CF Card Question

Big Red · April 4, 2011

I have been shooting sports (mainly baseball)with a Canon 7D, 70-200 2.8 and using a Kingston Elite Pro 4gb 133x card. I don't run out of space on the card during a game but am I severely limiting the fps I can get with the 7D? Which card(s) should I be using for the fastest fps?

Thanks

ThatCanonGuy · April 4, 2011

If you're getting he full 8fps, then it's not an issue. I use this card in my 1DII at 8fps and have no issues. Do you ever have to wait for the buffer to clear before taking more photos? If not, then this card is fine.

If you're not getting the full 8fps, it may be due to the fact that the AF has not locked onto the subject yet. In the custom functions you can choose which gets priority--AF or 8fps. At least on the 1DII.

VitaminV · April 4, 2011

Wouldn't a lot depend on what size file you're shooting?

Icebear · April 4, 2011

Faster Cards
If you're shooting raw, you do need a fast card. I really like the 400x Transcend cards. They don't slow down my D700 or D300 shooting raw. JPEGs are smaller, so I'd be surprised if your 166x cards were limiting you, but I don't know from Canon. BUT . . . if you don't fill up a 4Gig card, you're either shooting JPEG or you're not shooting enough frames

.

ThatCanonGuy · April 4, 2011

I shoot raw all the time, and my Kingston 133x always allows for 8fps. Even in raw+jpeg.

JimKarczewski · April 4, 2011

There is going to be some point, typically, after x number of frames that your card and camera buffer will have to slow down.. but usually that's quite a few frames in.. Unless you are shooting Full RAW + Full JPG.

DeVerm · April 4, 2011

I tested this on my 7D. A Kingston 133x 32GByte CF card vs a Sandisk 60 MB/s 8GByte CF card:

For raw capture, you can only burst until the camera's buffer is full (14 captures if I remember correctly), so it's the same for the Kingston 133x and the Sandisk 60 MB/s. The difference is the time it takes for allowing you the next burst. For sports and other action, you will always want the fastest card.

I also tested JPG. The Kingston 133x allowed me 77 captures at full speed while the Sandisk allows you to fill the card regardless of it's size.

Conclusion: I didn't find a CF card that can keep up with the 7D burst rate for full resolution RAW files... but did this test a year ago and I'm not up to date with today's CF speed.

ciao!
Nick.

Big Red · April 5, 2011

Thanks
Thank you everyone. I am shooting jpgs and have not had buffering issues. For some reason I was not sure I was getting the full 8 shots per second and thought it should be faster. It sounds like my card is writing sufficiently.

DeVerm · April 5, 2011

Big Red wrote: »

Thank you everyone. I am shooting jpgs and have not had buffering issues. For some reason I was not sure I was getting the full 8 shots per second and thought it should be faster. It sounds like my card is writing sufficiently.

Okay, this means you get 77 shots which translates to about 10 seconds before the camera stops you. Try this and time how long it takes the camera to flush the buffer to the CF card. If that wait is okay for you, I can recommend the 32 GByte version of the Kingston 133x CF card... it can hold 999 RAW captures! There's very good deals on these now and then.

ciao!
Nick.

Dreadnote · April 5, 2011

Things that might slow down your frame rate include: Image stabilization, focus priority shutter release, lenses slower than f/5.6 (as that can impede autofocus), TTL flash, and low batteries. There are probably more, but those are the ones that come to mind at the moment. You will want to check your settings to see if any if these things are affecting your FPS.

CF Card Question

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