Lexar 80x Platinum II or 300x UDMA Card

rpcrowe

Fryes Electronics chain has what seems like a pretty good deal on the 2GIG Lexar 80x Platinum II CF CARD ($24.95). Adorama has them for 34.95 and Buy.com lists them for $40.99. Although I will have to pay California State Sales Tax when I buy at Fryes; I will not have to pay shipping - so that should even out.

I refuse to buy CF cards on-line from a strange dealer due to the counterfeit problems. Although, I would not hesitate to buy online from a dealer whose integrity I trust such as 17th Street Photo, Adorama or B&H.

I have used a few Lexar cards in the past and have been satisfied with them. I am going to pick up two of these 80x Lexars for my trip to Bosque del Apache NWR later this month.

I wonder what the fastest CF card which my 30D can take advantage of. I may want to get at least one Lexar professional 300x UDMA CF Card for shooting when I need bursts (not necessarily at the Bosque del Apache).

However, if the 30D cannot take advantage of the speed of the UDMA card; I would be wasting my money.

Cuong

Go for the Lexar 80x since the 30D can't take advantage of the newer 300x UDMA. If you look at the 30D review on timing at dpreview, http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos30d/page11.asp , the max transfer rate is about 7MB/sec in burst mode using the Lexar 133x. The 133x rating means this card has a sustained read/write speed of 20MB/sec. The 30D can only manage a max transfer rate of 7MB/sec, which is only 35% of the card capability. The Lexar 80x (12MB/sec) would be fine for the 30D based on this observation. You can take advantage of the 300x UDMA when you download the data if you pair it with a UDMA reader, but why spend more money on something that doesn't benefit your needs.

Regards,
Cuong

ziggy53

It turns out that cameras and memory cards are very sensitive to specific brand combinations.

The best tests that I have found are at:

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

... with specific Canon 30D tests here:

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007-8478

rpcrowe

Thanks for all your replies...
I have purchased two 2GIG Lexar Platinum II 80X cards.

dangin

here are my 2 cents, albeit a post or two late:

1) stay away from 17st photo. stay far, far away. they're shady and not to the degree of broadway or some of those other scammers, but they're far from 100% legit in my book.

2) stick w/ B&H, Adorama, Calumet, Jack's...

3) unless you've got one of the newest of the new cameras (1DIII, D3, etc.), UDMA is pointless for the vast majority of the cameras out there right now.

4) i've had success w/ Lexar, Calumet's brand, Transcend (i know, i know...), and Kingston. i've had failures with Sandisk and older Kingston CF cards in the past.

rpcrowe wrote:

Fryes Electronics chain has what seems like a pretty good deal on the 2GIG Lexar 80x Platinum II CF CARD ($24.95). Adorama has them for 34.95 and Buy.com lists them for $40.99. Although I will have to pay California State Sales Tax when I buy at Fryes; I will not have to pay shipping - so that should even out.

I refuse to buy CF cards on-line from a strange dealer due to the counterfeit problems. Although, I would not hesitate to buy online from a dealer whose integrity I trust such as 17th Street Photo, Adorama or B&H.

I have used a few Lexar cards in the past and have been satisfied with them. I am going to pick up two of these 80x Lexars for my trip to Bosque del Apache NWR later this month.

I wonder what the fastest CF card which my 30D can take advantage of. I may want to get at least one Lexar professional 300x UDMA CF Card for shooting when I need bursts (not necessarily at the Bosque del Apache).

However, if the 30D cannot take advantage of the speed of the UDMA card; I would be wasting my money.

J Kacey

If you buy one of the 133x or 300x cards and one of the lexar card readers. You can take advantage of very fast downloading to your computer. I never use my camera to transfer pictures. Very, very fast

rpcrowe

dangin wrote:

here are my 2 cents, albeit a post or two late:

1) stay away from 17st photo. stay far, far away. they're shady and not to the degree of broadway or some of those other scammers, but they're far from 100% legit in my book.

2) stick w/ B&H, Adorama, Calumet, Jack's...

I have purchased a 12-24mm Tokina f/4, a 70-200mm f/4L (non-IS) lens and replaced it by purchasing a 70-200mm f/4L IS lens; all from 17th St Photo and have nothing but great things to say about them. I also purchased a 350D camera from them and everything concerned with the four purchases went extremely well.

I got the gear I ordered very quickly, was never talked into buying any accessories and always got personal service when I contacted them.

IMO, they are one of the best suppliers and I would have no hesitation buying again from them. I am sorry that you were disappointed with your interaction with them. Have you emailed Paul and stated your problems?

ian408

Just a quick word about Fry's. Generally, they've got everything you could want and much more (like the grocery store, don't go there when you're just looking ). Be careful of the hand written tags you will find on products.
These tags indicate the item was restocked (customer return). Those tags are a great way to see if folks are having trouble with a particular item--especially true with graphics cards.

If you live in Fry's teritory, they advertise in the local papers. Usually once a week or so. Some loss leaders (and great bargins) and some not so good bargins. You need to be a great shopper to catch the great deals.

z_28

rpcrowe wrote:

However, if the 30D cannot take advantage of the speed of the UDMA card; I would be wasting my money.

Exactly !

That's all about UDMA Folks.

dangin

rpcrowe wrote:

dangin wrote:

here are my 2 cents, albeit a post or two late:

1) stay away from 17st photo. stay far, far away. they're shady and not to the degree of broadway or some of those other scammers, but they're far from 100% legit in my book.

2) stick w/ B&H, Adorama, Calumet, Jack's...

I have purchased a 12-24mm Tokina f/4, a 70-200mm f/4L (non-IS) lens and replaced it by purchasing a 70-200mm f/4L IS lens; all from 17th St Photo and have nothing but great things to say about them. I also purchased a 350D camera from them and everything concerned with the four purchases went extremely well.

I got the gear I ordered very quickly, was never talked into buying any accessories and always got personal service when I contacted them.

IMO, they are one of the best suppliers and I would have no hesitation buying again from them. I am sorry that you were disappointed with your interaction with them. Have you emailed Paul and stated your problems?

no, i don't know who paul is. however my experience varied substantially from yours. they did call me to upsell accessories, of which i did buy one. then they never sent me an actual invoice as proof of purchase for the 2 lenses and cf card i bought. to top it off, there were no warranty cards or instructions included with either of the lenses making me suspect that they're used. i called twice to try to resolve the matter AND to get a copy of my invoice and both times i got transferred several times leaving me on hold for 10-15minutes at a time before someone would pickup just to transfer me again, and i'd finally get someone that would say: oh yes, we'll send it out to you again and i got 2 different stories about the lenses. all in all, no receipt of purchase and questionable products.

i'd be but thrilled to talk to "paul" directly and give him a piece of my mind because as far as i'm concerned, stay away from 17st photo

rpcrowe

Loss leaders from Frye's
One of my favorite loss leaders from Fryes is their "Professional Quality Glossy Photo Paper for High resolution Inkjet printers"

This 8.5 x 11 paper is sold quite often at 99 cents for 20 shets. It works great with my HP Photosmart 7960 but, not as well with my Epson 1800 printer.

If it works for your printer, you can't really go wrong at a nickel a sheet!