Confirm CF card speed is not a factor for G5

[valeriec]

I'm a newbie, just got my G5 yesterday and it came with it's standard little 32MB CF card. Obviously I need to get a much bigger card(s).

I've read as many posts as I can, along with my photography textbook "How to do everything with Digital Photography" and what I'm gathering is that card speed is not an issue for this model--that I should just go for size and (brand) quality.

Just gotta say, this site is an awesome resource for a newcomer like myself.

[crazylilgimp]

You're right. Card speed doesnt matter. The G5 has a built in buffer. It will do all the speed work for you. Go for the most storage for the best price.

[nitewulf]

i use a 340 MB microdrive and have taken lots of burst shots, no problems.

[FlyingPete]

I have spoken to Canon on this, they say the G3/G5 cannot take advantage of anything over 12x. THe speed does affect how quickly the camera ca clear the buffer onto the card. I think most cards are at least 12x now anyway.

One thing that a fast card can be an advantage is for downloading if you have a fast card reader.

[danielo]

I have G5 camera and Sandisk Ultra II card. And I can say that I saw significant improvemet when I shot at high speed burst in highest resolution and fine jpeg quality (not super fine). With this settings I can shot aprox. 40 pictures in one burst, when the card was clear and formated.

[ScottK]

FWIW, I've got several standard SanDisks, a 12x Lexar and a PNY (emergency purchase :oops:). I bought the Lexar because it was on sale at a great price, but was curious if it performed any better than the SanDisks. I spent a couple of hours one night doing burst tests between the two, and found no appreciable difference. As mentioned above, the equalizing factor is the in camera buffer. So I took enough pictures in burst mode to fill the buffer and measured the time from when I first pressed the button until all the buffered shots were written to disk (based on when the write light stopped flashing). I also did several tests each on each card and averaged them. There wasn't much point in that, because the results were all pretty consistent. The end result was there was no appreciable difference between the two - maybe a second or two, as I recall.

I did find the 12x to be a bit faster either reading from or writing to the computer using a card reader, so that may be another consideration, and make a faster card worth it in the long run. It generally takes my computer 4-5 minutes to download a full 256mb card. So if its worth it to you, that's another consideration as far as the faster cards.