7D on the way, need cards, batteries

Grumpy_one · February 20, 2011

I have found some old threads on card recommendations, so I thoght I'd start another one. Maybe something new is out there I don't want to miss. Also looking for battery recommendations. Mostly sports, so looking for something fast. Thanks.

Proudfoto · February 21, 2011

I got a 32GB card from Transcend that is less than half the price of the same card from others. I have had no problems yet with RAW or full HD recording from my 7D.

Grumpy_one · February 23, 2011

How fast is the card?

kdog · February 23, 2011

Grumpy_one wrote: »

Also looking for battery recommendations. Mostly sports, so looking for something fast. Thanks.

I've heard of fast lenses before, but a fast battery is a first!

Go with the Canon factory battery, period.

Overfocused · February 23, 2011

Lexar 300x cards are very good. 600x will show an improvement over the 300x in the camera too, but I don't know if you need it that fast. Sandisk's 60MB/sec cards are a disaster, avoid that speed mark. Get either the Extreme or the Extreme III, not the II.

I use a MKII with a Lexar 600x card and get 45MB/sec write speed which equates to infinite JPEG shooting or 2 FPS RAW indefinitely after the buffer is filled. 300x runs ~30MB/sec. In the computer with a fast enough reader the 600x will double the speed of the 300x.

DsrtVW · February 23, 2011

I have been using Sandisc Extreme III both compact flash and SD have not had one problem with them and they are as fast as my camera. D300 and D700. I too only use factory batteries. Enough money spent on a DSLR body I wont by a generic battery just to save a few bucks.

Grumpy_one · February 23, 2011

kdog wrote: »

I've heard of fast lenses before, but a fast battery is a first!

Go with the Canon factory battery, period.

I'm glad you got a kick out of it....so help a guy out tell me where to factory batterys cheap. And make it fast.

Overfocused · February 24, 2011

lol. This guy means business. rawr! But, I have to put a word in for 'generics' as well.

If you want to, do a little research and you can find reliable 3rd party battery brands as well. I've found the "Phottix" brand a really oddly named, but reliable and high performance battery and it was ~$25 for a battery + charger a couple years back. I bought two copies and have gone through at least 50 full cycles each, and they're still just as strong and lasting just as long each charge as the Canon brand battery because they are 2 amps and labeled truthfully. They don't have a chip that reports battery life, but, always having a spare is a really important practice anyway. I'd rather have 5 of these batteries than 1 canon battery, IMHO.

Yes, they're made in China and generic. Yes, China does have the facilities capable of making good electronics. The issue is whether a company is paying for that quality to put it into their product. Even the Canon brand battery that came with my 5D Mark II (same battery as 7D) is labeled exactly as quoted: "Made in Japan, further processed in China"

I may as well just put this up for your consideration... the brand has their own web store as well: http://www.phottixstore.com/store/batteries/phottix-li-on-rechargeable-battery-lp-e6-new.html

They've revised it since I last bought it. It looks even more like a Canon battery now with the blue label (mine have grey labels) and it's more expensive since then. You'll need a Phottix charger though, the Canon charger can't charge them since Canon never made their charger for charging 3rd party stuff. The phottix charger can charge the Canon battery though (and does it very well)

Matthew Saville · February 24, 2011

I don't know about the 7D specifically, but I have gotten Calumet brand batteries for my Nikon DSLR's and they have lasted for years. They're the same quality, not the cheap "exploder" Ebay special. But 20-30% less pricey.

When it comes to cards, I can only recommend two things:

Get a lifetime warranty, and get it from an authorized & reputable dealer. Period. Memory cards are the film on which your images are recorded, and price shopping to save a buck on a memory card is as risky as using expired film to make a very important photo. You just don't want to play russian roulette if you can avoid it. You spent $2000+ on your camera+lenses, so spend an extra $20 on the memory card.

:-)

=Matt=

hgernhardtjr · February 24, 2011

FWIW, I recently purchased a couple of the new generic chipped LPE6 batteries off Amazon, and, unlike some of the other non-chipped generics, they charge just fine in the Canon charger and are holding up just fine.

AforAperture · February 25, 2011

I have two Sandisk Extreme 32MB 60MB/s for my 7D. Seems to work great and I use a lot of burst mode.

For batteries I just use the Canon ones and haven't had an issue with either yet.

Proudfoto · February 25, 2011

Grumpy_one wrote: »

How fast is the card?

UDMA, writes at 60mb/s.

ThatCanonGuy · February 25, 2011

Look a Newegg.com, Transcend and Kingston cards are cheap. I have a Kingston 8GB 133x green-label that I really like, and Transcend are good too.

Grumpy_one · February 26, 2011

Thanks all. Transcend is out of stock at Newegg, I have 4 ea Sandisk 4gb 30mb/s cards that will have to do until the next black Friday. I got those for 5.00 each, haven't seen a deal like that since, probably wont' either. I just got the 7d the other day, been playing around with it and the cards will fill up fast at 4gb for now, but the burst is no problem. 8 frames a second is a lot photos. Cant wait for my next sporting event. Thanks again

ThatCanonGuy · February 26, 2011

Lexar 300x cards are very good. 600x will show an improvement over the 300x in the camera too, but I don't know if you need it that fast. Sandisk's 60MB/sec cards are a disaster, avoid that speed mark. Get either the Extreme or the Extreme III, not the II.

You mean Ultra II? I thought they were 15mb/s and 30mb/s. 60mb/s is Extreme. Extreme III is 30mb/s.

7D on the way, need cards, batteries

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