Which CF card?

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The Pielander

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I'm looking to buy a 7D but it means that I will have to switch from SD cards to CF. I am utterly confused about which card to get speed-wise. I don't need overkill, just a decent reliable 16GB card that will allow me to take several RAW photos in succession and record HD video. Can anyone advise me please?
 
I think the sweet spot (best price/performance balance) at the moment are the 60MB/s cards. Any lower and you'll feel it in the camera, any higher and you're paying megabucks. Recommended brands would be Sandisk or Lexar.
 
I think the Transcend cards give the best bang for your buck.... 7 Day Shop sells the 133x for less than £30....
 
DekHog said:
I think the Transcend cards give the best bang for your buck.... 7 Day Shop sells the 133x for less than £30....
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+1 I use 5 Transcend CF cards, 2x 2gb, 2x 8gb, 1x 32gb and not had any problems with any of them. 8gb x133 at the moment can be had for about £16-£18 each. :)
 
sorry just reread your post, should have said "If you buy" a D300S then you can use both. :bonk::bonk:
 
I am a big fan of 4GB Sandisk Extreme III. I would suggest to go for it :)
 
john182rs said:
Thank you, ive just borght one.

Get Sandisk, i know quiet a few 'togs' as you call it that have gad transend and had many many problems with them with missing files etc.
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Well I don't know any myself, including myself, but know plenty who've had huge problems with Kingston cards...
 
I've used Sandisk CF cards and been very pleased with them :thumbs:
 
I posted this the other day.... thread for the New Lexar 400x 8gb UDMA CF 60mb/s £34.99 from Play ....
 
I use Sandisk III Extremes for work and they're excellent. Having said that, I also use Transcend cards for my own stuff quite often and have never noticed the difference unless shooting in machine gun mode which I rarely ever do. Even then the buffer on the Transcends is good enough for anything I do.
 
Trig's said:
I posted this the other day.... thread for the New Lexar 400x 8gb UDMA CF 60mb/s £34.99 from Play ....
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Hmm, the 32GB ones look a bargain at 100 quid - probably at the absolute limit of what I'd want to trust to a single card though.
 
I've moved from Sandisk to Transcend and had no problems so far, and transcend are VERY widely used by the togs in the USA.

Just much better bang for buck with transcend (£83 for 16GB x600), your not spending extra just for a name as you are with Sandisk or Lexar
 
Hi Pielander,

I bought a 7D only yesterday and got given a SanDisc Extreme 8GB - 60MB/s, which should suit me as I am not into the movie side even though the camera has the facility.

What part of the West Midlands are you based? I'm just South of Borminghan near the M42 Jtn 3.

Malcolm
 
Thanks for all your replies - it looks like 60Mb/s is what I'm after. I'll keep an eye on prices I guess as long as I get a known brand card it will be fine.

alexam said:
What part of the West Midlands are you based? I'm just South of Borminghan near the M42 Jtn 3.Malcolm
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I'm based in Coventry :D
 
DekHog said:
Well I don't know any myself, including myself, but know plenty who've had huge problems with Kingston cards...
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I have a Kingston 16GB card..worked fine on the 5D1..But in the 1Ds MK3 it takes about 5 images then the camera freezes..strange :shrug:
 
I have a 4gb Sandisk Extreme, and it does the job, but I needed to purchase another card now I have my 7D as it get's full rather quickly. I wen't for a Fujifilm 16gb - was weary of it at first but it's turned out OK.
 
I'm a Sandisk user and I did have a problem with a 16Gb card (I lost 300 images when it froze on me). Wasn't too happy with their customer support as it appeared to be computer generated but they replaced the card, although I had to send the old one to Eastern Europe for them to look at! Saying that I still use them before any other cards.

Just make sure that you have a usb2 card reader as 16Gb will take for ever on an old reader.
 
The only time the speed of the card really comes into play is when flushing images from the buffer, and then only if you're shotting RAW.

If you're taking a rapid sequence of shots at high FPS, then a faster card will allow you to take a longer sequence at full speed before the buffer fills and, once it does, will maintain a higher speed than a slower card would.

You can also fill the buffer by firing off lots of individual shots in quick succession, especially with high megapixel cameras like a 7D or 5D2.

Basically, if you're shooting RAW and need to take prolonged sequences at high FPS or fire off lots of shots in quick succession and can't afford any slow-down then it's worth investing in the higher-speed cards. Otherwise you'll be fine with the slower cars which will give you more capacity for the money :)
 
make sure its genuine. i would be very warey of ebay... looks good but thats it! picked up my new camera [2nd hand] with a sandick card in it... blatentaly a fake and yep, you guessed it it failed on me the ist time i used it so lost all my tour of britan photos :( not happy...

i have a genuine sandisk extreem III 4gb. fantastic and has never let me down in the 2 yrs i have had it! :) i would consider a few smaller cards than one 16GB as all your eggs are in one basket if your card were to fail :(

bob :)
 
locostbob said:
i have a genuine sandisk extreem III 4gb. fantastic and has never let me down in the 2 yrs i have had it! :) i would consider a few smaller cards than one 16GB as all your eggs are in one basket if your card were to fail :(
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Good advice but the size depends a lot on whether you shoot JPG or RAW (or both) and what camera you have.

If you're shooting RAW+JPG on a 7D, for example, a 4GB card will be a total pain in the backside.
 
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