Is this a good deal?

[SezzySue]

I have been looking at getting a larger CF card and I don't know much about them. Is this a good one to work in the 20D? It is huge but it seems suspicious that the price is SO SO low. Please help me? Thanks

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BO0SGG/ref=ase_iphotoforumco-20/104-5842742-4164722?s=electronics&v=glance&n=172282&tagActionCode=iphotoforumco-20

[futura]

I have been looking at getting a larger CF card and I don't know much about them. Is this a good one to work in the 20D? It is huge but it seems suspicious that the price is SO SO low. Please help me? Thanks

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BO0SGG/ref=ase_iphotoforumco-20/104-5842742-4164722?s=electronics&v=glance&n=172282&tagActionCode=iphotoforumco-20

I personally would steer clear of these microdrive variants. I've heard stories of these drives being prone to error as essentially they have moving parts inside. I would recommend sticking to the solid state CF cards from the likes of Sandisk

[gasrocks]

I agree, stay away from Microdrives (though some do report no problems.) The price just dropped on Sandisk Ultra II cards, get some.

[SuzyView]

Personally, there are reasons why I stick to 1gb cards.

1. With RAW & JPEG, I can still take around 100-150 shots.
2. If the card is corrupted, only 100-150 get lost.
3. Downloading 1gb is bad enough, I can't imagine trying to write so much data all at once onto my hard drive. It would take hours.
4. I heard the larger the CF card, the slower the writing, thus slower captures.
5. If you don't wipe the card, keeping all the data on it every time you add on more data, it is harder to distinguish between events on the card.
6. I know I would have a tendency to take too many pictures, not really concentrating on setting the camera and best light, etc. for the job. A lot of wasted shots. Then I have to go through all 8 gb of shots to get the 100 I want.

Did I cover it all?

[musthavemuzk]

yes a larger card takes longer to transfer to your computer, but not forever.
are you using the camera with the usb cable or a card reader?
is the usb port on the computer USB2.0 hi-speed or just USB1.1?
there is a HUGE difference in transfer speeds.

Monty

[Mike K]

I also have an 8mp camera and find 2-4 gb a convenient size card shooting RAW. 1 gb is way too small as I would be changing CFs way too often. I use a 4 gb microdirve and have never needed to change it in the field. That helps to reduce chances of damage from dropping cards or mixing them up, etc. Shooting a wedding I did fill up 4 gb with over 900 JPEG.
However, given the recent big cost reduction in CF cost (Sandisk) I find several 2 or 4 gb cards rather attractive.
Mike K

[SezzySue]

Actually when I shoot RAW I put the card right into my computer and it is basically an external drive, I am not sure aboutt he speeds it is. I will look at the San Disk next. Thanks for the help

[SuzyView]

I have an old laptop with USB 1.0 and a card reader. It takes forever to make a CD, believe me. My desktop is "younger" and I can transfer files a little faster, but not much. It is kind of ridiculous that we call a 1gb CF card small. It was just a few years ago when we thought a CD with 800 mb was a big deal, now it's small. How we are so carefree about such things. :)

[liza]

I remember when I got my first computer, the hard drive was less than 500 MB. My sister told me that was so big I'd never fill it up. Times certainly change.

[chtgrubbs]

Flash memory prices are falling all the time. You can now buy top quality 1 Gig CF cards now for about $60 and 2 Gig cards for about $80. Microdrive cards are more prone to failure due to moving mechanical parts, Although my 1 GB microdrive is still chugging along after 4 years, I now use it as a backup in case my other CF cards get full. I would think that two 2GB cards would be plenty of storage for a days shooting with a 20D.

[rklepper]

I remember when I got my first computer, the hard drive was less than 500 MB. My sister told me that was so big I'd never fill it up. Times certainly change.

I remember my first one also. did not have a hard drive. Then I saved and saved and bought a 20 MB (yes you read that right) one for around $300.00. I was so proud as I was the only one I knew with a hard drive in their desktop computer.

[rklepper]

On the topic, I use 4 GB cards and it takes around 5-10 minutes to download it when it is full (not hours).

I had purchased one of these Seagate cards and even though my camera is listed as being supported it did not work. Seagate told me I had to send it to them for a firmware upgrade to make it work. I returned it.

[SezzySue]

My computer has 160 GB hard drive, but keeps telling me my virtual memory is low???

I was looking at the 2GB and 4GB careds and I think I will go with the KIngston 4GB for $145.