Extreme III 4gb

[MDJAK]

I've been waiting for B&H to finally get in the Sandisk Extreme III 4gb CF card. Well, I had registered to be notified when it came in stock. I was notified and immediately placed the order. It was somewhat over $400. Can't wait to put it in my camera and see how many raw it will hold.

[Todd Jacobsen]

Ahh.. probably twice as many as a 2GB card and 4x as many as a 1GB card...

Probably don't need a camera for that.

[vinnyveez]

Ahh.. probably twice as many as a 2GB card and 4x as many as a 1GB card...

Probably don't need a camera for that.
i think you are wrong, from what ive read it will hold 8x what a 512 card will hold!!

[Canuck]

If I recall correctly it is about 670 RAW pics w/ a 10D as I have a 4GB MD, and 4GB is 4 GB. :)

[eosster]

i think you are wrong, from what ive read it will hold 8x what a 512 card will hold!!

Isn't it same thing as 4 times of 1GB card hold? Am I missing a point here ??? :o

[sid]

Isn't it same thing as 4 times of 1GB card hold? Am I missing a point here ??? :o
I think you are :lol:

[PacAce]

Can't wait to put it in my camera and see how many raw it will hold.
Don't be alarmed when you see that the answer varies from day to day, night to night, ISO to ISO, full moon to half moon, mood to mood, etc.... :mrgreen: :lol: ;)

[drisley]

I get about 110 raws on a 1GB at ISO100 with my 20D, so a 4GB would give you about 400-450 raws depending on the ISO.

[the7ferret]

ahh, isn't 110 shots nice, remember the days of 36 shots before you had to reload...

[PacAce]

ahh, isn't 110 shots nice, remember the days of 36 shots before you had to reload...
Not if you had the bulk film back which could hold enough film for around 250 frames! :shock: 110 is nothing compared to that! :mrgreen:

[Avalonthas]

Im happy with 210-260 shots per 1gig card, with my four 1 gig CF cards (Lexar 80X Pro) which can hold almost 100 shots. I usually only take 300 shots in a single shoot so thats plenty enough for me. Plus over 400 bucks...not a chance

[RJSorensen]

I have been looking at this card as well . . . shooting raw on your rig should be about 300 shots on that card . . . lol. But they will be nice ones.

[MDJAK]

Well, I've been so busy at work (and photography is not my profession, unfortunately) that I haven't had a chance to even put the card in the camera. Today, a nice sunny day in the northeast, my wife is off to work (yeah, on a saturday. If I want nice toys, got to send her to work, ya know.)

So, figured I'd do some shooting today, nah, at least not for now. She's sending me shopping. There's always tomorrow. In fact, tomorrow I'll be making my now twice to thrice monthly pilgrimage to B&H. I've got an 11 night trip planned to Hawaii in August and I just got to find the right bag. Maybe a crumpler this time.

[MDJAK]

Well, went to Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, N.Y. yesterday for some shots high above the mud strewn Hudson River as a result of the recent heavy rains. Light was rather flat. There was, however, a Fire Department rescue team practicing repelling up a steep cliff. Got some shots of that I'll post later.


Now on topic. Was about to format the 4gb card (didn't use it yesterday) in my computer as someone above suggested. I am running Windows Professional. My file system is FAT32. My computer would only recognize 2gb of the card.

Anyone know why? I sure hope it recognizes the entire card when it's full.

I'm going to the Central Park Zoo today in Manhattan (after a trip to B&H for a Crumpler, I think) and I'm going to shoot on the new card. We'll see.

[PacAce]

Well, went to Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, N.Y. yesterday for some shots high above the mud strewn Hudson River as a result of the recent heavy rains. Light was rather flat. There was, however, a Fire Department rescue team practicing repelling up a steep cliff. Got some shots of that I'll post later.


Now on topic. Was about to format the 4gb card (didn't use it yesterday) in my computer as someone above suggested. I am running Windows Professional. My file system is FAT32. My computer would only recognize 2gb of the card.

Anyone know why? I sure hope it recognizes the entire card when it's full.

I'm going to the Central Park Zoo today in Manhattan (after a trip to B&H for a Crumpler, I think) and I'm going to shoot on the new card. We'll see.
Did you check to see if the card was formatted in FAT32? Maybe the card came preformatted in FAT16 but I'm just guessing. If you format that in FAT32, you should be able to access the full 4GB of the card.

[MDJAK]

I just formatted the card in the computer, fat32, only recognized 1.89 gb.


Formatted in in the 1dsmkII, only recognized 1.89 gb.

HELP.

[HKFEVER]

Not sure why, but did you upgard the firmware to 1.11 yet?

[CRE@TE]

Maybe they labeled a 2 gig card and sold it to you as a 4 gig. :mad:

[Salleke]

I just formatted the card in the computer, fat32, only recognized 1.89 gb.


Formatted in in the 1dsmkII, only recognized 1.89 gb.

HELP.

Maybe there is a hidden partition on your card. Install Partition Magic on your pc and check it out. You can then delete a hidden partition and then format your card again.

[PacAce]

I just formatted the card in the computer, fat32, only recognized 1.89 gb.


Formatted in in the 1dsmkII, only recognized 1.89 gb.

HELP.
I assume you did a full format instead of a quick format?

[MDJAK]

I did a full format at fat32 on the computer, and then reformatted it in the camera multiple times. There's only one format choice in the camera as far as I know.


See my post in the camera section to see what happened with it at B&H today.

[PacAce]

I did a full format at fat32 on the computer, and then reformatted it in the camera multiple times. There's only one format choice in the camera as far as I know.


See my post in the camera section to see what happened with it at B&H today.
Maybe this will address your problem. From what I started to read, it looks like your card may have a switch that will make it a 2GB card or a 4GB card. Check it out:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1076530779.html

[MDJAK]

Pac, That's exactly what the salesman said in B&H, but that was after I already returned it. Oh, well.

[RJSorensen]

Will a 20D handle this card? I have one in my basket as we speak . . .

[MDJAK]

I think it will. Just be aware of the switch on the side that makes it 4gb.

Personally, I'm happy it happened. I really wanted the 2gb extreme III but they still don't have it yet. It's that "don't put all your eggs in one basket" theory, I guess.

[TammieO]

I'm waiting for the 2gb extreme III too. I hope they get them before it gets hot here.

[Salleke]

I think it will. Just be aware of the switch on the side that makes it 4gb.

Personally, I'm happy it happened. I really wanted the 2gb extreme III but they still don't have it yet. It's that "don't put all your eggs in one basket" theory, I guess.

Last week i recieved my 2 Gb EXTREME III CF card from sandisk and i must say i'm very disappointed. I tested it with a Standard Sandisk card 1 Gb and they are equally fast and can hold the samen picture counts shot at 5 fr/s until the buffer runs out. I my opinion there is no advantage in buying the more expensive EXTREME III cards. For the same money you can almost buy 2 standard cards and loose nothing in speed.

[PacAce]

Last week i recieved my 2 Gb EXTREME III CF card from sandisk and i must say i'm very disappointed. I tested it with a Standard Sandisk card 1 Gb and they are equally fast and can hold the samen picture counts shot at 5 fr/s until the buffer runs out. I my opinion there is no advantage in buying the more expensive EXTREME III cards. For the same money you can almost buy 2 standard cards and loose nothing in speed.
Have you tried testing it after the buffer runs out. That's when the actual speed of the card can really be tested. Before that, the shots are being buffered to internal memory. Better yet, what you should do is shot a sequence of about 20 shots and time each one from when the red light turns on and turns off. I'm sure you'll see a big difference between the standard and the extreme.

[Salleke]

Have you tried testing it after the buffer runs out. That's when the actual speed of the card can really be tested. Before that, the shots are being buffered to internal memory. Better yet, what you should do is shot a sequence of about 20 shots and time each one from when the red light turns on and turns off. I'm sure you'll see a big difference between the standard and the extreme.

I tried the test you are refering to and there was no difference in writing speed with a 20 D. The two cards write the buffercontent to the cards with the same speed.
In one other message here i read that there is no writeacceleration in the 20 D.
And with my experience it is correct. There is no speed gain in using a EXTREME III CF card in a 20D camera. Or is there something i have to do before it can be done?

Thanks anyway for your replay.

[PacAce]

I tried the test you are refering to and there was no difference in writing speed with a 20 D. The two cards write the buffercontent to the cards with the same speed.
In one other message here i read that there is no writeacceleration in the 20 D.
And with my experience it is correct. There is no speed gain in using a EXTREME III CF card in a 20D camera. Or is there something i have to do before it can be done?

Thanks anyway for your replay.
That's interesting because at the Rob Garlbraith site, the Extreme III card is rated at over 4 Mb/s in the 20D and the standard card is only rated at just over 1 Mb/s. But I have no reason to doubt your results. What version of the 20D firmware do you have. I'm not positive since I don't have the 20D but I think I read someplace that the latest firmware improves the write speed of the 20D. if you're not at the latest version, that may explain the difference in results between your test and Rob's.

BTW, by write acceleration, are your referring to WA, which is a Lexar-only thing?

[Salleke]

That's interesting because at the Rob Garlbraith site, the Extreme III card is rated at over 4 Mb/s in the 20D and the standard card is only rated at just over 1 Mb/s. But I have no reason to doubt your results. What version of the 20D firmware do you have. I'm not positive since I don't have the 20D but I think I read someplace that the latest firmware improves the write speed of the 20D. if you're not at the latest version, that may explain the difference in results between your test and Rob's.

BTW, by write acceleration, are your referring to WA, which is a Lexar-only thing?

It was the info on the Rob Garlbraith site who did decide me to buy the EXTREME III CF card. But after the tests in real life with a Standard CF card in a 20 D there was no speed gain whatsoever. Maybe someone else can do the same test and share the results with us.
The firmware version on my 20 D camera is: 1.1.0. Is this the latest one?
Thanks for your answers.

[PacAce]

It was the info on the Rob Garlbraith site who did decide me to buy the EXTREME III CF card. But after the tests in real life with a Standard CF card in a 20 D there was no speed gain whatsoever. Maybe someone else can do the same test and share the results with us.
The firmware version on my 20 D camera is: 1.1.0. Is this the latest one?
Thanks for your answers.
Yup, 1.1.0 is the latest for 20D.

[MarkH]

Maybe this will address your problem. From what I started to read, it looks like your card may have a switch that will make it a 2GB card or a 4GB card. Check it out:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1076530779.html

Hmmm, "most cameras made in the last several years are restricted to using cards of 2GB or smaller." Oops, that article is from Feb 2004. I think things have changed a little over the last year.

I'd love to know what percentage of Extreme III 4GB CF card buyers will use them in a camera that does not support FAT32.

[MDJAK]

Mark, I agree. While I'm a fan of backward compatibility, in this case it was wholly unnecessary. In addition, they should have had a package insert in bold print warning of it. B&H told me they had taken back three already this week, and at the time they took mine back, on Sunday, they still didn't know about the switch.

Then, yesterday I see they finally got the 2gb Extreme III in stock. I put it in my basket, didn't pull the trigger. Lo and behold, it is out of stock today.

[coreypolis]

i recently got the 4gb III card for a 1dmkII, and it holds 366 RAW photos (no jpeg with it) or 724 L Jpegs. Its worked great so far, had to turn the switch on it and format it on FAT 32 on the comp. This along with a 1gb SD Ultra II card gives me 5gb in camera memory, and an epson p-2000 on the way. Hopefully the Epson can read the card

[MDJAK]

I'm curious as to why the card has to be formatted in the computer. Couldn't the camera format the entire card? I have the Epson but didn't try the 4gb card on it, though I'm sure it will work. Be aware, though, that it will probably take over 20 minutes to download the card if full, and even longer if you're creating an album thereafter. I love my Epson, though.

[Jon]

I suspect the camera tries to format cards as FAT16, which has a limit of 2 GB volumes. The computer will recognize FAT32, but I think it sticks with FAT16 formatting so you don't find yourself having formatted a card that you will be unable to read in an older camera.