Which memory card for Motorsports ?

Jwar1976

Jwar1976

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Hi all,

Now that I have got a 100-400mm lens and am due to get my 70-200 F2.8 next week, I am really keen to pay my local track a visit for some racing action on either my Canon 7D MKI or 5D MKIII. The only thing is that I only have a 32gb CF card with a rate of 120MB/s, which isn't that good for continuous shooting, especially with the allowance of 120MB/s. I was wondering if anyone here can suggest a good card to get, should it be an expensive Sandisk Pro, or if there is another make of card which is reliable but not as hefty on the bank account or credit card.

Many thanks
 
Jwar1976 said:
should it be an expensive Sandisk Pro
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That brand or others… good quality cards are not cheap but
cheaper than they were. No matter motorsport, wildlife or any
other type of photography, the read and write if the main thing
to look at after a good manufacturer and the type of card too!
 
It all depends on your write speed of your camera..... buffer size and all sorts! If you need to machine gun shoot it then I’d look at technique first!
 
One of the main issues with the speed advertised on memory cards is that it’s usually the read speed rather the write read that’s usually lower (write speed is more important to camera file writing speed and continuous shooting). Memory cards can perform differently depending on the camera used. I know the D800 and D810 I have used the same cards in perform differently as the D800 restricted write speed performance.

The 120mb/s speed wont be the actual write speed. The write speed will be lower- as shown in the link below (its actually 60mb/s write speed which is half the advertised speed on the card).

This website is very good to compare memory card performance on cameras. Here’s the 7d2:

https://www.cameramemoryspeed.com/canon-7d-mark-ii/fastest-sd-cf-card-comparison/

The problem always is that the fastest cards are usually the most expensive but provide better performance. If your camera can take advantage of the extra performance they are worth it over the cheaper cards. I’ve been waiting for the fastest Lexar or Sandisk CF cards to drop in price but it doesn’t look like that going to occur anytime soon, not now Lexar have disappeared from the market.
 
Mark twiglet said:
It all depends on your write speed of your camera..... buffer size and all sorts! If you need to machine gun shoot it then I’d look at technique first!
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This is a good point, do you need to shoot fast continuous for motorsport? Isn’t there a lot of panning at slower shutter speed to get movement in the tyres and background rather freezing the action (freezing looks like a car is just parked on a track)
 
If it's Sandisk, there shouldn't be anything wrong with that card given the cameras you are using.
 
If you shooting at 1/125 of a second for panning how many shots will you actually take a second anyway? About 4 I expect
 
Also consider Lexar Professional.

You get what you pay for and unfortunately prices have increased post Brexit.

Perhaps try a slower card and see if it actually slows you up if price is an issue.
 
Archie747 said:
Also consider Lexar Professional.
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Lexar is what i use. Their prices used to be quite good by they have stopped making memory cards and are no more (a shame as they were a good alternative to SanDisk).

https://petapixel.com/2017/06/27/r-p-lexar-memory-cards/

Prices for outstanding stock seem to have stayed fairly static since the end of last year. I wish I had purchased two when I picked up a 64GB card in October/November.
 
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jj_glos said:
I shoot in high speed bursts all the time when shooting panning shots at 1/60 and lower. I like to stack the odds in my favour.
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How many 1/60’s can you get into a high speed burst ? Is it 10fps? And then your writing to a Card doing 120 mbs??

I’m not arguing I just think we don’t use our cameras to their full potential
 
Mark twiglet said:
How many 1/60’s can you get into a high speed burst ? Is it 10fps? And then your writing to a Card doing 120 mbs??

I’m not arguing I just think we don’t use our cameras to their full potential
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I can shoot at 10fps @ 1/60 until I fill the buffer, not that I do. I'll take a 3 shots or so burst at 10fps. I don't know I have ever seen anyone just holding the shutter release down until they fill the buffer to be honest.
 
rob-nikon said:
Lexar is what i use. Their prices used to be quite good by they have stopped making memory cards and are no more (a shame as they were a good alternative to SanDisk).

https://petapixel.com/2017/06/27/r-p-lexar-memory-cards/

Prices for outstanding stock seem to have stayed fairly static since the end of last year. I wish I had purchased two when I picked up a 64GB card in October/November.
Click to expand...

You and me both!

I gather they were bought by a Chinese group so hopefully they will return, but I thought this would have happened by now. The market needs competition.
 
Archie747 said:
You and me both!

I gather they were bought by a Chinese group so hopefully they will return, but I thought this would have happened by now. The market needs competition.
Click to expand...
A group of former Lexar executives set up a company called ProGrade Digital making memory cards. Their prices seem pretty competitive, a 64Gb 200mb/s SD card is about £39.99 on their website which is way less than SanDisk would charge.
 
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