5DM3 Dual Card Question

So I format both cards, set it up to shoot on card 1 because I need the higher speed of the CF media. The second card is there if I run out of card, right?

I go through the motions, maybe shut down once or twice, change lenses, whatever. I look down, and the camera is pointing at the SD card. I didn't tell it to go there, and I sure didn't use up the space on the first card.

I look it up - I've tried both Standard and Auto Switch mode, and they both behave like this. If there are images already on the CF when I power up, the camera automatically selects the SD media.

Anyone else seeing this behavior? What have I missed?

Mine doesn't do it if there are images on the CF card... it does it if I pull the CF for any reason, then shut the door, then open the door and put the CF back in.... in that case, it defaults to the SD, and I have to change it back...

I'm really thinking about just pulling the SD.. I suppose it might come in handy in a pinch, but I don't see myself using dual slots for many reasons....

va_rider wrote in post #14350414
Mine doesn't do it if there are images on the CF card... it does it if I pull the CF for any reason, then shut the door, then open the door and put the CF back in.... in that case, it defaults to the SD, and I have to change it back...

I'm really thinking about just pulling the SD.. I suppose it might come in handy in a pinch, but I don't see myself using dual slots for many reasons....

I'm about to do the same. If I was a wedding shooter, and the camera was going to be on all evening, I could see having it. But I can a LOT of images on a 32 gigabyte CF - more than I really want to process...

I use the SD option as a backup - kinda my fail-safe. I've not noticed mine doing what you guys are talking about though, so I'll have to pay more attention.

There is nothing that I can find in the manual about this behavior, which is why I originally posted. I was hoping I had missed it.

I have mine set up to record RAW on CF and Large Jpeg on SD. I of course change lenses LOTS of times and swap out CF cards multiple times during a wedding day and haven't encountered this issue. That said, it sounds like my scenarios is different than the OP since I am recording JPEGs on the SD.

1d2n does the same thing. I've simply grown accustomed to checking the card written to right after swapping out cards. No big deal.

1DMkIII and 1DMkIV do this as well... It's intentional to save your bacon in case you forget to put a CF card back in the camera!

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #14353326
1DMkIII and 1DMkIV do this as well... It's intentional to save your bacon in case you forget to put a CF card back in the camera!

If you have it configured to not allow shutter release without CF you never have that problem.

I'm trying to understand the rationale of having the camera disobey my configuration settings at will. Just because other Canon cameras also similarly misbehave does not help me understand it. Maybe I have no choice in the matter, but if I could see the point perhaps I would be more willing to just accept it.

I have my MkIVs set up so the SD is "over draft" protection for the CF card...

I rarely end up with anything on the SD cards so they're pretty much always in the camera and therefore, the cameras are always ready to shoot.

To me, that's a feature and not a failure. YMMV...

When I'm in the studio or doing a "real" shoot I'm writing RAW's to both cards simultaneously for redundancy. If I'm just goofing around, taking snapshots, family / vacation photos etc than I usually write RAW's to the CF and JPG to the SD card, so that I have JPG's handy quickly for posting, emailing, etc.

I wish these file handling preferences could be saved in the custom shooting modes.

If you set it to right large raws to both cards, won't you slow down the write to the CF if it has a fast card relative to the speed of SD cards? I have Lexar 1000x CFs waiting on my 5DIII to be delivered. I don't think there are SDs that can get close to the same read/write speeds. That is why I have not planned to use SD cards.

This speed issue may only be applicable for folks shooting high speed wildlife or sports sequences. If you only do the occasional still life shot, no problem.

For studio shooting w/ strobes I'm not concerned about write speed. But yes, if you needed to shoot quick, writing RAW's to both cards would probably slow you down.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #14353841
I have my MkIVs set up so the SD is "over draft" protection for the CF card...

I rarely end up with anything on the SD cards so they're pretty much always in the camera and therefore, the cameras are always ready to shoot.

To me, that's a feature and not a failure. YMMV...

This is not how my Mark iii is behaving. If I power down, then power up, if there are images on the CF, the camera switches focus to the SD media. I get no warning that this has happened, it is up to me to notice. It is not how I have it configured.

Page 116 in the manual. That is all I can find, and it says nothing of this behavior there.

Hey all, I am curious if anyone on the forum has used the both the CF and the SD in a mirror configuration? Does it significantly slow down the writing to the CF card?