Sandisk Extreme III vs Ultra II

I ordered my first DSLR, a Canon Rebel XS. What I am unsure of is what SDHC card/s to get. Is the difference between the Ultra II and Extreme III Sandisk cards enough to warrant the big price difference? Does the camera body I'll be using matter?

I'm leaning towards the Ultra IIs as they are much cheaper, I can get an Ultra II 8GB card for almost the same price as an Extreme III 4GB. I appreciate the feedback, don't want to regret getting the Ultra and finding it isn't as fast as I'd liked.

it won't matter...you wouldn't really be able to tell the difference. I use both the extreme III and Ultra II on my 7D and 5D2 and I can't really tell the difference in terms of speed.

I have an XS as well and went with 2 4GB Ultra's. I would not go with the Extreme's unless I am using a camera with video capabilities as well.

Thanks for the input. I'm assuming the buffer speeds of the camera depend on the body right? So on an XS maybe I wouldn't benefit from an Extreme III over Ultra? Card to computer speeds through USB isn't really an issue, it's not like I'm running a business.

Anyone else?

There is a world of difference in the Extreme III's.

I have been shooting for a long time so I still have Ultra II cards but i wont use them unless I absolutely have to for some reason. I remember when i first bought an Extreme III card, i never wanted to touch the Ultra II again. hat was on a Rebel too. They are incredibly slow. A good example is when browsing the images on the back of the camera. Takes forever. The extreme III is much much quicker. The camera body can become a factor. Things like high frame rates and video require faster cards to dump that data quicker.

But as it sounds like your starting out, you probably wont be bothered by these sorts of things just yet. Save the dollars and just get yourself a card and start shooting!

BrodieButler wrote in post #10086494
There is a world of difference in the Extreme III's.

I have been shooting for a long time so I still have Ultra II cards but i wont use them unless I absolutely have to for some reason. I remember when i first bought an Extreme III card, i never wanted to touch the Ultra II again. hat was on a Rebel too. They are incredibly slow. A good example is when browsing the images on the back of the camera. Takes forever. The extreme III is much much quicker. The camera body can become a factor. Things like high frame rates and video require faster cards to dump that data quicker.

But as it sounds like your starting out, you probably wont be bothered by these sorts of things just yet. Save the dollars and just get yourself a card and start shooting!

Thanks a lot. I think I'll get a couple of 4BG Ultra's to start.

Not for me. Sounds like folks that spend $80 on a memory card want to justify it. Read the reviews on B&H for the Ultra II and the Extreme. Pretty clear picture. Folks pay more because they think it is better because it cost more. I just bought three 8 GB Ultra cards for my new 5D Mark II. Researched it a bit and it became obvious to me that there is no logical reason to pay megabucks for the Extreme cards.

DANATTHEROCK wrote in post #10086531
Not for me. Sounds like folks that spend $80 on a memory card want to justify it. Read the reviews on B&H for the Ultra II and the Extreme. Pretty clear picture. Folks pay more because they think it is better because it cost more. I just bought three 8 GB Ultra cards for my new 5D Mark II. Researched it a bit and it became obvious to me that there is no logical reason to pay megabucks for the Extreme cards.

there is the Ultra (30/mbs) and the Ultra II (15mb/sec)

Thanks for the input Danat. I just looked around and the only difference in speed between an Ultra II and an Extreme III at 4GB is 5 MB/s of speed, for TWICE the price. The Class 10 Extreme II is 30 MB/s but it of course is much more expensive, starting at the 8GB mark at around $60, and that's on Ebay.

@Jeromego Is that in SDHC? Cuz I'm pretty sure the Ultra at 30MB/s is CompactFlash.

fedaykin wrote in post #10086572
Thanks for the input Danat. I just looked around and the only difference in speed between an Ultra II and an Extreme III at 4GB is 5 MB/s of speed, for TWICE the price. The Class 10 Extreme II is 30 MB/s but it of course is much more expensive, starting at the 8GB mark at around $60, and that's on Ebay.

@Jeromego Is that in SDHC? Cuz I'm pretty sure the Ultra at 30MB/s is CompactFlash.

you're right...I thought they both come in SDHC and CF. My bad.

jeromego wrote in post #10086658
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you're right...I thought they both come in SDHC and CF. My bad.

Cool. From what I've found the difference between the Extreme II Class 6 and Ultra II Class 4 is 5MB/s for DOUBLE the price. Between Ultra II and Extreme III Class 10 it's 10MB/s, but they start at 8GB at around $60, which is actually what two 4GB Class 6 cards would cost, so not a bad deal if you like carrying around 8GB(I wouldn't love the idea of accidentally loosing/breaking 8GB of data on a $60 card). But the 30MB/s write/read speed is substantial.

Hmm, I think I'll stick to the Ultra II. If I find it's too slow maybe I'll try an Extreme II 4GB. I doubt a class 10 would be necessary unless I'd be shooting burst in RAW+JPEG or something and I absolutely needed them to download to the computer as fast as possible; a situation I doubt I'll be in.


Man, the Extreme IVs only come in CF and are wicked fast! 60MB/s, damn.

fedaykin wrote in post #10086701
I doubt a class 10 would be necessary unless I'd be shooting burst in RAW+JPEG

I don't see how it could make that better either. I shoot the 40D (6.5 fps) all the time with my Ultra cards and have never felt myself wanting more, or having any complaints on the memory card. It shoots as fast as the camera will allow it, the memory card is not a bottleneck of any sorts in my experience. I think this is mostly BS and the fact that folks want to think something is better because it cost more. Want to find out? Buy one of each and report back to us. Also, read the numerous reviews on B&H of these two different cards. There is an obvious theme after reading 20-30 reviews on the two cards

DANATTHEROCK wrote in post #10086758
I don't see how it could make that better either. I shoot the 40D (6.5 fps) all the time with my Ultra cards and have never felt myself wanting more, or having any complaints on the memory card. It shoots as fast as the camera will allow it, the memory card is not a bottleneck of any sorts in my experience. I think this is mostly BS and the fact that folks want to think something is better because it cost more. Want to find out? Buy one of each and report back to us. Also, read the numerous reviews on B&H of these two different cards. There is an obvious theme after reading 20-30 reviews on the two cards

Thanks, I agree that these things tend to lean towards the "It's more expensive=better/neces​sary" rather than actual performance. How fast has the viewing pictures on the LCD been for you though? This I actually care about somewhat.

There IS a difference. Extreme cards will allow files to be written faster thus clearing the buffer. Very helpful when shooting sports. Take for instance this page which compares the cards: http://www.robgalbrait​h.com …ort_col=type&so​rt_dir=ASC

Many of you are just poorly misinformed, judging by the replies here. Sure, not everyone needs Extreme speed, but there is a reason they make them, and there's certainly a reason people buy them. Other than "expensive is better." Do some research next time before trying to help someone.

ProwlingTiger wrote in post #10086848
There IS a difference. Extreme cards will allow files to be written faster thus clearing the buffer. Very helpful when shooting sports. Take for instance this page which compares the cards: http://www.robgalbrait​h.com …ort_col=type&so​rt_dir=ASC

Many of you are just poorly misinformed, judging by the replies here. Sure, not everyone needs Extreme speed, but there is a reason they make them, and there's certainly a reason people buy them. Other than "expensive is better." Do some research next time before trying to help someone.

Those are CF cards....

Thanks for the link though. I'll look at the XS's page and see what I find.

*EDIT* There's no XS page but there an XSi one. Looks like the difference between the Extreme III 4GB and the Ultra II 4GB is a little over twice the speed. BUT it doesn't specify whether it's a Class 6 Extreme II or a Class 10 one. Plus I can't really translate these numbers into actual real world, detectable differences. have you detected differences between these cards say when reviewing images in the LCD?