Canon 50D - CF card?

[bkstyl]

Just upgraded from the 30D to the 50D and I'm looking to get a new CF card too. Any recommendations?

I currently have 2 - 2GB cards (a SD Extreme 3 and Transcend X133).

Circuit City has a Lexar 8GB CF UDMA X300 for $69.99.
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=229204&om_keycode=439969

Is this a decent card?

Thanks for your help.

[Mike McCusker]

Yes

[bkstyl]

Yes

Mike - Thanks

Any other recommendations or is this the best card for the price?

[twiggles]

50D doesnt use UDMA does it?!?!? If not, isnt it just as good to get a SanDIsk extreme III for less $$$?

[bkstyl]

50D doesnt use UDMA does it?!?!? If not, isnt it just as good to get a SanDIsk extreme III for less $$$?

Yep, it supports UDMA.

Would it be wise to get SD Extreme 3 instead?

[twiggles]

Yep, it supports UDMA.

Would it be wise to get SD Extreme 3 instead?

I have a 40D (which doesnt do UDMA) so I cant comment on if it is worth the premium over an ExtremeIII. For my 40D, Extreme III 30mb/s is PLENTY fast for me.

[snails]

For my 40D, Extreme III 30mb/s is PLENTY fast for me.

Even the Extreme III 30mb/s is UDMA.


Question
What are the read/write speeds of an Extreme IV and Extreme III CompactFlash card, and are they UDMA enabled? http://kb.sandisk.com/rnt/rnw/img/trnsp.gif http://kb.sandisk.com/rnt/rnw/img/trnsp.gif http://kb.sandisk.com/rnt/rnw/img/trnsp.gif http://kb.sandisk.com/rnt/rnw/img/trnsp.gif http://kb.sandisk.com/rnt/rnw/img/trnsp.gif

Answer
There are several factors that affect read and write speeds of devices using CompactFlash cards. The most important factor is the communication method between the host device and the memory card. There are two communication protocols that CompactFlash cards use to operate. The most common at this time is PIO (Programmed Input/Output) mode, but newer devices will begin to use UDMA (Ultra Direct Memory Access) mode.

The Extreme IV 45MB/s, the previous Extreme IV 40MB/s card and the new Extreme III 30MB/s cards are UDMA enabled. If a camera supports UDMA mode it will be able to utilize these card's maximum rated speed.

However, some cameras can only communicate in PIO mode. Therefore, the Extreme IV and the Extreme III will switch to PIO mode 6 (or lower) resulting in slower read and write speeds.

Please refer to your camera manufacturer or camera manual to determine if it supports UDMA mode.

Below is a list of differences in speed between PIO and UDMA (these are maximum theoretical speeds):

PIO
Mode 6 - 25MB/s
Mode 4 - 16.7MB/s
Mode 3 – 11.1MB/s
Mode 2 – 8.3MB/s
Mode 1 – 5.2MB/s

UDMA
Mode 5 - 100MB/s
Mode 4 - 66.7 MB/s
Mode 3 – 44.4MB/s
Mode 2 – 33.3MB/s
Mode 1 - 25MB/s

[bkstyl]

Thanks for the info.