Compact Flash cards - how fast do they need to be?

[nbt]

So, I have a Canon 300D, and am thinking I might buy more memory, or rather add it to the list of pressies that I wouldn't mind receiving .

I currently have a pair of "mymemory" branded 512mb "hi-speed" cards. I usually shoot RAW, and do sometimes have to wait while the card catches up if I use burst mode, even though the camera buffer only holds four images. Space on the card isn't usually a problem as each card normally holds over 60 images - however I'm hoping to start shooting more so more space would be nice

The question is, how fast a card do I need. I see that Sandisk cards are now incredibly cheap - for instance note the following prices at Play.com

SanDisk Ultra II CompactFlash 1GB £11.99
SanDisk Extreme III CompactFlash 1GB £14.99
SanDisk Standard CompactFlash Card 2GB £16.99
SanDisk Ultra II CompactFlash 2GB £16.99
SanDisk Extreme III CompactFlash 2GB £24.99


Given that the UltraII 2GB is the same price as the standard card, that "upgrade" is a no-brainer, but is it worth the extra £10 to step up to the Extreme III? Or is there a speed limit to the camera write speed past which any more money is wasted?

I'm also considering buying 2* 1gb cards rather than a single 2GB card, any thoughts? Also, if you know of any places cheapoer than Play.com, all pointers very much appreciated

TIA

NBT

 

[markgray]

The speed determines how fast the camera can write to it and how fast it can be copied off to the computer.

I always buy the fastest i can afford. I think the Extreme III are 133x which equates to about 20mb/s.

If you never use burst mode then you probably won't have a problem.

 

[Jonnyreb]

simple and quick answer is no, its not worth it. Ultra II will be more than sufficient

as you mention, your buffer can only write at a certain speed to the card which is well below the Ultra II speed rate.

If you were buying larger cards then it may be worth the money to transfer to your PC faster, but this again depends on the speed of your card reader.

 

[oldgit]

If you only shoot one or two shots at a time then card speed is almost totally irrelevant whilst shooting. Do you generally/always shoot in machine gun mode?

Downloading to your 'puter will be faster if you use a USB2.0 card reader and high speed cards. Does the difference of a few minutes matter to you?

If you answer no to both of the above then the fastest cards arnt neccessary.

I have a 4G card that cost £14 quid... yeah its significantly slower than the 1G ExtremeIII I have, but for the price do I care? Not for that price I dont.

Note I do have "fast" cards for when I want to use "machine gun" mode, which in my case is once every blue moon.

HTH