it was outside of their warranty period.
Suggest you make every effort to check out the authenticity of any card as soon as you can.
Alan
Horses for courses.
Chris.
The cards in that test, are they UDMA?
Well, yes, if you have a D3, D300, D700, 5D2 or 50D (even some Sonys), but some of the posters in this thread appear to be using 40D and 1D3 cameras and as such are unlikely to see any benefit, while shooting, from these fast cards vs an Extreme III.
Of course, they are free to do whatever they like, and if they think that's a wise way to spend money then more power to them. I only mentioned it for the benefit of others that might get sucked into the hype without realising the marginal gains that might be had, depending on the camera body.

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade here, but I hope you guys understand that many cameras will gain no practical advantage from cards of this speed, at least according to the test results on Rob Galbraith's site. e.g. the fastest speed a 40D can write out at is around 11MB/s and an Extreme III is pretty much just as fast as an Extreme IV when used in the 40D.
40D CF card speed results - http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/camera_multi_page.asp?cid=6007-9257
The 1D3 is a little quicker, but I doubt it can benefit from these EXtreme IV cards either.
1D3 CF card speed results - http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/camera_multi_page.asp?cid=6007-9038
The 50D, on the other hand, can pump out files at 33MB/s with the right card, but on these older cameras the faster speed is of no value as far as buffer clearing is concerned. Of course, download speeds will be quicker, but it's a big price premium for (IMHO) little worthwhile gain.
FWIW I have a 1D3 and a 50D (as well as a 30D and 40D) and I chose to invest in capacity rather than speed and for similar money (£54 each) I have 32GB 133x Transcend cards and their "slow" speed does not impinge on my shooting. My pocket sure notices the difference though!
I'm curious. Why do you have to wait for 32GB of files to download? Can't you start work on the first couple of dozen/hundred images long before the last image is off the card? The rest can carry on downloading in the background.Its not all about write times to cards, reason I use the IVs is faster write time to my computer when I'm downloading.
The difference between the 3 and 4's is really noticeable when waiting for 32gb to download![]()
Just bought one of these after I got ripped off from an ebay seller selling fake Extreme IV 8GB's. I actually got a refund quite quickly and the seller apologised saying they were unaware.