SanDisk Extreme IV CompactFlash 8GB

[Nicolas Claris]

Trying to write faster from buffer to card on the Canon 1DSII, I'm about to buy
2 x SanDisk Extreme IV CompactFlash 4GB
or maybe a SanDisk Extreme IV CompactFlash 8GB

besides the old debate about havaing all the eggs in the same basket, can anyone tell me if the 1DSII wiil accept the 8gb? and if not, if I make 2 4gb partitions will the 1DSII be able to write on both?

Thanks

PS I'm actually using 4 Gb Microdrives, I find them really relieable but sometimes when shooting commes hot, they are really to slow…

[Nill Toulme]

Nicolas it should work just fine. I'm using 8GB CF cards in my two 1D Mark II's and am very happy with them (as I am with the 4GB SD's I'm also using in those bodies).

BUT... those Extreme cards are extremely overpriced in my opinion. You can get Ritek/Ridata 150x cards that are *very* close to being as fast for less than half the price. That's what I'm using.

For speed comparisons in the 1Ds Mark II see RG's database (http://robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007-7344). Note also that generally speaking, all other things equal, a larger card will be somewhat slower than a smaller one. That is, for the same brand and model of card, the 4GB version should be faster than the 8GB version (but not so much so as to make me personally go to 4GB instead of 8GB cards... I'm happy shooting fast action sports with the 8GB).

www.mydigitaldiscount.com is a very reliable vendor for these cards, and they will ship to Europe. They will want confirmation of the credit card before they ship though, so to speed things up you might want to correspond with them by e-mail rather than simply entering your order online.

CAVEAT: I have seen several posts here and there about some of the Ridata 150x cards — particularly the 4GB — not being recognized in some older USB readers. I've seen no complaints about the 8GB cards, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. They work fine in my two fairly recent Sandisk USB readers (the CF-only reader and the 12-in-1).

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

[Ray West]

Hi Nicolas,

adding to Nill's reply,

Although RG site is quite informative, I note that the order in the list is not too easy to discern, e.g. different performance for raw and jpeg, and sometimes the slower card is higher up the list. Also, if you can stick with smaller cards, it seems even an ultra2 can nearly match the new extreme 4. I do not think you will notice the differance much between them, compared to the differance between microdrive speed. ( I mean, in some instances its a differance of a few mS....)

7dayshop in Guernsey have quite good prices, for uk, vat hassle free, not so sure for France, but its almost walking distance for you.

Best wishes,

Ray

[Nill Toulme]

I've asked Rob to make his lists sortable on different fields, and he's assured me that's on his to-do list. ;-)

For now they are sorted in order of RAW write speed. Occasionally one card will be slightly faster than another on RAW writes, but slightly slower on jpg writes, so the jpg order can be a little different.

The Ultra II is of course a good card, but the 150x Ridata is faster and cheaper.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

[Nicolas Claris]

Thanks Nill and Ray
Nicolas it should work just fine. I'm using 8GB CF cards in my two 1D Mark II's and am very happy with them is what I wished to hear! (well, read).

A few comments:
1: When shooting from helicopter (this is quite often) with doors opened, or at sea when being shaked, I'm always scared when I have to change of card……… so better having the same one loaded for longer time.

2: I do not bother with VAT as, as a registered pro VAT is paid back.

3: I shoot Raw so this order of listing is fine with me

4: the Extreme IV is written 10% faster than Extreme IV…

5: This brand has AFAIK good reputation and I have no time to experiment!

6: I had to buy in France because I get no delay, my upcoming important shoot (in Saint-Tropez guys!) starts next Wednesday, and I won't take the risk not to have the card for this.

Thanks for fast answers, OPF is fantastic!

[Ray West]

Hi Nicolas,

Its a bit like 'you never got the sack for buying ibm' which worked until ibm brought out the 'luggable' ... i.e. stick with sandisk, you'll be fine, until they do something stupid....

Best wishes,

Ray

btw 7dayshop delivery is slowish - the prce includes vat if applicable, its just a pain when you buy something costing say 50 quid from usa, and fedex charge £8.50 on top for our gov plus another £14.00 to collect it, whereas I and you are unpaid tax collectors...

[Nicolas Claris]

Nicolas it should work just fine.
After having check the stock availibilty by phone, I ordered last Thursday 2 x SanDisk Extreme IV CompactFlash 4GB thru the net to a French company.
After 1/2 an hour they sent me an email with apologizes as in the meantime during the phone call and my order (about 10minutes) one of the 2 cards they had, had been sold.
They fairly proposed to cancel my order and send the money back or to send me one SanDisk Extreme IV CompactFlash 8GB.
I accepted the deal.
And yes, it works fine and fast!

best

[Nill Toulme]

To me there's a small but real comfort in never or rarely having to open the camera in the field. With the 8GB CF's and the 4GB SD's in my Mark II's I can generally shoot an entire sporting event in RAW without having to change cards.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

[Nicolas Claris]

Yep, I agree with you, especially when I fly or sail…

With this card I also received a mini CD with RescuePro and a serial #.
Nice!
But how can I load that CD in a powerbook that have a CD/DVD reader but no tray?

Should I link the powerbook as an external HD via firewire to another Mac and then load the software from the main computer (I wonder if I'm clear! LOL!)

Any tip ?

Thanks

[Brian Hamfeldt]

BTW - Newegg is generally cheaper on CF cards. The 8Gb-150x Ridata is $55 cheaper at NewEgg (compared to MyDigitalDiscount).

I used to get all my cards from MDD - but now only get batteries.

Brian.

[Nill Toulme]

That varies. The day I posted it was 20 or 30 bucks cheaper at MDD. Pays to check both places. And I think MDD will ship to EU while newegg will not.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

[Nicolas Claris]

I'll answer myself to my question,; it may be intersting for someone else in the future.

Have loaded the mini disc in the tray of the G5, open Disk utility and made an image (.IMG) of the CD on the desktop and transfered this image to the Powerbook thru the network.
Opened that image on the Powerbook et voilà!


Yep, I agree with you, especially when I fly or sail…

With this card I also received a mini CD with RescuePro and a serial #.
Nice!
But how can I load that CD in a powerbook that have a CD/DVD reader but no tray?

Should I link the powerbook as an external HD via firewire to another Mac and then load the software from the main computer (I wonder if I'm clear! LOL!)

Any tip ?

Thanks

[Nicolas Claris]

Follow-up…
I had great and quite fast responses from Sandisk on this subject, I suggest that if someone has issue with the small CD, to contact SanDisk support for the best solution to meet each customer's needs.

I'm in no way connected to Sandisk and have no interest with this brand. Just a happy customer…

Hope it helps