5DM3: What speed/brand cards?

[Murray M]

What speed and brand CF and SD cards are you all getting for your new 5DM3?

 

[kiniro]

I bought a 32 GB Transcend 400x CF card today. Not sure if it'll work or how good it'll be until I get the camera. I'll also use my Transcend SDHC Class 10 cards.

 

[dturano]

its been a wile since i purchased new cards, are sd cards a better value? I have a lot of good quality low capacity CF cards, had an issue with data loss and now prefer to use multiple small cards incase i lose some shots, or atleast result in less time recovering data in the event i have an issue.

I always felt like SD were better value plus i never have to worry about broken pins and replacing card readers. I never used transcend, anything good or bad? How does SDHC compare to 400x CF card?

Transcend 32GB SecureDigital Class 10 (SDHC) Ultra-High-Speed Card - $39

or

Transcend 16GB 400X CompactFlash (CF) Card - $49

 

[takoman46]

I use Sandisk Extreme CF cards. To me they are the most reliable. There are extreme pro series CF cards from Sandisk too but they are considerable more expensive. The most important feature for me with the extreme CF cards are the read speeds for off loading to your computer. The Extreme cards are 60mb/sec read/write while the Extreme pros are 90mb/sec read and write. The reason why I haven't upgraded to Extreme pros is that I haven't found an external cf card reader that can actually transfer 90mb/sec. Doesn't make sense but yeah, I haven't found one that operates on usb 2.0 or firewire 800. I think there might be usb 3.0 or thunderbolt card readers (or adapters at least) but my mac book pro is the previous generation without the thunderbolt port so haven't bothered looking.

 

[kiniro]

its been a wile since i purchased new cards, are sd cards a better value? I have a lot of good quality low capacity CF cards, had an issue with data loss and now prefer to use multiple small cards incase i lose some shots, or atleast result in less time recovering data in the event i have an issue.

I always felt like SD were better value plus i never have to worry about broken pins and replacing card readers. I never used transcend, anything good or bad? How does SDHC compare to 400x CF card?

Transcend 32GB SecureDigital Class 10 (SDHC) Ultra-High-Speed Card - $39

or

Transcend 16GB 400X CompactFlash (CF) Card - $49

Amazon has the Transcend 32GB 400x CF card (blue) for $51 right now. That's why I bought it. I've only used Transcend cards, 2 SDHC Class 10 32GB and I haven't had any problems with them.

 

[CrimsonBlue]

The reason why I haven't upgraded to Extreme pros is that I haven't found an external cf card reader that can actually transfer 90mb/sec. Doesn't make sense but yeah, I haven't found one that operates on usb 2.0 or firewire 800.

I think the most important aspect of 90MB/sec is that it can take far more pictures in the camera, as the buffer eventually becomes the bottleneck, not the memory card.

 

[takoman46]

The reason why I haven't upgraded to Extreme pros is that I haven't found an external cf card reader that can actually transfer 90mb/sec. Doesn't make sense but yeah, I haven't found one that operates on usb 2.0 or firewire 800.

I think the most important aspect of 90MB/sec is that it can take far more pictures in the camera, as the buffer eventually becomes the bottleneck, not the memory card.

That is true. But for my purposes, I don't shoot continuous very often so never had any issues with the buffer. I use a 5DmkII which doesn't have very impressive frame rate to begin with so... yeah... I don't think my 60mb/sec extremes could bottleneck before the buffer anyway lol.

 

[jalbfb]

The reason why I haven't upgraded to Extreme pros is that I haven't found an external cf card reader that can actually transfer 90mb/sec. Doesn't make sense but yeah, I haven't found one that operates on usb 2.0 or firewire 800.

I think the most important aspect of 90MB/sec is that it can take far more pictures in the camera, as the buffer eventually becomes the bottleneck, not the memory card.

That is true. But for my purposes, I don't shoot continuous very often so never had any issues with the buffer. I use a 5DmkII which doesn't have very impressive frame rate to begin with so... yeah... I don't think my 60mb/sec extremes could bottleneck before the buffer anyway lol.

I plan on using my Lexar CF cards from my 5D2-two Pro 16GB 400x UDMA cards and one Pro 8GB UDMA 400x card. I bought a Lexar Pro 600x 16GB SDHC card as an add on to my pre-order. The Transcends that are on sale dirt cheap are temping, but for now I plan on sticking with the Lexars I have and will get.

 

[Drama79]

my personal take on this is that while the extreme pro cards are expensive (an extra £40 / $70 ish), if you're dropping a few grand on a camera, it seems insane to not spend that small extra amount to make it function to it's best ability. It's funny how we rationalise purchases.

When I first got the 7D, I was using slow CF cards. The first time I put a 600x card, it was like a new camera. It makes a big difference to gig photography, at least.

 

[Bosman]

I ordered a 1000x Lexar that is 150mb/s but cancelled the order. It is udma 7 spec and the new Eos cams support the fast speeds. I figure ill try it with the cards i have and when video becomes more important ill prob want that speed. For now i avoid spending $255 on a 32 gig card and see what happens with slower cards.

I have never had issues with sandisk so pretty much everything i rely on is a sandisk
Kingston is junk. Ive sent a few cards back to them shortly after getting them. Cant have a wedding get messed up because i got a good deal on memory.
Lexar i havent owned but its the fastest out there and its usually priced higher than sandisk but I have never heard of anyone having probs with them.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/841566-REG/Lexar_LCF32GCTBNA1000_32GB_CompactFlash_Memory_Card.html

 

[prestonpalmer]

If you are a professional photographer (IE: Shooting for money) Then I will highly caution ALL of you to RUN (not walk) away from anything that isn't a professional grade BRAND NAME memory card.

My camera bag is full of 32 and 64GB Sandisk Extreme CF cards, and I just ordered a few 32GB Sandisk Extreme Pro SD cards for the 5D3. Stick with Sandisk, Lexar, or Kingston. ONLY buy the pro grade cards they offer. You know them by their lifetime warranty, and price. Trust me, when you have a cheap card fail and you loose a shoot, you will really wish that you spent the extra few dollars on a brand name card. In my experience, WAY more reliable!

professional wedding photographer here.

 

[prestonpalmer]

I have a lot of good quality low capacity CF cards, had an issue with data loss and now prefer to use multiple small cards incase i lose some shots, or atleast result in less time recovering data in the event i have an issue.

Dturano - Remember, LARGER capacity memory cards last much longer than lower capacity cards. Internal card writing algorithms vary each sector data is written to in order to minimize the constant use of one data bit, and ending up with corrupting data. Contrary to popular belief, filling smaller cards to the brim have a MUCH MUCH higher probability of unrecoverable data error than using ONE pro grade and HUGE memory card and not filling it full during each shoot. Statistics show that doing this is actually safer than having full, small cards. Take a moment to research how these cards work and I can guarantee you will be purchasing higher capacity cards in the future

Also, as I stated above, if you are worried about losing a picture, only buy the best, lifetime warranty brand name cards. You will kick yourself for buying a cheap card. I promise...

 

[Drizzt321]

its been a wile since i purchased new cards, are sd cards a better value? I have a lot of good quality low capacity CF cards, had an issue with data loss and now prefer to use multiple small cards incase i lose some shots, or atleast result in less time recovering data in the event i have an issue.

I always felt like SD were better value plus i never have to worry about broken pins and replacing card readers. I never used transcend, anything good or bad? How does SDHC compare to 400x CF card?

Transcend 32GB SecureDigital Class 10 (SDHC) Ultra-High-Speed Card - $39

or

Transcend 16GB 400X CompactFlash (CF) Card - $49

Amazon has the Transcend 32GB 400x CF card (blue) for $51 right now. That's why I bought it. I've only used Transcend cards, 2 SDHC Class 10 32GB and I haven't had any problems with them.

I've got 2 of the Transcend 32GB 400x CF cards in my 5d2, and they work great. Had to upgrade to a USB3 card reader so I could actually take advantage of their speed when downloading my images

 

[nighstar]

bought a Transcend CF UDMA 32GB 400X card and a Transcend USB3.0 Multi Card Reader and they just arrived today. perfect timing.

i have been using Transcend SD cards in other cameras and have had no problems with them. as far as i'm concerned, Transcend is a professional grade brand name and i highly recommend them.

 

[CanineCandidsByL]

Dturano - Remember, LARGER capacity memory cards last much longer than lower capacity cards. Internal card writing algorithms vary each sector data is written to in order to minimize the constant use of one data bit, and ending up with corrupting data. Contrary to popular belief, filling smaller cards to the brim have a MUCH MUCH higher probability of unrecoverable data error than using ONE pro grade and HUGE memory card and not filling it full during each shoot. Statistics show that doing this is actually safer than having full, small cards. Take a moment to research how these cards work and I can guarantee you will be purchasing higher capacity cards in the future

I agree with you on buying large cards, but your reason for corruption is probably not correct. Old cards were rated at thousands to low tens of thousands of writes per block (sectors are a hard drive concept). Modern cards are rated in hundreds of thousands to over a million writes per block. So, its nearly impossible to wear one out in this way when used for photography. Also, most cards actually have more blocks available than you are presented with. That allow them to replaced bad block with good blocks without any change in drive size.

Corruption is more common due to over filling the card to the point the file index can't be updated. In that case, the photos are still OK, but you need to use recovery software to get them off which is slow, annoying, and a little scary. Since this risk only occurs when the card is full, you have less risk with bigger cards as you won't fill them as often. Plus, less wear and tear on the connectors. Plus, less change of letting dirt or moisture into the camera.

I personally prefer San Disk Extreme Pros. My wife can fill 3 to 4 64GB cards in a single day of shooting at a dog show. Getting that data off the cards and backed up is helped by the 90+MB/sec speeds which USB 3.0 readers do support (if plugged into good USB 3.0 ports). In fact I often find hard drives being the limiting factor on speed.

I'll be using the same type of SDXC cards even though it looks like I won't get the full speed in camera. At least I'll have that speed for offloading.

 

[briansquibb]

I have a box of 8 x 16gb SanDisk Extreme Pro CF. I never fill a card up, but change it at a natural point so I might go home with 4 partially filled cards (from a wedding for example)

As I have dual cards I always have a fast 32Gb SD card loaded just in case

I also have my laptop with card reader and external disk so if possible I will backup the cards straight onto the laptop and then sync the external. This job is for the helper usually.