CF card question

I received a Dane Elec 16gb CF card free along with the 7D package I just bought. Any one have any idea what the read/write speeds are for this card? It's not labeled as high speed or anything else. I tried looking on Dane Elec's website but no info. there that I could find. I assume it's nothing great. I would think it would probably be o.k. for single shot images but I doubt if it would keep up with 6-8fps shooting.
Just curious.
Thanks.

Quack Me Up wrote in post #13620978
I received a Dane Elec 16gb CF card free along with the 7D package I just bought. Any one have any idea what the read/write speeds are for this card? It's not labeled as high speed or anything else. I tried looking on Dane Elec's website but no info. there that I could find. I assume it's nothing great. I would think it would probably be o.k. for single shot images but I doubt if it would keep up with 6-8fps shooting.
Just curious.
Thanks.

I can't find anything on the speed of the card. However, the card will only affect how quickly (or slowly) the buffer will write to the card, the card will not affect your fps (on the initial burst anyway). Your shots go to the buffer first and then to the card. As long as conditions allow you can hit 8fps no matter what card you have, it just may take forever to write to the card and you will have to wait for the buffer to clear after the initial burst to continue shooting at high speed. Also, a slow card will affect your ability to shoot video.

yourdoinitwrong wrote in post #13621332
I can't find anything on the speed of the card. However, the card will only affect how quickly (or slowly) the buffer will write to the card, the card will not affect your fps (on the initial burst anyway). Your shots go to the buffer first and then to the card. As long as conditions allow you can hit 8fps no matter what card you have, it just may take forever to write to the card and you will have to wait for the buffer to clear after the initial burst to continue shooting at high speed.

Yup. Go to manual mode, set shutter speed to 1/1000s, ISO100, aperture wide open - raw file only. Make sure there's plenty of light - bright overcast or better - high speed burst mode then press the shutter button and keep it pressed until the burst rate slows (you should easily hear it) then release the shutter immediately. Time how long it takes from the initial shutter press until the red 'busy' light goes out.

A good card will be around 10-12 seconds. A decent card around 15 seconds. I'll guess your Dane-Elec card will be around 20s. I own a no-name card that takes over three minutes. If your card is anywhere near that slow then I'd buy another.

yourdoinitwrong wrote in post #13621332
Also, a slow card will affect your ability to shoot video.

It would have to be very slow (over 30 seconds for the above test). The manual reckons 8 MB/s or better.