Does CF card read/write speed really matter?

[surfwidow]

I'm ordering a couple of new 4GB CF cards and I needed to know if anyone knows if the read/write speed of the CF card really makes a difference.

I contacted Canon tech support and the guy said the read/write speed on the 30D is a non-published specification and that they also did not have access to the information. All he said was that he could tell me that the speed of the card had no bearing on how fast the camera would write to it; whether the card was rated as a 33x or 133x, the camera would write to it at the same speed no matter what.

Has anyone found this to be true? Should I just get 3 Sandisk Ultra II CF cards instead of 2 Sandisk Extreme IV CF cards?

[bacchanal]

I think the only difference will be in transfer speed from the card to the pc.

[surfwidow]

I think the only difference will be in transfer speed from the card to the pc.

Hmmm... since card-to-pc transfer time doesn't really matter to me, I guess I'm ok with purchasing the 3 Ultra II cards instead of the 2 Extreme IV cards.

[cosworth]

I don't buy faster than ultra II. When a camera that can write that fast comes out then I'll buy faster.

[vondo]

Has anyone found this to be true? Should I just get 3 Sandisk Ultra II CF cards instead of 2 Sandisk Extreme IV CF cards?

Quite wrong. Go here and see the difference.

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

Now how much difference is worth paying for is up to you and you have to consider future bodies too, perhaps. But my original Kingston card that was fine on my 300D is a dog on my 20D. I opted for the cheap, fast, and apparently pretty good Transcend 120x cards.

[minhi]

from the testing that robG has done, the ultra 2, extreme 3, extreme 4 all seem to top out in the existing cameras, so not much benefit right now, so i don't buy above ultra2 either

[CoolToolGuy]

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

Yes, card speed does matter. I don't know who you talked to at Canon, but methinks you didn't get the best information.

After looking at Rob Galbraith's chart for the 30D you will have to decide whether the difference between an Extreme IV and an Ultra II is worth it to you - but certainly you would see a difference if you got a plain-jane Sandisk card.

One difference you might notice is the number of frames in a burst before the camera slows down, as well as the sustained speed once the buffer is full. As opposed to older Canon DSLRs, the buffer does not have to be emptied out completely before you continue to use burst mode.

Hope this helps.

Have Fun,

[surfwidow]

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

Yes, card speed does matter. I don't know who you talked to at Canon, but methinks you didn't get the best information.

After looking at Rob Galbraith's chart for the 30D you will have to decide whether the difference between an Extreme IV and an Ultra II is worth it to you - but certainly you would see a difference if you got a plain-jane Sandisk card.

One difference you might notice is the number of frames in a burst before the camera slows down, as well as the sustained speed once the buffer is full. As opposed to older Canon DSLRs, the buffer does not have to be emptied out completely before you continue to use burst mode.

Hope this helps.



I looked at the chart, but I really didn't see too much of a difference. When I plugged in the numbers, there is less than two seconds difference unloading a full buffer of RAW shots; 14.0 seconds on the Extreme IV and 15.3 seconds on the Ultra II. Since I'm not shooting sports or any other high speed subject, I'm not sure the 1.3 second difference is all that critical when shooting continuously. My human subjects are usually rather stationary; either sitting, posing or standing at a podium.

[Reaperman]

Have to agree. Buying anything above Ultra II is... well basically a waste. And is anyone really in such a rush to get them up on screen any faster than that?

The Manufacturer point is more important.


:D Reaperman

[CoolToolGuy]

I looked at the chart, but I really didn't see too much of a difference. When I plugged in the numbers, there is less than two seconds difference unloading a full buffer of RAW shots; 14.0 seconds on the Extreme IV and 15.3 seconds on the Ultra II. Since I'm not shooting sports or any other high speed subject, I'm not sure the 1.3 second difference is all that critical when shooting continuously. My human subjects are usually rather stationary; either sitting, posing or standing at a podium.

Your original question, and some of the answers, begged showing you Rob Galbraith's results. As I said, you have to decide, and it sounds like the fastest card doesn't do much for you - so Ultra sounds good.

Sometimes Sandisk (and others) run specials on the fast cards that make them almost the same price as the lesser models. Think about where you will be camera-wise in the next couple years, and whether the cards you buy today will be slowpokes then - maybe stagger your purchases so you have at least one of the fast cards. Just a thought.

Have Fun,

[CoolToolGuy]

And is anyone really in such a rush to get them up on screen any faster than that?

:D Reaperman

For me, it isn't the speed to the LCD, but rather the time to clear the buffer to keep shooting. When I go from my 20D to my Digital Rebel it seems like an eternity because not only is the buffer in the Drebel smaller, but you have to wait for all of the images in the buffer to write before you can continue. With the 20D and the 1D2N you can shoot more or less as space becomes available, so the faster the card, the closer to continuous it becomes. But that's me and what I shoot - YMMV.

Have Fun,

[miglo]

For me, it pretty much comes down to : How important is burst mode to you? Especially if you shoot raw. Copying to the PC is moot IMHO and should not be a factor in choosing a CF card.

If burst mode / rapid shooting is NOT important at all, I would have chosen the cheap 4gb microdrives ( 2x4gb for $19!! 3wks ago).

[Needsnow]

I have both the Ultra 2 and Extreme 3 cards. There is a noticeable difference in how fast my camera can process the RAW pictures, when I am shooting continuously. If you don't shoot like that often, then the Ultra 2's will probably work just fine.