Data write speeds...

[gparvan]

I'm about to purchase a new CF card for my EOS-1...  The newer cards are very fast write speeds, but my question centers around the camera write speed.  Should I spend the money on a new state of the art CF card or use the older slower speed CF cards?  I'm thinking there is a limit on the write from the camera buffer to the CF card.  If the limit is well above the CF card speed then I will spend the money on the latest and greatest card.  However, if the limit is slower then....

Thoughts?

[cicopo]

Not sure what an EOS 1 is but if you mean 1D or 1Ds, 1Ds2 or 1D2 or 2n they all have relatively low write speeds compared to todays cameras & a faster card CAN'T speed transfers up.

[gparvan]

Howdy,

Tiz an ancient EOS-1D MkII N.

SanDisk has 3 tiers of CF cards, Ultra, Extreme, and Pro.  Read/write speeds increase at each tier, and they are indeed sporty!!  The prices for each tier increase too, thus I don't want to buy what I can't use. 

More info:

http://www.sandisk.com/products/memory-cards/compactflash/

g

[TTMartin]

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@gparvan wrote:

Howdy,

Tiz an ancient EOS-1D MkII N.

SanDisk has 3 tiers of CF cards, Ultra, Extreme, and Pro.  Read/write speeds increase at each tier, and they are indeed sporty!!  The prices for each tier increase too, thus I don't want to buy what I can't use. 

---

Don't forget camera to card is only half the equation. Card to computer is the other half. So while a faster card might not gain you much on the write side, with a USB 3.0 card reader you could benefit from a faster card on the read side.

That said I use Ultra cards on my older cameras like your 1D Mk II N and Extreme cards on my newer cameras. 

[cicopo]

I have & use all 3 with no noticible difference in transfer speed on my 1D2n or 1Ds2. The Pro' cards work faster though on my 7D2 or 1D4.

[ebiggs1]

Isn't the 1D Mk IIn a great camera.  It is a real steal on the used market right now.  It is nearly indestructable.

The last CF cards I bought from B&H were on sale (two for one) and are Lexar UDMA 7.  I use them in the 1D4 and the Ds3 along with using them in the Mk IIn.  

You know the 2n is agonizingly slow to transfer files form the camera to the computer.  A card reader is way more better.

[amfoto1]

Sometimes there are better deals on the newer, faster, larger cards, than on the older, smaller, slower ones!

Just last week I bought four Lexar 16GB "Pro" 800X UDMA 7 cards on sale for $105. In comparison, 16GB Lexar "Platinum II" 200X were selling for $31 apiece... so would have cost me $124 for four.

Another example, I picked up an older 5MP Powershot point n shoot camera a couple years ago to use in an underwater case and went looking for one or two small SD cards to use with it... I soon discovered that 128MB and 256MB cards were hard to find and more expensive than 1GB and 2GB cards! I ended up buying a two-pack of 1GB Class 10 cards for less than it would have cost me for a single, lower speed 256MB... But, hey! Now I can take something like 10,000 shots with the camera before I need to download and clear the cards.

Your camera likely doesn't need faster than 300X and can't take advantage of UDMA, but it won't hurt to buy the faster, newer cards. Besides, maybe some day you'll want faster cards if you get a newer camera (though the 1DIIN may serve well for a long time!).

ebiggs brings up a good point, too.... Faster cards also can download faster (depending upon your card reader).

So shop around.

***********

Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7D(x2), 50D(x3), some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & EXPOSUREMANAGER 

[ebiggs1]

" I bought four Lexar 16GB "Pro" 800X UDMA 7 cards on sale for $105."

I wish I had seen that!  I prefer 16BG CF cards.  My D3 uses two.  I wish the 1 series used two CF cards, too.