Compact Flash Cards

AroundDWorld

Sorry if this is in the wrong place......just wondering if anyone else is having a hard time finding SanDisks on sale any more. I used to get a great price on the Extreme 8 gb cards, but no longer.........anyone else seen any deals or any advice on other brands and reliability? Thank you!

ThatCanonGuy

Transcend and Kingston. Two reliable brands, and they're a lot cheaper than Sandisk. With Sandisk and Lexar, you're paying extra for the name on the label. I like the Kingston 133x CF cards.

Newegg.com is reliable, and they have some great deals there.

AroundDWorld

Hey, that's great, thank you very much, off to check them out.

Oh, and a 2nd thought....how long do you use them before you retire a card!!

ziggy53

Sandisk and Lexar are more than just names. There really is a potentially great difference in Compact Flash cards in their type of memory and their choice of controller.

Rob Galbraith used to test cards in different cameras, and in different card readers, and found dramatic differences in write (and read) speeds.

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007

The short version is that while it still depends on the particular camera as to which cards are fastest, The fastest Sandisk, Transcend and Lexar cards did better than most of the other name brand cards for both late model Nikon and late model Canon bodies.

If you want the best value, many folks are using the Transcend cards with extremely good results. Be sure to match UDMA cards with compatible UDMA camera bodies for best results. Likewise match non-UDMA cards with non-UDMA camera bodies.

(UDMA cards will generally still work in non-UDMA bodies but they tend to be slower than their speed ratings in use.)

ThatCanonGuy

AroundDWorld wrote: »

Hey, that's great, thank you very much, off to check them out.

Oh, and a 2nd thought....how long do you use them before you retire a card!!

Once again Ziggy teaches me more stuff that I didn't know . I own a Kingston 133x 8GB and a Transcend 600x 8GB (and a bunch of SDs). I haven't done any testing, as I know my 1DII isn't UDMA capable. But, my next camera might be, and that's why I have the Transcend. I don't know which is faster, the Kingston or the Transcend. Both are reliable for me, I've never had a problem with either.

As for retiring a card... I haven't been using CF's for very long, so I really don't think about it. I've heard some say they do it every few years. Someone else on here will chime in . I do know to stop using a card if it fails or gets corrupted.

AroundDWorld

Thanks Ziggy, this is the first I have heard of UDMA.....I shoot with a 5D mkII so I am assuming those would work in my camera.
Off to go read up on UDMA.
Thanks guys for chiming in....great info!

ThatCanonGuy

Yeah, the 5DII is UDMA capable. I have heard that the Transcend 600x cards don't actually get to 600x, and that the 400x are a better value. I of course can't test this, as I don't have a UDMA-capable camera. Something to look at tho. Oh, and Kingston recently came out with 600x cards, you may want to look into those.

I guess this is where Sandisk and Lexar come in.

Overfocused

ThatCanonGuy wrote: »

Yeah, the 5DII is UDMA capable. I have heard that the Transcend 600x cards don't actually get to 600x, and that the 400x are a better value. I of course can't test this, as I don't have a UDMA-capable camera. Something to look at tho. Oh, and Kingston recently came out with 600x cards, you may want to look into those.

I guess this is where Sandisk and Lexar come in.

They do get to 600x transferring to and from the computer, but it is half that speed in camera. All cards I've used tend to be half speed in-camera. I think it's just how the camera works vs. the bandwidth of the computer, and with power and computing limitations inside the camera etc it may be limited to avoid sucking too much juice.

ThatCanonGuy

Overfocused wrote: »

They do get to 600x transferring to and from the computer, but it is half that speed in camera. All cards I've used tend to be half speed in-camera. I think it's just how the camera works vs. the bandwidth of the computer, and with power and computing limitations inside the camera etc it may be limited to avoid sucking too much juice.

Thanks for the info.

rpcrowe

ThatCanonGuy wrote: »

Transcend and Kingston. Two reliable brands, and they're a lot cheaper than Sandisk. With Sandisk and Lexar, you're paying extra for the name on the label. I like the Kingston 133x CF cards.

Newegg.com is reliable, and they have some great deals there.

I have recently had problems with two different Kingston CF cards (8GB and 16GB which I purchased at Frys Electronics). Although I still shoot with some of my older and slower Kingston models, I will no longer purchase Kingston cards.

I purchased a pair of 16GB 400x Lexar Professional UDMA cards from B&H for slightly over $100 (USD) total...

ThatCanonGuy

I have heard of bad batches from Kingston, maybe you got one of those. All brands fail sometimes (has a Hoodman failed yet?), it's just about having a low failure rate. I think you can find some failure rates on the internet.

That's a good deal on the Lexar cards

Matthew Saville

ThatCanonGuy wrote: »

I have heard of bad batches from Kingston, maybe you got one of those. All brands fail sometimes (has a Hoodman failed yet?), it's just about having a low failure rate. I think you can find some failure rates on the internet.

That's a good deal on the Lexar cards

Yes, Hoodman failures have been documented even though they continue to CLAIM zero "in the field" failures. Honestly, I'm not a fan of lying in an ad.

=Matt=

borrowlenses.com

We used to stock just Lexar and Sandisk but recently added Transcend just because for the money you cannot beat their price/performance. So far no issues

Stuart-M

I've heard several horror stories with Transcend SD cards, don't know about their CF cards however. FWIW, I use Sandisk extreme cards, I tend to go for the second fastest ones (60MB/s last time I looked), as they are much cheaper. These have always been very reliable for me.

ImageX Photography

I have had a 32g Kingston Elite card fail in 4 months... and replaced under warranty. It caused camera lock ups every now and then before that too. They are a good bargain but they are NOT the same quality/build as Sandisk or Lexar cards.

rpcrowe

Definite difference
Although I never noticed any great differences between my various (both slow and fast) CF cards using my 30D and 40D cameras, I definitely noticed a difference using my 300X Lexar UDMA cards in my 7D as compared with the slower cards (of various brand names). This was probably due to increased file size and capability to utilize UDMA technology.

I settled on a pair of 400X Lexar 16GB UDMA cards and am very happy with my choice.

JohnRog

I had a 2 year old lightly used sandisk 8gb card (purchased from Adorama... So not a fake) that completely failed on me a month or so ago... Completely unrecognized by either of my cameras or my computer, so I couldn't even reformat it this time... I just replaced it with a transcend 16gb 600x card... The price was great from newegg, and it has a lifetime warranty vs. The sandisk 1 year... I did notice that the card says 600x READ speed, but the write speed was slower...

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Tapatalk

wildviper

For the record: My Lexar has failed on me. I have to send it back to them...it seems its a corrupted card. So..yes Lexar DOES fail also.

Art Scott

AroundDWorld wrote: »

Hey, that's great, thank you very much, off to check them out.

Oh, and a 2nd thought....how long do you use them before you retire a card!!

I haved Lexar cards still going from over 6 yrs ago and my Transcends range in age from 5 to 1 yr.....nothing newer right now.......I have like 14 transcend cards in my arsenal right now....12 are 8gb from 120x to 600x and 2 - 16gb 600x cards......transcend has been my work horse cards and i depend on them totally......
ZI won't actually retire cards until they just flat crap out on me....then hopefully my recovery software will save my but and the images on the cards......or if a card corrupts on me twice then it is burned at the stake for crimes of witchery, voo doo & hoo dooism........

Icebear

Holy crap! Humor from Art!?!?!

JohnRog

Art, I completely agree with your witchery sentence for cards, and plan to implement it should a card misbehave in the future... My SanDisk partially failed on me twice before it failed permanently...

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Tapatalk

MT Stringer

The only reason I have retired some cards is because they have become to slow for today's camras (big file sizes). I have several Kingston 133x cards that I won't use unless I have filled the others or forgot them somewhere. I use the Transcend 400x cards in 16 and 32gb size. No problems encountered. Now when I say that, I mean tens of thousands of shots covering sporting events like softball, baseball, etc tournaments. I also have a couple of 8gb Sandisk cards that work just as well. All of my cards get used in either the 1D MK3 or the 7D.

My last event was a total of over 5000 shots at an all star weekend covering football and softball and a 7-on7 football tournament. Not one single problem with the cards or corrupt images transferring them to the computer. I use a USB 3 Delkins card reader to help speed up the file transfers.

Ed911

I've used only Lexar and Sandisk because of their reputation and because when B&H has rebates they're not that much more than the cheaper competition...so I just go with those two.

I can't really say that I've heard of many failures from any brand of CF or SD card lately...last couple of years.

My view is this...if you are shooting for money...paid customer, etc...and toting $4500 worth of camera gear on your hip...why cheap out. Your system is only as good as the weakest link...no duh there. If not, buy whatever...you might miss a couple of pics...but it won't cost you business because you bought the cheapest chip you could find...

Icebear

Ed911 wrote: »

My view is this...if you are shooting for money...paid customer, etc...and toting $4500 worth of camera gear on your hip...why cheap out. Your system is only as good as the weakest link...no duh there. ..

I agree 100%. That's why I use Transcend. Never . . . Ever . . . had a problem since I switched from Sandisk.

Art Scott

Icebear wrote: »

Holy crap! Humor from Art!?!?!

Thanx Icey........appreciate that..........:D:D:D:D

Matthew Saville

I think it is funny how EVERYONE is saying they use this or that brand because they've had a horror story with the other brand. Obviously, no one brand is perfect, and for the most part no one brand is actually more reliable than another. It just comes down to the luck of the draw, AND of course proper memory card maintenance.

For me, as long as I'm buying a pro-grade card with a lifetime warranty directly from an authorized, reputable retailer, I'm fine. I've used almost all the brands out there, and I've had both failure and great success with almost all the brands out there.

The best thing you can do, especially as a professional or as someone who simply values the photos they take, is DON'T CHEAP OUT! Don't go hunting around Ebay for deals. Don't buy from third parties on Amazon. It's just not worth the risk. Spend an extra $5-50, and dramatically increase the safety of your precious images. It pains me to see someone buy a $3-5K camera and then try and skimp to save $20 on the absolute weakest link in the chain of image security...

=Matt=

Art Scott

Matthew Saville wrote: »

I think it is funny how EVERYONE is saying they use this or that brand because they've had a horror story with the other brand. Obviously, no one brand is perfect, and for the most part no one brand is actually more reliable than another. It just comes down to the luck of the draw, AND of course proper memory card maintenance.

For me, as long as I'm buying a pro-grade card with a lifetime warranty directly from an authorized, reputable retailer, I'm fine. I've used almost all the brands out there, and I've had both failure and great success with almost all the brands out there.

The best thing you can do, especially as a professional or as someone who simply values the photos they take, is DON'T CHEAP OUT! Don't go hunting around Ebay for deals. Don't buy from third parties on Amazon. It's just not worth the risk. Spend an extra $5-50, and dramatically increase the safety of your precious images. It pains me to see someone buy a $3-5K camera and then try and skimp to save $20 on the absolute weakest link in the chain of image security...

=Matt=

Exactly....it is not a matter of IF a card will fail but when........I start out with my newest set of cards and then go to the older cards if needed, by then , if it is a wedding all the major fast moving stuff is over the slower cards will work ok...........my only horror story is from purchasing 2 Sand Disk Extremes a few years ago and noticed right off the bat that they showed waaaay less image count available than my other cards of the same size.....so I called San Disk and they ran a diagnostic and told me they were counterfeits...so I called the retailer with the same info.....all taken care of....and I would not buy flash cards of Ebay.....that is one thing I would NOT buy off ebay...............

Overfocused

Oh flames and damnation to you Ebay you're horrible! - Ebay still has remaining legitimate sellers that still sell for less than most retailers!


In the last 3 years, I've bought a 5DMKII, 7D, 70-200F4/L, 50mm F1.4, 100mm F2.8 Macro, a Lexar 600x 16GB and 2x 400x 16GB lexar cards all off of Ebay and have saved $1200-1500 overall combined with web-rebate programs. Since I've lived on the internet since 1997, Lol, I do just about have a 6th sense with this stuff, HOWEVER, if you know how to shop online you really can find ways to save money and still be safe. For example when the MKII was on 6+ month delay back in Feb. 2009, I did get some lucky timing on %10 off Paypal coupons with the MKII but had to find a legit seller to take advantage of it. I cut in line and got it for $2430 when people were paying 3+ grand for them and were still waiting for months at a time.

One good indicator, even if someone has a really good feedback ratio, is to read into their negative feedbacks to see what behavior you may run into from a seller if they did mess up or had a bad transaction. Return policy, seller reputation, and location are the 3 most important things to check first.

rpcrowe

No longer use Kingston
I used to be a great fan of Kingston cards and purchased them at great prices from Frys Electronic Warehouse.

However, my last two Kingston cards were defective (8GB and 16GB 133X cards) and I no longer trust them. However I still use my older Kingston cards in my 30D and 40D cameras while I will use 400X Lexar UDMA cards in my 7D. The faster cards do make a difference when shooting with the 7D because of the larger file sizes and UDMA capability...

I got a good deal a while ago on three Lexar 300X 4GB UDMA CF cards. They made a mistake in advertising a rebate and the result was that I got the three cards (all that were eligible under the rebate rules) for ten dollars each. Lexar "had intended" to give a $10 rebate for each card. They cancelled the rebate but, honored the purchases made on the only day the rebate was in effect...

jchin

I've used Kingston ElitePro cards (older ones) without any issues (and I still use them today when I exhaust my other cards), however, I have not purchased any of theirs recently because they are so much more expensive that my reliable Transcend 400X cards (purchased from NewEgg and Amazon). My Sandisk cards (purchased a few years ago when B&H had them on sale with rebates) are still working fine.