Need good CF card for Marathon shooting

net1994 · April 7, 2010

I need to get a 16GB CF card for my D300. Looking for something fast and so far I’ve narrowed it down to
-Lexar Pro 300x
-SanDisk Extreme 60MB
-SanDisk Extreme IV 45MB

Now I have a Extreme IV 4GB card and it is VERY fast. And so I was hoping to get a Extreme IV 16GB edition but they are no longer sold. To my significant disappointment, the new Extreme 60MB card is actually SLOWER than the Extreme IV 45MB card that was discontinued. See here: http://sportsphotoguy.com/extreme-disparity/ And I’m not willing to pay for the Extreme Pro cards @ 90MB per second. At most I'd be willing to spend $140 or so. I took a look on eBay for Extreme IV cards, but it all seems a bit sketchy.

So what should I do? I think the Extreme III series cards are slightly slower (16.3MB per sec in Camera write speed) compared to the new Extreme 60MB series (which was 19MB per second in camera write speed). Suggestions?

Wil Davis · April 7, 2010

Well, I took a look around recently and decided that the prices of the 16Gb CF cards are still pretty high (for my purse anyway…) and so decided that I didn't really need anything more than the dozen or so I have at the moment, ranging in size from 8Gb -> 512Mb and of varying vintages.

I can understand the need for speed if you're doing video, but taking stills are you really being hobbled by the speed of the memory?

…just curious

- Wil

net1994 · April 8, 2010

Wil Davis wrote:

Well, I took a look around recently and decided that the prices of the 16Gb CF cards are still pretty high (for my purse anyway…) and so decided that I didn't really need anything more than the dozen or so I have at the moment, ranging in size from 8Gb -> 512Mb and of varying vintages.

I can understand the need for speed if you're doing video, but taking stills are you really being hobbled by the speed of the memory?

…just curious

- Wil

A bit more info. Shooting the Boston Marathon. Will be using the Battery grip for occasional 8FPS shooting. Using 12-BIT NEF+JPEG Fine which averages about 20MB per shot. High Volume!! Last year I went through about 30GB of card space. There will be about 30,000+ runners this year, so no loss of opportunity here.

Definitely needs something relatively fast. Last year I got killed 3 times while the card was clearing out the buffer ad I missed a few great pics. Anyone use the Lexar Pro 300x UDMA cards and the Extreme series? How does it fare?

Zanotti · April 8, 2010

Seems like the perfect time to simply shoot JPEG and enjoy the increased speed and storage space.

mercphoto · April 8, 2010

net1994 wrote:

Using 12-BIT NEF+JPEG Fine

Is that a bit overkill? I can understand the RAW+JPG desire but I would think the JPG's would simply be previews for the web. If so, dial down the JPG to a smaller resolution at a lower quality. But if the large-fine JPG is your primary file then ditch the RAW. One way or the other I'm struggling to find a reason to shoot RAW+large-fine-JPG.

net1994 · April 8, 2010

mercphoto wrote:

Is that a bit overkill? I can understand the RAW+JPG desire but I would think the JPG's would simply be previews for the web. If so, dial down the JPG to a smaller resolution at a lower quality. But if the large-fine JPG is your primary file then ditch the RAW. One way or the other I'm struggling to find a reason to shoot RAW+large-fine-JPG.

Ok, well to really simplify my needs...

I just need a card that is fast enough to keep up when sometimes bursting 8FPS for probably the two dozen times I will do so. I always shoot NEF+JPEG. I will not change this. I need the quality and speed and this does it for me. I know it may seem like overkill (and prob is), but I don't mind spending for the extra space to shoot both formats.

I need 2x 8GB or a single 16GB card that has Sandisk Extreme IV type speeds for about $120-140. Possible?

(And its seems almost impossible to find Extreme IV cards for reasonable prices. The new Sandisk Extreme 60MB cards have been proven to be slower than the Extreme IV series when using a D300.)

Dan7312 · April 9, 2010

The speed of the cf card may not be your limit. I'm not familiar with Nikons but I think they have a built in buffer where the images go first, just like Canon's do. From there they are written out to the CF card.

Check your cameras' spec's and you will probably find a limit as to how may 8fs images you can take continously using raw, and another, larger, number for how many you can take at continously using jpg, regardless of the cf you use.

For example on my 7D I can do 8fps continous for 94-126 shot for large/fine jpgs.
15 continous for raw
and 6 for raw+jpg.

After that things slow down, how much depends on you CF card, but it won't be at the near the max frame rate. I have Lexar UDMA 300x cards and once that limit is reached the frame rate drops to 1-2 fps when I am using raw.

One of the reasons for shooting jpg only is that the continous 8fps image count is much larger.

net1994 wrote:

Ok, well to really simplify my needs...

I just need a card that is fast enough to keep up when sometimes bursting 8FPS for probably the two dozen times I will do so.

mercphoto · April 9, 2010

Dan brings up a great point: shooting RAW + large-fine-JPG may simply make it impossible to get the long bursts you are wanting to get. At some point your camera will slow down, no matter how fast the memory card is, and that point will likely come pretty quickly. I'll reiterate what you already know: you're wasting card space (and memory card bandwidth) shooting like you do. Pick one file format and stick with only that. You will solve your problem without spending any extra cash. But its likely that no matter how fast a card you buy you still won't get the long burst shots you need.

Art Scott · April 9, 2010

i believe it was on this forum that a similar thread was going sometime ago and Ziggy, I believe, explained that the larger capacity cards actually get slower at being written to than the smaller 2 & 4 gb cards................so to get the constant write speed you want or need you may need to go with smaller capacity cards....................

puzzledpaul · April 9, 2010

From the 'pic taking' pov, is there much point in having / using cards that have much greater data transfer rates than than that of the camera?

Isn't it the case that 'the system' will only be as fast as the weakest link in the chain?

D/loading via a reader is a another issue, of course.

pp

net1994 · April 11, 2010

While I appreciate all the input and time people have put forth to reply, my original question remains unanswered. Most people were/are trying to dissuade me from getting X, because of Y or Z. I need to shoot in RAW+JPEG, though many others do not need to do so.

Though I still need a big card this week. Willing to spend $140 tops for a 16GB card. Main consideration is in camera write speed. All I am worrying about is how fast the the card can absorb a full buffer from my D300. I will NOT buy the 'new' SanDisk Extreme 60MB CF card as its been proven slower writes compared wit the 'old' Extreme IV cards. Suggestions?

Thanks!

W.W. Webster · April 11, 2010

net1994 wrote:

I need to get a 16GB CF card for my D300... So what should I do?

I suggest you ignore the anecdotes, rumour and idle speculation, and take out all the guesswork by going straight to the bible!

There you can ascertain comparative CF card performance on your camera body, and then make a decision based on fact!

ziggy53 · April 11, 2010

If you absolutely must have the Extreme IV, 16 Gig, 45 MB/S:

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-IV-CompactFlash-SDCFX4016G901/dp/B001EJ52KY

ziggy53 · April 11, 2010

Also look at the SanDisk 16GB Extreme Pro CF. The Nikon D3 and D3X shooters are saying this is a fast card for their cameras and it is likely good for the D300 as well. It is more money but would probably sustain a better shooting speed as the card fills.

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-16GB-Extreme-memory-card/dp/B002PLQ8WG

Need good CF card for Marathon shooting

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