5dm3 CF Cards --- Lexar Professional 1000x

Looking at this site (http://robgalbraith.co​m …ort_col=raw&sor​t_dir=DESC), it seems like the Lexar Professional 1000x CF cards are the fastest.

I was thinking either the 32gb or 64gb. 128gb is just way too expensive.

Are these cards overkill? Also, I've only used Sandisk so not familiar with Lexar. Quality brand?

It's up to you to answer that. Do you need 80MB/s? Sports, concerts, performances, where you might use 6fps, will benefit. Things you can shoot at a more leisurely pace are not going to need it.

Lexar is solid.

The read/write speed of the cards has to do with what you shoot. For most of our landscape shooting...no need for fast write as the bodies are on single shot mode. But when we shoot wildlife, much of the time the bodies are on high speed. When in that mode, the last thing you want is to have to pause to let the card write from the bodies buffer. So a faster write speed will help capture fast action sequences.

A fast read card will give you faster download speeds. While that may not matter to someone who has a couple of dozen shots on a card, it matters to me when I have a 32GB card from me and one from the wife to download after a day shooting wildlife. So for our 7Ds we use Lexar 600x cards. In our 5DIIs we use 400x cards. For any body that can do UDMA 7, getting the UDMA 7 cards makes sense......if you want/need max read and write speeds.

MCAsan wrote in post #14331758
The read/write speed of the cards has to do with what you shoot. For most of our landscape shooting...no need for fast write as the bodies are on single shot mode. But when we shoot wildlife, much of the time the bodies are on high speed. When in that mode, the last thing you want is to have to pause to let the card write from the bodies buffer. So a faster write speed will help capture fast action sequences.

A fast read card will give you faster download speeds. While that may not matter to someone who has a couple of dozen shots on a card, it matters to me when I have a 32GB card from me and one from the wife to download after a day shooting wildlife. So for our 7Ds we use Lexar 600x cards. In our 5DIIs we use 400x cards.

As a retirement present, the wife told me to order a 5DIII. Naturally it is not here yet. To go with it, I ordered a 2 card package of Lexar 32GB 1000x UDMA 7 cards. I have already updated our Lexar card readers to UDMA 7. My cards are supposed to be here today. When they arrive I might do a comparison test between the 400x, 600x, and 1000x cards using the CrystalDiskMark tool. If so, I will publish the results.

Thanks for the thoughts. I am not shooting wildlife but I plan to shoot video eventually at the highest quality settings. I imagine that I need to have the fastest card so there are no dropped frames, etc.

I'm not familiar with Lexar. Should I wait for the Sandisk UDMA7 cards?

I think the top tier brands in the States are Lexar and Sandisk. Personally I can not see a reason to wait on Sandisk unless you think that will give you technical or financial (lower cost) benefits.

Ming-Tzu wrote in post #14331775
Thanks for the thoughts. I am not shooting wildlife but I plan to shoot video eventually at the highest quality settings. I imagine that I need to have the fastest card so there are no dropped frames, etc.

I'm not familiar with Lexar. Should I wait for the Sandisk UDMA7 cards?

Nope, you don't need blistering speed for video - where that speed would matter is in clearing the buffer, or in downloading to your computer via card reader. As long as the card's Class 6 (or equivalent) or better it'll be able to cope with HD video, even at 1080p. So anything doing 30 MB/sec from a reliable maker (and vendor; eBay sales frequently are of counterfeit cards) should be plenty for video.

I shoot airshows and use the 600X cards at 8FPS (1D4), they clear about 3 FPS from the buffer (RAW), Thats really fast, hard to imagine you'd need 1000x......

Mark H

While there is always a certain sexiness to the newest brightest fastest thing out there... I want to throw this out there.

I've successfully recorded pleeeenty of hours of 1080p HD video to sandisk extreme 3 and extreme 4 sd and cf cards.... this footage has been recorded from various devices including, 5Dmk2, 7D, Sony NXCam videocameras.

Now, if you recall, extreme 3 and 4 cards are now years old technology. They were subsequently replaced with the "Extreme" and "Extreme Pro" labeling. I do believe there was also a speed increase with these new lines.

So, when you ask if you need that super wicked high speed? In my opinion, the answer is no.

Now with that said, a higher speed will aid in file transferring from card to computer.

Also as technology continues to increase in complexity and features, 4K video recording is now coming to the market in a major way. Do you think you'll ever record anything on 4K ? If you even marginally think you might, then you may want that super speed card.

Just my .02c

Think about it.....you spend $3500 on a 5DIII body. How much concern should there be for the small extra cost in 1000x cards vs. 600x or 400x cards? LOL That delta is peanuts compared to the body.

To me its interesting that people will say...........

RATHER THAN A 32GB card, I'd RATHER CARRY 32 -1GB cards, so if the card fails I'm not screwed, of course I may lose them or accidently erase files on them, etc......

Sometimes, people put all their $$$ into the body and have not a lot left for other things. Of course card prices aren't that bad...... Not like they used to be........

Oh well to each his own....... I THINK The SanDisk EXTREME PRO 128GB 100MB/s card at $915 is the way to go and buy like 4 of them.........

Still I like driving a nice car too.

Mark H

Still debating between the higher end cards or the mid-range cards. I'm leaning towards the Sandisk or Lexar 64gb cards. 128gb is overkill for me.

I'd rather buy larger cards and not have to carry it around than smaller cards and have to switch it in and out in the field. Too much work for me. I'd rather spend my time taking pictures than doing things like switching cards, changing lenses, etc.

Also, I really wanna go with Sandisk but it seems the Lexar ones are faster. With stuff like cards, I've very brand loyal. Always had Sandisk. I'm sure Lexar is good too. It's just that I've never heard of em before. I'd rather pay more and get quality in the long run.

I'm the same way with hard drives too. WD all the way lol

Anyone know what the difference between these two cards is? Other than the A91 vs X46 in the name, I can't spot anything. Yet there's like a $300 difference.

http://www.amazon.com …/B004ISL3GA/ref​=de_a_smtd

http://www.amazon.com …/B004JNZJV4/ref​=de_a_smtd

And the one on the Sandisk site is $1,500!

http://www.sandisk.com …s/compactflash/​index.html

Yeah, WD Hard Drives, tossed another one out a few weeks ago. Hitachi there... Never tossed one yet.

Lexar's parent (Lexar has been around about 10 years) Micron has been making chips of various kinds for about 35 years and is one of the leading manufacturers in the world. SanDisk has been around about 20 years..

Mark H