5D Mark III -- Compact Flash (CF) or Secure Digital (SD / SDHC)?

[kdsand]

Sandisk Extreme Pro SDXC

Cut n paste
Up to 95 MB/sec (633X) read speed. Write speed up to 90 MB/s (600X). Based on SanDisk internal testing; performance may be lower depending upon host device. 1 megabyte (MB) = 1 million bytes. X = 150KB/sec. bytes.

Thats SDXC. I did not realize any SDXC cards had actually been released yet, but they do level the playing field (although they are about about 3-4 times as expensive as comparable CF cards.)

They popped up several months ago. The one I have is slicker than snot. I see a difference even compared to the 45MG cards. The price isn't to bad, though you have to watch out for occasional price spikes. One reviewer claimed to have been successfully running windows 8 off one although that's a bit beyond my current skill level.

[kdsand]

Since the specs have been covered by others on this thread, I'll just mention one thing: you'll experience a heart attack when the SD card you left on the table end up in the hands of the kid who just picked it up on the end where the contact points are - and he just finished eating his ice cream cone...

 Much to my chagrin I do admit having experience with the wash cycle on 2 different occasions. If there is a failure I doubt it'll be from ice cream.

:-)

[Old Shooter]

I'm excited about the backup! Wedding shooters/Event photographers will appreciate the peace of mind!

You can get SanDisk's Extreme Pro (90 MB/s) 64GB SDXC for $190...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/824149-REG/SanDisk_SDSDXPA_064G_A75_Extreme_Pro_64GB_SDHC_SDXC.html

Their Extreme Pro (90 MB/s - UDMA 6) 64GB CF is $390...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/646880-REG/SanDisk_SDCFXP_064G_A91_64GB_Extreme_Pro_CompactFlash.html

For you speed demons, their (100 MB/s - UDMA 7) 128GB CF is $800...   Spendy!

[marvinhello]

I'm excited about the backup! Wedding shooters/Event photographers will appreciate the peace of mind!

You can get SanDisk's Extreme Pro (90 MB/s) 64GB SDXC for $190...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/824149-REG/SanDisk_SDSDXPA_064G_A75_Extreme_Pro_64GB_SDHC_SDXC.html

Their Extreme Pro (90 MB/s - UDMA 6) 64GB CF is $390...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/646880-REG/SanDisk_SDCFXP_064G_A91_64GB_Extreme_Pro_CompactFlash.html

For you speed demons, their (100 MB/s - UDMA 7) 128GB CF is $800...   Spendy!

Note that the 95MB/s Extreme Pro SDXC is UHS-1 standard, it's still unknown if 5D3 supports UHS-1, if not, maximum speed will be capped at around 30MB/s

[tt]

Looking at Sandisk cards in the 8-32GB range -

Does anyone have any recommendations between the 60MB/s & 90MB/s?
£80   gets you 1x 60MB/s 16GB SanDisk Extreme       400x UDMA CF
£129 gets you 1x 90MB/s 16GB SanDisk Extreme Pro 600x UDMA CF

£59   gets you 1x SanDisk 16GB Extreme Pro 95MB/s SDHC
£120 gets you 1x SanDisk 32GB Extreme Pro 95MB/s SDHC
£95   gets you 2x SanDisk 16GB Extreme Pro 45MB/s SDHC Card

What would be good for a) video or b) Taking a series of shots - would the different cards hit buffer full at different times?

Would you go for a 32GB 60MB/s CF cards for more GB for video (AI-I looks a GB eater!)? Or 2x 16GB 90MB/s CF cards?



Edit - Reading http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2012/5d3_hd_video_features.shtml?categoryId=122

* HD 50 fps or 60 fps recording places the greatest demands on memory card speed, especially during ALL-I recording. Required read/write speed during HD 720p ALL-I recording for CF cards is 30 MB/sec; for SD cards, 14MB/sec.

CF cards – UDMA "mode 7" support
SD cards – SD, SDHC, or SDXC-compliant cards are supported
(not compatible with UHS-I high-speed writing)

[crasher7]

CF has a huge durability factor in it's favor as well. I've cracked a few SD cards in my time. Not too mention what my kids have done to theirs!

[Jamesy]

Rob Galbraith has always been a good resource for CF/SD card speeds as they relate to cameras, although there is no recommended cards yet for the 5D3:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007

[Jamesy]

Rob Galbraith tests new camera and comes up with empirical numbers for most popular camera models. I am sure the raft of recent announcements will show up on his list shortly such as the 5D3. 1DX, D800, D4.

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007

The only time I have seen issues with buying something faster than the device (or user for that matter) would be putting racing skies on an amateur skier 

[Old Shooter]

I'm excited about the backup! Wedding shooters/Event photographers will appreciate the peace of mind!

You can get SanDisk's Extreme Pro (90 MB/s) 64GB SDXC for $190...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/824149-REG/SanDisk_SDSDXPA_064G_A75_Extreme_Pro_64GB_SDHC_SDXC.html

Their Extreme Pro (90 MB/s - UDMA 6) 64GB CF is $390...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/646880-REG/SanDisk_SDCFXP_064G_A91_64GB_Extreme_Pro_CompactFlash.html

For you speed demons, their (100 MB/s - UDMA 7) 128GB CF is $800...   Spendy!

Note that the 95MB/s Extreme Pro SDXC is UHS-1 standard, it's still unknown if 5D3 supports UHS-1, if not, maximum speed will be capped at around 30MB/s

Good point! But if the CF slot supports UDMA 7, why would they handicap the SD slot to not support UHS-1?

Also, the T3i supports UHS-1, so I would imagine the 5DIII would... But, time will tell!

[scrappydog]

I don't know if this is helpful, but I have both the Sandisk 45MB/s and 90MB/s SDHC cards and I have not noticed a difference in their performance for either stills or video when shooting on my 60D.   My observations were made in real world shooting rather than in controlled tests.  I also conducted a single buffer test shooting high-speed continuous in RAW and I did not notice a difference between them.

[darryl]

First post!!!   At some point reading just isn't enough. 

I use a canon 60D so I know some about SD cards and close to none about CF.  So I figured I'd share and then ask a question.

The Class on SD cards is a minimum writing speed which is supposed to be guaranteed even at non-optimal conditions.  So technically you could have a class 4 that writes much faster than 4MB/s.  Sandisk is known for having much higher write speeds then the class rating.

Also if you are looking for a review on SD cards on the 1D mark IV look here.
http://www.slashgear.com/sdhc-flash-memory-performance-on-canon-eos-1d-mark-iv-2082467/

And here for a good comparison site.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sdxc-sdhc-uhs-i,2940-12.html

Now for my question.   I normally buy SDHC cards no bigger than 8gb for fear of "putting all your eggs in one basket".  SD cards are known for going bad sometimes.  Does this happen with CF cards as well?  I'd love to get bigger storage CF cards (for a mark II i'll prolly buy soon once the "price drop" happens *crossing fingers*) if they are more reliable.

[richard_mitchell]

I'm of the opinion that neither format (CF or SD) are superior. Of the SD/CF cards that I've had fail, they are usually of a very low quality, which is perfectly fine for some people as their career doesn't depend on the card.

I will most likely have this configuration:
- 64GB CF card: RAW originals
- 8GB Eye-Fi Pro X2: High quality JPG

The options are limitless if you have a laptop and know how to create scripts.

[Old Shooter]

I'm of the opinion that neither format (CF or SD) are superior. Of the SD/CF cards that I've had fail, they are usually of a very low quality, which is perfectly fine for some people as their career doesn't depend on the card.

I will most likely have this configuration:
- 64GB CF card: RAW originals
- 8GB Eye-Fi Pro X2: High quality JPG

The options are limitless if you have a laptop and know how to create scripts.

Good observations!

For weddings/events/portraits, I was thinking:
-64GB CF card for RAW + JPEG Large
-64GB SDXC card backing up the CF card for insurance!

Are you using the Eye-Fi Pro now? I was wondering how that would work for things like dances, etc...?

Thanks!

[wamsankas]

this is extremely confusing for me. on amazon the sandisk extreme pro 16gb SD at 95 mb/s is 70$ the CF card at 90mb/s is 110$ .... why would a faster/smaller card be cheaper? why wouldnt everyone just buy the SD?

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-Performance-SDSDXPA-016G-A75-Packaging/dp/B006FKD01K/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1330793569&sr=8-15

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-16GB-Extreme-memory-card/dp/B002OL80UK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1330793653&sr=8-3

[wamsankas]

this is extremely confusing for me. on amazon the sandisk extreme pro 16gb SD at 95 mb/s is 70$ the CF card at 90mb/s is 110$ .... why would a faster/smaller card be cheaper? why wouldnt everyone just buy the SD?

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-Performance-SDSDXPA-016G-A75-Packaging/dp/B006FKD01K/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1330793569&sr=8-15

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-16GB-Extreme-memory-card/dp/B002OL80UK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1330793653&sr=8-3