CF Compact Flash cards

Bill Binder · March 16th, 2009, 01:59 PM

I think it's fair to say that UDMA is definitely not a requirement, at least not if you consider that a lot of people are using non-UDMA cards without problems. That said, if you have a really important project, or have the budget, then why not use UDMA.

Among other smaller and slower-than-UDMA cards I own, which have all worked fine, I've also been using a 133x Kingston 32gig card I got from NewEgg for $60 (that's right, $60 for 32gb) without problems. On a rare occasion I see one light on the buffer, but it's always gone away before going to two lights, and I've never seen a dropped frame. Yes, it is a bit slower, and I can tell sometimes when rapid-firing 21mp stills, but the thing works fine and the price is oh so right...

Chris Barcellos · March 16th, 2009, 02:13 PM

In reviewing the specs on the cards, versus Canon's stated requirements, these cards double the maximum write speed, as I understand it. In fact most 133x cards seem to do so. As far as stills during recording. I have done that without error too.

I do wonder if the 16 would write as well, and will probably try one at about $35.00

Jon Carr · March 16th, 2009, 05:59 PM

I have an 8gb Sandisk Extreme 3 that freezes my 5d. The write indicator bars fill up and the camera freezes. I have to pop out the battery and I lose the current take. It is a little frustrating and happens at random times. Any suggestions for correcting this? I have two slower cards that don't have this issue.

Garry Garza · March 17th, 2009, 05:17 AM

Thanks Guys! Problem solved courtesy of transend card reader. I was able to transfer my 4gb(HDvideo) files for only 3mins.

Jon Carr · March 18th, 2009, 08:07 AM

I have an 8gb Sandisk Extreme 3 that freezes my 5d when shooting video. The write indicator bars fills up and the camera freezes. I have to pop out the battery and I lose the current take. It is a little frustrating and happens at random times. Any suggestions for correcting this? I have two slower cards that don't have this issue.

Mark Hahn · March 18th, 2009, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon Carr

I have an 8gb Sandisk Extreme 3 that freezes my 5d when shooting video. The write indicator bars fills up and the camera freezes. I have to pop out the battery and I lose the current take. It is a little frustrating and happens at random times. Any suggestions for correcting this? I have two slower cards that don't have this issue.

It appears your card crashes, quits writing, the 5D2 fills up its buffer waiting for the card, and then the 5D2 gets locked up waiting for a write operation to finish. It must not have a time-out for giving up on the card.

Nigel Barker · March 19th, 2009, 01:10 AM

It sounds like a bad CF card. Just replace it.

Cheers

Nigel

Rob Thompson · March 20th, 2009, 11:07 PM

I'm using a Transcend 32GB 133x I bought for around $70. Thought I'd try it out because the cost was reasonable and I could always use CF card for my other cameras if it choked on the 5DmkII.

I have used this card for a couple days of casual family shots (and lots of video) and it worked flawlessly -- didn't even register any buffer bars. None!

I think the UDMA cards are really nice, but they're not essential.

p.s. The above member who was complaining about a Sandisk ExtremeIII CF card causing problems -- I'm not an electronics engineer, but it sounds like a defective card to me. I have an ExtremeIII 16GB card and it works fine, never had any problems.

Mitch Aunger · March 21st, 2009, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon Carr

I have an 8gb Sandisk Extreme 3 that freezes my 5d. The write indicator bars fill up and the camera freezes. I have to pop out the battery and I lose the current take. It is a little frustrating and happens at random times. Any suggestions for correcting this? I have two slower cards that don't have this issue.

I have 3 of these cards and they've not shown this symptom at all

Jon Fairhurst · March 26th, 2009, 11:46 AM

Here's a good review of high end CF cards. Personally, the most interesting thing to me is the Addonics ADSACFW SATA CF reader listed on page 9 of the article.

Roundup: CompactFlash Cards For Professionals : Compact Flash Powerhouses Reviewed - Review Tom's Hardware

Frankly, none of the cards look bad. I'm more interested in reliability and cost per MB than the last 10% of performance.

Chris Hurd · March 26th, 2009, 12:13 PM

Thanks for posting that link! But I didn't see the HoodMan RAW 300x UDMA card in there.

Bill Binder · March 26th, 2009, 02:00 PM

I've been using a $60 133x Kingston 32gig card without problems. Now that's a price/size/performance tradeoff I can live with!

Julian Frost · March 26th, 2009, 02:10 PM

Have you tried shooting stills in RAW format with the 133x cards, shooting as rapidly as possible? I have a 16GB Transcend 300x card which will has allowed me to shoot 21 RAW (with no embedded JPG) shots before the buffer filled and the camera slowed down. I also have a 4GB 133x card which only gave me about 17 shots before the camera slowed down. Neither card has any trouble with video, however.

Julian

Brant Gajda · March 26th, 2009, 05:15 PM

I always like Ron Galbraith's website.
Rob Galbraith DPI: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Dylan Couper · March 26th, 2009, 09:54 PM

And what's the minimum speed the 5D2 needs for video again?

March 16th, 2009, 02:13 PM	#47
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	In reviewing the specs on the cards, versus Canon's stated requirements, these cards double the maximum write speed, as I understand it. In fact most 133x cards seem to do so. As far as stills during recording. I have done that without error too. I do wonder if the 16 would write as well, and will probably try one at about $35.00 __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

March 16th, 2009, 05:59 PM	#48
Jon Carr Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: San Francisco Posts: 35	Write Indicator I have an 8gb Sandisk Extreme 3 that freezes my 5d. The write indicator bars fill up and the camera freezes. I have to pop out the battery and I lose the current take. It is a little frustrating and happens at random times. Any suggestions for correcting this? I have two slower cards that don't have this issue.

March 18th, 2009, 08:07 AM	#50
Jon Carr Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: San Francisco Posts: 35	Card Write Indicator I have an 8gb Sandisk Extreme 3 that freezes my 5d when shooting video. The write indicator bars fills up and the camera freezes. I have to pop out the battery and I lose the current take. It is a little frustrating and happens at random times. Any suggestions for correcting this? I have two slower cards that don't have this issue.

March 26th, 2009, 11:46 AM	#55
Jon Fairhurst Inner Circle Join Date: May 2006 Location: Camas, WA, USA Posts: 5,513	High end CF cards compared Here's a good review of high end CF cards. Personally, the most interesting thing to me is the Addonics ADSACFW SATA CF reader listed on page 9 of the article. Roundup: CompactFlash Cards For Professionals : Compact Flash Powerhouses Reviewed - Review Tom's Hardware Frankly, none of the cards look bad. I'm more interested in reliability and cost per MB than the last 10% of performance. __________________ Jon Fairhurst

March 26th, 2009, 12:13 PM	#56
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	Thanks for posting that link! But I didn't see the HoodMan RAW 300x UDMA card in there. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

March 16th, 2009, 01:59 PM	#46
Bill Binder Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: San Francisco Posts: 542	I think it's fair to say that UDMA is definitely not a requirement, at least not if you consider that a lot of people are using non-UDMA cards without problems. That said, if you have a really important project, or have the budget, then why not use UDMA. Among other smaller and slower-than-UDMA cards I own, which have all worked fine, I've also been using a 133x Kingston 32gig card I got from NewEgg for $60 (that's right, $60 for 32gb) without problems. On a rare occasion I see one light on the buffer, but it's always gone away before going to two lights, and I've never seen a dropped frame. Yes, it is a bit slower, and I can tell sometimes when rapid-firing 21mp stills, but the thing works fine and the price is oh so right...

March 17th, 2009, 05:17 AM	#49
Garry Garza Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Philippines Posts: 67	Thanks Guys! Problem solved courtesy of transend card reader. I was able to transfer my 4gb(HDvideo) files for only 3mins.

March 19th, 2009, 01:10 AM	#52
Nigel Barker Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Posts: 3,531	It sounds like a bad CF card. Just replace it. Cheers Nigel

March 20th, 2009, 11:07 PM	#53
Rob Thompson New Boot Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Edmonton, Canada Posts: 5	I'm using a Transcend 32GB 133x I bought for around $70. Thought I'd try it out because the cost was reasonable and I could always use CF card for my other cameras if it choked on the 5DmkII. I have used this card for a couple days of casual family shots (and lots of video) and it worked flawlessly -- didn't even register any buffer bars. None! I think the UDMA cards are really nice, but they're not essential. p.s. The above member who was complaining about a Sandisk ExtremeIII CF card causing problems -- I'm not an electronics engineer, but it sounds like a defective card to me. I have an ExtremeIII 16GB card and it works fine, never had any problems.

March 26th, 2009, 02:00 PM	#57
Bill Binder Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: San Francisco Posts: 542	I've been using a $60 133x Kingston 32gig card without problems. Now that's a price/size/performance tradeoff I can live with!

March 26th, 2009, 02:10 PM	#58
Julian Frost Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: California USA Posts: 576	Have you tried shooting stills in RAW format with the 133x cards, shooting as rapidly as possible? I have a 16GB Transcend 300x card which will has allowed me to shoot 21 RAW (with no embedded JPG) shots before the buffer filled and the camera slowed down. I also have a 4GB 133x card which only gave me about 17 shots before the camera slowed down. Neither card has any trouble with video, however. Julian

March 26th, 2009, 05:15 PM	#59
Brant Gajda Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 113	I always like Ron Galbraith's website. Rob Galbraith DPI: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

March 26th, 2009, 09:54 PM	#60
Dylan Couper Wrangler Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia Posts: 8,314	And what's the minimum speed the 5D2 needs for video again? __________________ Need to rent camera gear in Vancouver BC? Check me out at camerarentalsvancouver.com