CF Compact Flash cards

Noah Yuan-Vogel · June 11th, 2009, 07:30 PM

I'll second the Transcend 133x . I have a 32GB Transcend 133x and it works great and the price was hard to beat. They seem to have somehow gone up in price since I bought mine, though. The great thing about these is that although they are MLC (cheap) they have more than plenty of write speed for 40Mbps (5MBps) video and a read speed that is significantly higher which helps offloading. robgalbraith clocked these cards as writing at ~12MBps in a 5DMK2 and reading at >40MBps in fast card readers. I would highly recommend checking his charts ( Rob Galbraith DPI: Canon EOS 5D Mark II ) before you buy any CF card. Make sure that the card is listed as having at least 6MBps writes in a 5DMK2, since 40Megabit/sec translates to 5MegaByte/sec. I looked there and found that the 32GB transcend 133x seemed to be the most reasonably priced large capacity CF card that had enough writes speed for video and unusually fast read speeds for offloading.

Buck Forester · June 11th, 2009, 09:33 PM

Thank you VERY much for the responses, they are greatly appreciated! I went into my B&H cart to buy the Mark II (I put it in there yesterday) and now it's saying it's backordered again. Hopefully they'll have another batch in the next couple of days. Thanks again.

Allan Tabilas · June 12th, 2009, 07:05 PM

I use both a 16GB and 32GB Kingston Elite Pro 133x compact flash cards ($35 and $70) , and they work great with the 5D Mark II.

Josh Dahlberg · June 13th, 2009, 12:03 AM

I bought three 16gb Transcend cards. One failed on a job, first time I used it. Half the files were corrupt.

Since then I swtiched to Sandisk Extreme III and have had no problems.

Andrew Clark · June 13th, 2009, 12:32 AM

Has anybody used the Hoodman RAW CF cards? (UDMA RAW CompactFlash-Hoodman Corporation)

Spec-wise, they look nice.

As well as their Firewire 800/400 reader (RAW FireWire 800/400 CF Reader-Hoodman Corporation)

Gregory Storm · June 14th, 2009, 12:17 AM

If shooting video is important to you and you don't want your camera to freeze and loose an 8 minute shot, I would highly avoid the SanDisk Extreme III 8GB CF cards. They have been reported to freeze the camera. Read this thread for more detail 5D Mark II Freezes / Locks up / Buffer Problem SOLVED and http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/canon-eos...-compared.html and DVXuser.com -- The online community for filmmaking - View Single Post - Interview Shots from a Corporate Project.

I have now shot over 700GB of video with three cameras using the Kingston Elite Pro 133x 32GB CF cards and have not had one freeze or lock-up. We are shooting 14 minute takes each time. I would never trust the SanDisk Extreme III 8GB cards for this.

The SanDisk Ultra II 4GB card never experienced a lock up by the way. Only Extreme III 8GB.

Good luck!

Bob Thompson · June 15th, 2009, 06:32 PM

Just wondering if anybody has tried using the Transcend Industrial CompactFlash Cards, they are meant to have a wider temperature operating range. I have had no problems with the Transcend 133x and 300x but with high summer temperatures here I thought I may give the Industrial version a try. What do you think?

Bob

Jim Iscaro · June 16th, 2009, 08:38 AM

I bought 3 Extreme III 16g cards when I ordered my 5dmk2 on its announcement day. When the camera came all was well with the cards and camera. Just before a trip in January I tried some Qmemory (16gb) cards I was using with my 40d and older 5d in the new mk2. They worked fine, and the Sandisk 16gb worked fine also, until....... I formated the Qmemory in the MK2.

At that point the sandisk cards stopped working on the mk2. They worked on all the other 2 cameras and were formattable(?) under win XP and OS x. Canon had no explanation for the behavior. Sandisk, very helpful BTW, expressed me 3 new extreme III 16 gb cards. They didn't work on the mk2, but worked everywhere else. After the trip I sent the camera to canon for repair, as suggested by Canon Tech people. I included a sandisk card and a Qmemory card.

Canon said the inner mechanism was replaced and the sandisk cards now function as they should. I'm afraid to use the Qmemory again on the 5dmk2 for fear of losing the use of my 6 sandisk cards until I sent the camera out for repair again.

Does anyone else use Qmemory cards on their 5dmk2?

Jim

Thomas Lowe · June 16th, 2009, 09:53 AM

Buck I also use the 32GB Transcend 133x cards and have had no problem. You don't need fast cards for video, although obviously the faster the card, the faster download speeds to your computer, and the faster you can shoot RAW stills rapid fire.

So, I have 16GB Extreme IV UDMA cards for my rapid RAW shooting, and I use 32GB Transcend 133x cards for video recording.

Evan Donn · June 16th, 2009, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gregory Storm

The SanDisk Ultra II 4GB card never experienced a lock up by the way. Only Extreme III 8GB.

I've got one Extreme III 8Gb and 6 Ultra II 4Gb - never had any problems with any of them, shot nearly 300Gb so far (mostly on the Extreme III).

Ben Syverson · June 16th, 2009, 10:50 PM

I have two Transcend 133X 16GB cards... They're great. Haven't had a problem yet.

Zac Williams · June 18th, 2009, 12:15 PM

I've used SanDisk Ultra II 4GB cards from Costco for years with a 5D and now the Mark II. I've never had a problem with still capture or now video. While less convenient, it's nice that if I do lose a card (more likely that I physically lose it as almost happened on a recent shoot), I'm not missing as much data. Transfer rates are fine. My opinion is some of the ultra high speed more expensive cards are overkill at least for my use.

Christopher McCord · July 8th, 2009, 07:59 AM

What would be an ideal combo of CF cards and the 5DMKII for:

1. Shooting RAW + JPEG in bursts
2. Shooting Video + Still Capture
3. Shooting Video only

I guess I would probably just need the fastest cards out there?
I don't know how much #2 I will actually do but would like to have the ability.
I also don't plan to machine gun shoot, but I don't know what the 5DMKII is capable of with RAW + JPEG bursts?

I am also trying to spend as least as I can but yet get as much GB storage as I can.
I think I need one CF card for the photo scenarios and one CF card for the video scenarios.
Which ones should I consider for each? It sounds like the 133x cards are good for video only but not if I want to shoot RAW and RAW + JPEG burst as well as taking a still while shooting video?

Has anyone used or tried the Pretec cards?
http://www.ptiglobalusa.com/hisphicacfca.html

Tom from Timescapes.org pointed me towards these, says they are great!

Mitch Aunger · July 8th, 2009, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christopher McCord

I guess I would probably just need the fastest cards out there?
I don't know how much #2 I will actually do but would like to have the ability.
I also don't plan to machine gun shoot, but I don't know what the 5DMKII is capable of with RAW + JPEG bursts?

You don't need super fast cards unless you're doing lots and lots of burst stills at full 3.9 fps

of course fast cards help with download as well as saving on camera...

video only really needs 20mps (I went with sandisk extreme iii with 30mps) just to be safe

Christopher McCord · July 8th, 2009, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mitch Aunger

You don't need super fast cards unless you're doing lots and lots of burst stills at full 3.9 fps

of course fast cards help with download as well as saving on camera...

video only really needs 20mps (I went with sandisk extreme iii with 30mps) just to be safe

So will a SanDisk Extreme III and/or IV card handle RAW+JPEG bursts, say if I was only doing 10-15 bursts at a time?

I know the III and IV will handle the video fine.

June 18th, 2009, 12:15 PM	#87
Zac Williams New Boot Join Date: May 2003 Location: Pleasant View, UT Posts: 15	I've used SanDisk Ultra II 4GB cards from Costco for years with a 5D and now the Mark II. I've never had a problem with still capture or now video. While less convenient, it's nice that if I do lose a card (more likely that I physically lose it as almost happened on a recent shoot), I'm not missing as much data. Transfer rates are fine. My opinion is some of the ultra high speed more expensive cards are overkill at least for my use. __________________ Zac Williams www.williamsvisual.com

July 8th, 2009, 07:59 AM	#88
Christopher McCord Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 48	CF Flash Decisions What would be an ideal combo of CF cards and the 5DMKII for: 1. Shooting RAW + JPEG in bursts 2. Shooting Video + Still Capture 3. Shooting Video only I guess I would probably just need the fastest cards out there? I don't know how much #2 I will actually do but would like to have the ability. I also don't plan to machine gun shoot, but I don't know what the 5DMKII is capable of with RAW + JPEG bursts? I am also trying to spend as least as I can but yet get as much GB storage as I can. I think I need one CF card for the photo scenarios and one CF card for the video scenarios. Which ones should I consider for each? It sounds like the 133x cards are good for video only but not if I want to shoot RAW and RAW + JPEG burst as well as taking a still while shooting video? Has anyone used or tried the Pretec cards? http://www.ptiglobalusa.com/hisphicacfca.html Tom from Timescapes.org pointed me towards these, says they are great!

June 11th, 2009, 07:30 PM	#76
Noah Yuan-Vogel Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: New York City Posts: 613	I'll second the Transcend 133x . I have a 32GB Transcend 133x and it works great and the price was hard to beat. They seem to have somehow gone up in price since I bought mine, though. The great thing about these is that although they are MLC (cheap) they have more than plenty of write speed for 40Mbps (5MBps) video and a read speed that is significantly higher which helps offloading. robgalbraith clocked these cards as writing at ~12MBps in a 5DMK2 and reading at >40MBps in fast card readers. I would highly recommend checking his charts ( Rob Galbraith DPI: Canon EOS 5D Mark II ) before you buy any CF card. Make sure that the card is listed as having at least 6MBps writes in a 5DMK2, since 40Megabit/sec translates to 5MegaByte/sec. I looked there and found that the 32GB transcend 133x seemed to be the most reasonably priced large capacity CF card that had enough writes speed for video and unusually fast read speeds for offloading.

June 11th, 2009, 09:33 PM	#77
Buck Forester Major Player Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: California Posts: 230	Thank you VERY much for the responses, they are greatly appreciated! I went into my B&H cart to buy the Mark II (I put it in there yesterday) and now it's saying it's backordered again. Hopefully they'll have another batch in the next couple of days. Thanks again.

June 12th, 2009, 07:05 PM	#78
Allan Tabilas Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 81	I use both a 16GB and 32GB Kingston Elite Pro 133x compact flash cards ($35 and $70) , and they work great with the 5D Mark II.

June 13th, 2009, 12:03 AM	#79
Josh Dahlberg Major Player Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Wellington, New Zealand Posts: 513	I bought three 16gb Transcend cards. One failed on a job, first time I used it. Half the files were corrupt. Since then I swtiched to Sandisk Extreme III and have had no problems.

June 13th, 2009, 12:32 AM	#80
Andrew Clark Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 477	Has anybody used the Hoodman RAW CF cards? (UDMA RAW CompactFlash-Hoodman Corporation) Spec-wise, they look nice. As well as their Firewire 800/400 reader (RAW FireWire 800/400 CF Reader-Hoodman Corporation)

June 14th, 2009, 12:17 AM	#81
Gregory Storm New Boot Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Burbank, CA Posts: 12	If shooting video is important to you and you don't want your camera to freeze and loose an 8 minute shot, I would highly avoid the SanDisk Extreme III 8GB CF cards. They have been reported to freeze the camera. Read this thread for more detail 5D Mark II Freezes / Locks up / Buffer Problem SOLVED and http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/canon-eos...-compared.html and DVXuser.com -- The online community for filmmaking - View Single Post - Interview Shots from a Corporate Project. I have now shot over 700GB of video with three cameras using the Kingston Elite Pro 133x 32GB CF cards and have not had one freeze or lock-up. We are shooting 14 minute takes each time. I would never trust the SanDisk Extreme III 8GB cards for this. The SanDisk Ultra II 4GB card never experienced a lock up by the way. Only Extreme III 8GB. Good luck!

June 15th, 2009, 06:32 PM	#82
Bob Thompson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 340	Just wondering if anybody has tried using the Transcend Industrial CompactFlash Cards, they are meant to have a wider temperature operating range. I have had no problems with the Transcend 133x and 300x but with high summer temperatures here I thought I may give the Industrial version a try. What do you think? Bob

June 16th, 2009, 08:38 AM	#83
Jim Iscaro Tourist Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: White Plains, New York Posts: 2	I bought 3 Extreme III 16g cards when I ordered my 5dmk2 on its announcement day. When the camera came all was well with the cards and camera. Just before a trip in January I tried some Qmemory (16gb) cards I was using with my 40d and older 5d in the new mk2. They worked fine, and the Sandisk 16gb worked fine also, until....... I formated the Qmemory in the MK2. At that point the sandisk cards stopped working on the mk2. They worked on all the other 2 cameras and were formattable(?) under win XP and OS x. Canon had no explanation for the behavior. Sandisk, very helpful BTW, expressed me 3 new extreme III 16 gb cards. They didn't work on the mk2, but worked everywhere else. After the trip I sent the camera to canon for repair, as suggested by Canon Tech people. I included a sandisk card and a Qmemory card. Canon said the inner mechanism was replaced and the sandisk cards now function as they should. I'm afraid to use the Qmemory again on the 5dmk2 for fear of losing the use of my 6 sandisk cards until I sent the camera out for repair again. Does anyone else use Qmemory cards on their 5dmk2? Jim

June 16th, 2009, 09:53 AM	#84
Thomas Lowe Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 33	Buck I also use the 32GB Transcend 133x cards and have had no problem. You don't need fast cards for video, although obviously the faster the card, the faster download speeds to your computer, and the faster you can shoot RAW stills rapid fire. So, I have 16GB Extreme IV UDMA cards for my rapid RAW shooting, and I use 32GB Transcend 133x cards for video recording.

June 16th, 2009, 10:50 PM	#86
Ben Syverson Major Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: chicago Posts: 434	I have two Transcend 133X 16GB cards... They're great. Haven't had a problem yet.