new firmwear update

Just found out Canon finally released the firmwear update for the 1 series to allow for larger capacity cards.

a bit late, but...

Thank You Canon

Here is the source of info, with links to respective cameras.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0612/06122001canonsdhcfirmware.asp

Anyone know whether the new firmware will work with non-"SDHC" cards? eg.. was looking at some Ridata or Transcend 4gb SD cards (150x) -- which are not labelled as "SDHC".. although the Sandisk SDHC cards of similar capacity and speed (eg. Ultra IIs) cost about 50% more $125 vs. $80?

Likewise.. the Sandisk SDHC cards seemed to be always bundled with card readers for sdhc cards.. does this imply that older card readers won't work with these cards?

I happen to own a Transcend 4GB SD 150X (non-SDHC). I tested it after the firmware update, and found it worked perfectly.

Kunio Owaki said:

I happen to own a Transcend 4GB SD 150X (non-SDHC). I tested it after the firmware update, and found it worked perfectly.

Click to expand...

So the camera can recognize and format such a card now with the new firmware (not needing to format the cards via PC)? That's good news.. the Transcends are a lot cheaper than UltraII (which appear to be around $130 or so vs. the $80-90 for the Transcends..

How come there aren't any Extreme III or Lexar Pro versions of SDHC cards yet.. you'd think these companies would be the leaders of the pack?

I should have been clear. Yes, Transcend 4GB non-SDHC SD can now be formatted in camera as tested with my 1DsII. If you are going SDHC route, there are a couple of 8GB cards at Newegg...

My worries are as follows.. perhaps you'd be so kind as to address.. I think these SDHC cards are probably incompatible with my Epson P2000 storage/viewer.. also, I'm unclear whether I'll have a problem using these cards in my current card reader, and/or in the built-in SD slot I have on one of my laptops.

Having completed some early research, it is appearing that SDHC cards are slower then I thought they would be. I could not find anything indicating this, but is there a class 10 or class 20 SDHC card as class 6 (the fastest I could find as a class) is slower then an Ultra II if going with the minimum speed required to satisfy class 6 requirements (6MB/s for class 6, 10MB/s for Ultra II; 1DsMkII goes at around 8MB/s) So that limits the choices considerable. because I hate hitting the buffer, which I occasionally do with Ultra II /Extreme III cards and frequently with my Lexar 40X (I think equivilant to class 4 SDHC card)

But nice to know at least some of the larger cards have been tested and work.

Specifically I am aiming for an 4 or 8GB SD card that runs at at least 10MB/s for my 1DsMkII. I am waiting on new CF cards until March.

Kunio Owaki said:

I should have been clear. Yes, Transcend 4GB non-SDHC SD can now be formatted in camera as tested with my 1DsII. If you are going SDHC route, there are a couple of 8GB cards at Newegg...

Click to expand...

Wow, that's good news indeed.

To the other question, it is my understanding that SDHC cards are NOT compatible with older non-SDHC readers.

Tim, in light of all this, maybe better just to go with an old-style 4GB Ridata 150x SD card? I've been using those happily in my 1DMkII's for several months.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

So, has anyone tested any 8GB cards yet?

Asher

Nill Toulme said:

Tim, in light of all this, maybe better just to go with an old-style 4GB Ridata 150x SD card? I've been using those happily in my 1DMkII's for several months.

Nill

Click to expand...

Maybe I should procrastinate a bit more, but the Ridata 150x does meet my needs so definately on my list. And the 2GB version got a good speed rating from R.G.'s CF database, so good chance the 4GB will be close.

Thanks,

Tim Dolan (Longwatcher) said:

Maybe I should procrastinate a bit more, but the Ridata 150x does meet my needs so definately on my list. And the 2GB version got a good speed rating from R.G.'s CF database, so good chance the 4GB will be close.

Click to expand...

Just a small word of caution. Besides the obvious risk of losing a lot of data if (!) a card fails, I've read some (credible) high capacity flashcard user feedback that indicated that as the cards fill-up, writing speed drops exponentially. I can only assume that, since flash memory has a limited (500-1000x) write capability, it possibly uses a hashing type of writing strategy (in order to more evenly spread the number of writes to any physical memory location). That would mean it takes longer to allocate a not-recently-written-to physical space as the card fills-up.

Not a real deal-breaker in most cases, but it might be in fast shooting/writing/buffer-clearing time limited situations. Just something to be aware of before it hits the user. Smaller capacity cards write faster, until you need to switch cards ...

Bart

There are a few reasons I am looking at 4 or 8GB SD cards and 8GB CF cards.

I would like enough SD capacity to cover a realistic maximum photo-journalism situation. My experience to date has me filling up 1 or 2 2GB CF cards for news worthy events I have had an opportunity to shoot. My SD card is my emergency backup for this purpose. I only use an SD card now as the last card of a model shoot to finish me off in the studio and just to make sure it is still working. I otherwise never use the SD card unless I see something after I have filled up my CF cards. (I have this mental picture of the female photo journalist in "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" "I only have one picture left". I don't want to have to delete something to get something else.

The 8GB CF cards I am looking at are because I am going to be taking a 30+ day cruise with my mother (who is paying for it and no I don't live with her) and want enough capacity between cards and portable drives to cover the trip and any side trips. I don't want to have to carry spare cards I may lose on the side trips and I can't see me taking more then 8GB of images (even with my 1DsMkII) in a day of being a tourist.

Another reason are special events like say 4th of July, for which I never seem to make the fireworks without changing out the card at least once at the wrong time. I would get a 4GB card for this, but I supect I would just use it up faster and miss the finale again.

And the last thing is although I may get 1 SD card, I also get two of whatever is my primary card, so I will be getting 2x 8GB CF cards. in the case of the SD card if it fails I am not going to have the opportunity to swap it anyway if I used it in a critical situation so no point in having a spare one.

Thanks for letting me ramble