Which UDMA cards are you getting?

[Sttratos]

It's said the 7D performs best with UDMA cards. But searching for UDMA cards I found different specs (133x, 300x, 366x, 533x, other have it marked in MB/s, like 45MB/s), I found UDMA enabled, which I'm not sure what is and i definitely found several brands like Photofast, Transcend, Sandisk (Photofast is the cheaper, I wonder if it's as good?)

What cards are you getting?

[esnichols]

2 Kingston 16gb 133x

Thinking I'd only need faster for shooting burst raw.

[Michael Olsen]

2 Kingston 16gb 133x


I went with 1 Kingston 32GB 133x, non-UDMA. If I have problems, I'll step up, but it seems people seem to be more than happy shooting 133x non-UDMA.

[mhood]

I went with 1 Kingston 32GB 133x, non-UDMA. If I have problems, I'll step up, but it seems people seem to be more than happy shooting 133x non-UDMA.

x2 I'll add a 16GB Sandisk III UDMA if I have any problems at all but I won't be shooting raw in burst mode and I won't be snapping stills while I'm recording video, so I really don't anticipate any problems at all with the Kingston 32GB 133x.

[Boz]

I went with SanDisk Extreme IV's after I heard some people were experiencing dropouts with non-UDMA cards. Only somewhat affordable after SanDisk rebate which just expired.

[Perry Wilson]

16G Sandisk Extreme 60MB/s UDMA 5
16G Sandisk Extreme Pro 90MB/s UDMA 6(soon)

[USLatin]

I was going to get two Kingston 16GBs 133x, but then decided to get one 32GB 133x instead. Since it is slightly faster it might help a tad for RAW bursts. I'll pick up a second one soon. Hopefully 64GB cards will come out in force soon, and make 32's a bit cheaper before I buy the second.

[Sttratos]

OK then. I am looking at the Sandisk Extreme 60 MB/s (400x). So I guess this will be fast enough.

[mhood]

Anything over 5.5MB/s should be fast enough for video recording.

[dcoughla]

I went with SanDisk Extreme IV's after I heard some people were experiencing dropouts with non-UDMA cards. Only somewhat affordable after SanDisk rebate which just expired.

SanDisk has some new rebates up through Jan 2010, http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=rebates&brand=SanDisk still ridiculously pricy.

I'm going to gamble and buy a 200x rated 16gb "Centon" card on sale from Frys for $39.99 and see how it performs.

[tony240sx]

I also went 1 32gig Kingston 133x. Just received it today from newegg.

[Perry Wilson]

I don't see a reason to skimp on my CF card when I just bought $2000 worth of cam...

[Sttratos]

I don't see a reason to skimp on my CF card when I just bought $2000 worth of cam...

Kind of how I feel. Just bought 2x 32GB Sandisk Extreme 60 MB/s UDMA 400x. Should be here soon.

[CameronMagee]

I did 3x SanDisk 8GB Extreme IV (45mb/sec) UDMA's.

One card limits you, no matter how big. When it's full you have to stop to dump.
Two cards can be done but it's tight.
With three cards, called A, B and C...

A is shooting
B is resting
C is dumping

Always one in resting, ready to go. I would have gone for the 16GB's, but the 8GB's were a DEAL! Through that rebate, I got them for $34 a piece! Incredible.

[USLatin]

SanDisk has some new rebates up through Jan 2010, http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=rebates&brand=SanDisk still ridiculously pricy.

I'm going to gamble and buy a 200x rated 16gb "Centon" card on sale from Frys for $39.99 and see how it performs.

Try to find out if that is the read speed. They can advertise the read speed rating even if the write is significantly lower.

[Kegan]

I also got the SanDisk Extreme IV 8GBs with the deal, came up to $99 after rebate.

I like the versatility of having 3 as well. 24 minutes per card is good enough for me!

Kegan

[USLatin]

I do agree that three is best. And 4 or 5 offer additional safety in case some bozo lost one, or if any of them were to die on you for whatever reason. Being able to shoot non stop is key when you are spending lots of money. Same goes for batteries.

I am going to get just two large ones for myself, but first I would like to try one out and see how they perform with 8fps RAW stills. Also, I don't need anything more than 48 in one ATM so I can wait till I need it for a job and hope they drop.

[dcoughla]

Try to find out if that is the read speed. They can advertise the read speed rating even if the write is significantly lower.

Write speed rating is 30 Mbps, which should be good enough, right?

[USLatin]

Sounds fast. The Kingston is rated at 20MB. As it was said before the camera needs significantly less than 10MB for video.


Anything over 5.5MB/s should be fast enough for video recording.

A little more is nice to have for safety, but the Kingston is supposed to be reliable already.

Now for RAW 8fps bursts I have no clue what the requirements are. But I would assume that up to a certain point faster is better. The photos are stored on a built in memory buffer though, so all that would be affected is the offload of the buffer to the CF. If there offload were faster than your card's write speed, then a faster card would allow you to continue shooting sooner.

[Sttratos]

I did 3x SanDisk 8GB Extreme IV (45mb/sec) UDMA's.

One card limits you, no matter how big. When it's full you have to stop to dump.
Two cards can be done but it's tight.
With three cards, called A, B and C...

A is shooting
B is resting
C is dumping

Always one in resting, ready to go. I would have gone for the 16GB's, but the 8GB's were a DEAL! Through that rebate, I got them for $34 a piece! Incredible.


Well, it really depends on your workflow and your type of work. If I had a single 64GB card chances are I would never fill it up in a day, so I could dump in the evening and have it fresh for the next day.
In any case I definitely don't see the need for 3 cards. I mean, how long does it take to transfer the files to a computer? It could work with 2, like one shooting and the other dumping. Off course, the more cards the better, but I rather have bigger cards and not dump as often than having to dump every 12 or 24 minutes.

[USLatin]

Exactly. But for those that shoot non stop, even with 64GB cards you would want three. For me, right now, this 32GB will carry me through. But before I go up to Minnesota to scout I will get a second one. That way I know I can shoot non stop and dump into the laptop in the car. If you have a crew, rented gear, payed locations, etc... three is a wise idea, especially at these prices! It is like you say Sttratos, it depends. Nobody can tell you what you need other than yourself.

[Sttratos]

Certainly. But a 64GB is 192 minutes of 1080p. For drama single camera, this is a lot and way more than enough. How many productions out there shoot 192 minutes a day? Besides DV directors that just leave the camera rolling all the time hoping to catch a lucky moment from their amateur actors. LOL. But 192 minutes is 19 film magazines.
Now if what you do is ENG, weddings, documentary etc, then it's entirely different of course. Like we already said, highly depends.

[Michael Olsen]

Absolutely agree with owning more than one card. I wanted to give it a little time to test and myself some time to earn a little with the camera. Turn that around on three more cards.

[KeithAndrews.TV]

You also want to consider more than one card in the off chance that one fails on you in the middle of a shoot. Yes it would suck to lose the footage/images on the one card, but it would suck worse if you only had one card period and had to stop for the day. At least with another card ready to go you could salvage the rest of the day. Does the phrase "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" ring a bell?

[Boz]

Anything over 5.5MB/s should be fast enough for video recording.

Canon recommends 8Mb/s in their manual. Canon rep recommends nothing less than UDMA cards.

I guess if you're buying local then it's easy enough to return a card. I've ordered online, so I went with Extreme IV's just to be safe. I'd hate to lose some video due to dropouts.

[mhood]

Canon recommends 8Mb/s in their manual. Canon rep recommends nothing less than UDMA cards ... I'd hate to lose some video due to dropouts.

I suspect (could be totally wrong) that the Canon rep is recommending UDMA for total functionality on the camera...shooting stills while recording video and blasting RAW still sequences. I don't know of a CF card out there anywhere that doesn't exceed 8Mb/s write speed. Of course, if I run into problems, I'll dump that 133x Kingston like a sack of rocks.

[Perry Wilson]

wait you can snap off stills while recording video???

[Boz]

Here's the full quote from Tim Smith Canon Rep (in regards to 5D, though I would think the same applies to 7D):

"Is everybody here using UDMA cards, specifically UDMA cards when they get their compact flash cards? If you're not we're running into some real technical issues. It's showing some artifacting and some things that are not our fault. Stick with the UDMAs. A lot of the banding issues we were seeing on a lot of the shoots only showed up with the non-UDMA cards... ...What we think what happens is with the non-UDMA cards the camera can sense the speed of the card and it kind of dumbs down the data into the card which is causing some issues. It's our best guess at this point. But with UDMAs it's not an issue."

Also, Stu Maschwitz (http://www.prolost.com) told me he only uses UDMA cards after having some video drop-outs when using non UDMAs.

So take it for what it's worth.

[mhood]

What we think what happens is with the non-UDMA cards the camera can sense the speed of the card and it kind of dumbs down the data into the card which is causing some issues.

That's some real live voodoo right there for sure. We've been over this but I'd sure like to have that explained in layman's terms.

I figure the 133x will at least work for 640x480 capture (I'm a little ashamed to say that some of what I'll be doing will involve presentations headed for the Web as learning objects and VGA is fine for this) and should get me over 4 hours of record time on the 32GB card.

Again, if it fails me, I'll park my pickup truck on it.

[Boz]

Yeah, I can't imagine you having any trouble at 640x480. I'll be shooting 1920 and scaling down to 720 to do my post work.

[Perry Wilson]

wait you can snap off stills while recording video???

can anyone elaborate on this ^

[Eddy Robinson]

'Photofast' have been getting some really good reviews on both price and performance, but availability is limited and customer support unknown.

[Eddy Robinson]

can anyone elaborate on this ^

You can snap still but the video pauses for about 1 second when you do it (according to manual). Kind of a pain, but it could still be extremely useful for tripod shots (eg get your background plate for some compositing work).

[mhood]

can anyone elaborate on this ^

It's covered on page 154 of the 7D Owner's Manual.

As I understand it, you just hit the shutter all the way while recording a "movie" and the 7D takes a still. It freezes the movie for about a second and the recording resumes automatically. I can't imagine why anyone would want to do this but the 7D supports it.

I also noticed that in the section on taking stills while in movie mode (page 154), they specify a UDMA CF Card 8MB/s or faster. At the begining of the the chapter (page 149), they speak only of a "large-capacity card having a read/write speed of at least 8MB/s." No mention of UDMA...

That (and the fact that I can't get my head wrapped around the "camera senses a slow card and adjusts the data rate" voodoo) is why I suspect the UDMA requirement is to accommodate the speed hungry features like RAW sequence capture and stills during movie recording.

[Barry_Green]

That (and the fact that I can't get my head wrapped around the "camera senses a slow card and adjusts the data rate" voodoo)
Why does this need to be voodoo?

Look at it this way -- the burst mode on the 7D is, what, 8fps? But if you hold the shutter speed down and keep going and going and going, doesn't it slow down to something like 2fps? Presumably there's a buffer in there that the camera stores the raw frames in, and the buffer goes to the memory card. If that buffer gets full, the camera has to slow down.

So -- apply the same idea to video -- it uses 47mbps as long as it can, until the internal RAM buffer is getting full. Then when it polls the buffer and sees that it's almost full, it decides "hmmm... maybe I should drop down to 35mbps for a while, until that buffer empties out some." Each group of 15 or 30 frames is processed entirely independently from every other group, so it's potentially possible that the camera could re-evaluate at the beginning of each group of frames to see how much bandwidth it should allocate.

Wasn't there something in the manual that says picture IQ could degrade on long-duration captures? Seems like the same thing could apply; the longer it goes, the more backed-up the buffer could get, and therefore the lower the bandwidth might go.

Same basic concept as buffer underrun protection when writing a CD or DVD, instead of writing directly to the disc you write into a buffer, and that buffer provides a layer of protection against hardware-induced delays causing you to burn a coaster.

Now, none of this is "known" or "factual", this is all speculation, but if there is any truth to the need for UDMA cards or glitching being caused by non-UDMA cards, then this is (what I feel to be) a reasonable explanation as to how the camera could "sense" the slower card and adjust the compression dynamically.

Could all be hogwash. But it's the first approach I'd take, if I was the compression engine designer.

[Perry Wilson]

It's covered on page 154 of the 7D Owner's Manual.

As I understand it, you just hit the shutter all the way while recording a "movie" and the 7D takes a still. It freezes the movie for about a second and the recording resumes automatically. I can't imagine why anyone would want to do this but the 7D supports it.

I also noticed that in the section on taking stills while in movie mode (page 154), they specify a UDMA CF Card 8MB/s or faster. At the begining of the the chapter (page 149), they speak only of a "large-capacity card having a read/write speed of at least 8MB/s." No mention of UDMA...

That (and the fact that I can't get my head wrapped around the "camera senses a slow card and adjusts the data rate" voodoo) is why I suspect the UDMA requirement is to accommodate the speed hungry features like RAW sequence capture and stills during movie recording.


I wouldn't mind using this whilse shooting a wedding or something... I bought a 16 Extreme Pro 90mb/s so I should be good but does it stop the video when its uploaded or just on the cam?

[mhood]

Wasn't there something in the manual that says picture IQ could degrade on long-duration captures?

Best explanation I've seen so far, tyvm. IIRC, the bit in the manual about picture IQ degrading was speaking about the effects of heat buildup. If the buffer writes to a 5.5MB/s stream, how would it know if the maximum stream the card could write was 8MB/s or 60MB/s? I can see a cheap defective card that isn't performing to its specs might drop below the 5.5MB/s stream the buffer is expecting causing the buffer to build beyond capacity but I really don't see a 5.5MB/s stream being only available in USDM cards.

At any rate, if my Kingston 32GB 133x card lets me down, I will burn it in an elaborate ceremony involving chicken bones and beer.

Besides...This should be a dual card system. I should be able to use my SDHC Type 6 cards.

[Barry_Green]

It doesn't know or care how fast the card is. The buffer's job is to write the next "sector". It tells the card to write, and asks it for confirmation that it's written. It then moves on to the next sector, etc. Assuming that there's some asynchronous handshake protocol in there, which I can't fathom that there wouldn't be...

So anyway, this theoretical buffer writes as absolutely fast as it can, limited only by the card's transfer speed. So the camera hands the buffer a new GoP every half a second, and the buffer writes out its contents to the card as fast as possible. In an ideal world the buffer would never even fill up because the buffer would be spewing data out to the card as fast as or faster than it was receiving it. But the whole point of having a buffer would be for the times when the card, for whatever reason, WASN'T fast enough. So instead of having a big hiccup or glitch in your footage (ever seen a dropout in HDV? It's horrible!) the system should have some sort of buffer in place on a tapeless system, to avoid that situation.

Again, this is total speculation from an ex-programmer. I could be completely wrong in all this; I just think it makes sense and I'd be very surprised if there wasn't some sort of protection to avoid dropped-GoP issues like happen on HDV tape.

[Kholi]

How would you test this?

I've got a Kingston 8gb 133x and 16gb udma 300x card

[mhood]

Noticed any dropped-GoP issues with the Kingston?

[Kholi]

Nah. I haven't. Been shooting with them for over a month. But the UDMA card is new so I'll have to check.

Honestly. I just don't expect much to begin with so I take what I can get. Banding isn't something I worry about if it's nit abhorent. And it hasn't been noticable on anything important. For me anyway.

I'll
keep an eye out. Heading to second location Now.

Mkii is definitely fast as hell.

[Rough Cut]

It doesn't know or care how fast the card is. The buffer's job is to write the next "sector". It tells the card to write, and asks it for confirmation that it's written. It then moves on to the next sector, etc. Assuming that there's some asynchronous handshake protocol in there, which I can't fathom that there wouldn't be...

So anyway, this theoretical buffer writes as absolutely fast as it can, limited only by the card's transfer speed. So the camera hands the buffer a new GoP every half a second, and the buffer writes out its contents to the card as fast as possible. In an ideal world the buffer would never even fill up because the buffer would be spewing data out to the card as fast as or faster than it was receiving it. But the whole point of having a buffer would be for the times when the card, for whatever reason, WASN'T fast enough. So instead of having a big hiccup or glitch in your footage (ever seen a dropout in HDV? It's horrible!) the system should have some sort of buffer in place on a tapeless system, to avoid that situation.

Again, this is total speculation from an ex-programmer. I could be completely wrong in all this; I just think it makes sense and I'd be very surprised if there wasn't some sort of protection to avoid dropped-GoP issues like happen on HDV tape.

Not completely wrong at all...

From the Canon 7D instruction manual:

"If you use a card having a slow writing speed, a five-level indicator might appear on the right of the screen during moving shooting. It indicates how much data has not yet been written to the card (remaining capacity of the internal buffer memory) The slower the card, the faster the indicator will climb upward. If the indicator becomes full, movie shooting will stop automatically."

[USLatin]

I would be very surprised if ANY 20MB/s cards have issues on with a 9MB/s rated camera!
A tad over 200% requirement people... Kingston 133x will be safe, period. If it isn't then you are a little more than 200% entitled to a replacement!

Anything beyond a "healthy" (up to YOU) overhead is only for benefits in RAW bursts... I mean, shouldn't that be the end of the question? It is as straight forward as could be.

You guys are needlessly worrying me! :huh:

[J Davis]

How would you test this?

I've got a Kingston 8gb 133x and 16gb udma 300x card


Are you gonna test this? Have us got 7D yet?
Results on anyone testing this are eagerly awaited !!

[Alvise Tedesco]

How would you test this?

I've got a Kingston 8gb 133x and 16gb udma 300x card


Slow to mid speed pans with very deep dof and high lightning ratio (say pan thru a room, walls correctly exposed-highly clipped windows-walls again) is something that cause me (5D) problems most of the time. 1 frame holds for 2/4 when the burned window enter/exit the frame.
I'm using cheap no brand 233x cards.
Please keep posted if you find there's a difference

[USLatin]

Slow to mid speed pans with very deep dof and high lightning ratio (say pan thru a room, walls correctly exposed-highly clipped windows-walls again) is something that cause me (5D) problems most of the time. 1 frame holds for 2/4 when the burned window enter/exit the frame.
I'm using cheap no brand 233x cards.
Please keep posted if you find there's a difference

OMG, have I been missing these posts? Is this a known and common problem with the 5D? I have only come on to DSLRs now that the 7D came out. Can someone tell me if this is a widespread issue with the 5D and "bad" cards?

[Alvise Tedesco]

OMG, have I been missing these posts? Is this a known and common problem with the 5D? I have only come on to DSLRs now that the 7D came out. Can someone tell me if this is a widespread issue with the 5D and "bad" cards?

I'm having problems. Apparently there isn't much complaint on this specific problem. Maybe just a very small percentage of faulty cameras, I can't really report other than my personal experience.

Better explained here (see also link to dpreview forum post)
http://blog.planet5d.com/2009/03/5d2-video-stuck-frames/

[Fluke]

I'm having problems. Apparently there isn't much complaint on this specific problem. Maybe just a very small percentage of faulty cameras, I can't really report other than my personal experience.

Better explained here (see also link to dpreview forum post)
http://blog.planet5d.com/2009/03/5d2-video-stuck-frames/

According to that link it's a problem that occurs from the camera controlling the aperture. By the sound of things it shouldn't happen in manual mode. Doesn't appear to be anything to do with the CF card.

[Oedipax]

I had frozen frames on my rented 5D a few times. Put me off using it for a paid job. Doesn't seem to affect most people, though.

[Barry_Green]

"If you use a card having a slow writing speed, a five-level indicator might appear on the right of the screen during moving shooting. It indicates how much data has not yet been written to the card (remaining capacity of the internal buffer memory) The slower the card, the faster the indicator will climb upward. If the indicator becomes full, movie shooting will stop automatically."
Hah! Excellent. Thanks for posting that!

[mhood]

Yea, I didn't see that in my copy of the Owner's Manual. TYVM! I'm still confused by two things in this quote: "stop automatically" isn't brown out and degraded performance; and "slow writing speed" would be something under the 8MB/s they spec...right? Again, the 133x non UDMA Kingston performs well above their specified minimum requirements.

[Tim Joy]

The salesman at the shop recommended the Lexar 300x UDMA cards. They have a pretty nice rebate ending today, so I picked up 2 - 8Gigs for $85 after rebate. Using a sandisk III right now and it seems just fine. No problems yet and haven't noticed any significant banding, although it's only been 1 day.

[ryansheffer]

Been using my 32GB 133x Kingston's for the last day without any issue of drop outs or strange banding. Will compare to a UDMA card today, but I really don't think UDMA is necessary at all.

I have two of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134901&Tpk=32GB%20kingston%20CF

[J Davis]

the salesman at the shop recommended the lexar 300x udma cards. They have a pretty nice rebate ending today, so i picked up 2 - 8gigs for $85 after rebate. Using a sandisk iii right now and it seems just fine. No problems yet and haven't noticed any significant banding, although it's only been 1 day.

thank you 4 posting this !

[USLatin]

Been using my 32GB 133x Kingston's for the last day without any issue of drop outs or strange banding. Will compare to a UDMA card today, but I really don't think UDMA is necessary at all.

I have two of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134901&Tpk=32GB%20kingston%20CF

Thanks. Let us know if it holds strong.

Could you test highest quality RAW still bursts? I am curious to hear how long it takes for it to be ready again after the buffer is full.

[Jordan Berry]

Thanks. Let us know if it holds strong.

Could you test highest quality RAW still bursts? I am curious to hear how long it takes for it to be ready again after the buffer is full.

You mean.... you're going to take PHOTOS with this camera?

You must be crazy!

(All kidding aside, I'm VERY excited about taking photos!!)

[Loic]

I just got the canon 7D and tried a 1GB 140X Compact Flash from GXT Digital pro. I can see the right side levels go to 2/5 and when I do a rack focus it jumps to 5/5 buffer full. Then the recording stops.

I guess Kingston 133x wont do the job either. I will have to go UDMA. But there is a trick out there. I thought I would share:

You can use this portable drive that automatically transfert cards clips on the hard drive without a computer.

Nexto eXtreme (160GB) 234$ US

[Alvise Tedesco]

I just got the canon 7D and tried a 1GB 140X Compact Flash from GXT Digital pro. I can see the right side levels go to 2/5 and when I do a rack focus it jumps to 5/5 buffer full. Then the recording stops.

I guess Kingston 133x wont do the job either. I will have to go UDMA.



Not necessarily true. I have Promax 266x 16GB and see 2/3 buffer lights.
I didn't see any with Transcend 133x 16GB
Guess what, Promax are cheap, no brand, and sell a speed that isn't there

[mhood]

This is while doing highest quality RAW still bursts? Not video, right?

[Kholi]

I just got the canon 7D and tried a 1GB 140X Compact Flash from GXT Digital pro. I can see the right side levels go to 2/5 and when I do a rack focus it jumps to 5/5 buffer full. Then the recording stops.

I guess Kingston 133x wont do the job either. I will have to go UDMA. But there is a trick out there. I thought I would share:

You can use this portable drive that automatically transfert cards clips on the hard drive without a computer.

Nexto eXtreme (160GB) 234$ US



Guess is wrong. I've been using Kingston 133x with the 7D and 5D and experienced nothing negative that I can see. I'll scrub for banding, but I definitely didn't get a stopped recording or anything like that. This is with video. Dunno about still bursts.

[kalieaire]

I've been picking up the Transcend 300x cards for $146 via Amazone Prime. I've got 4 of them so far and they are working out really well.

When I transfer the files off of the cards via a FW800 adapter, they go at roughly 63MB/sec. I can transfer a full card in 3 and a half minutes.

[Loic]

This is while doing highest quality RAW still bursts? Not video, right?

The test 1GB 140X Compact Flash from GXT Digital pro was with 1080 24p HD video on the canon 7D.

[Kholi]

IMO that's the most important part of a UDMA, transfer/offload speed. My Kingston takes 8 minutes to offload via USB, I'm guessing firewire would be a little faster but nowhere near as fast as a UDMA card + Firewire.

I'm going to hold off on getting UDMA cards right now until someone confirms if UDMA makes a difference over the Kingston 133x cards as far as banding goes.

[J Davis]

New $60 sandisk rebate means extreme IV 45mbps UDMA is $48+tx
see B&H website to download rebate PDF

[kalieaire]

I've been picking up the Transcend 300x cards for $146 via Amazone Prime. I've got 4 of them so far and they are working out really well.

When I transfer the files off of the cards via a FW800 adapter, they go at roughly 63MB/sec. I can transfer a full card in 3 and a half minutes.


I should've probably told you what size, but yes, I've been getting the 16 gig cards.

[MikeWilkinson]

Info for anyone who wants to know, I ordered the following:

http://www.adorama.com/IDS8GBUC2153.html?searchinfo=sandisk+CF+8gb

(8 GB Sandisk UltraII 15 MB/s)

and have had zero problems with it. I saw the buffer status bar appear ONCE, with one bar filled in, and it was gone in less than a few seconds. I've shot about 30 minutes of static footage to test each card, then had a shoot in the field, doing mostly static stuff, some pans, and everything worked fine.

[USLatin]

Sounds like the 20MB/s cards are the sweet spot if yours works this well. Have you benched your card with something like HD Tach? It would be very useful since you seem to have a card that is 99% perfect.

Also wonder if you would get the buffer bars to go higher with something like a tree filling the frame, with a strong breeze, with deep focus?

[mhood]

There ought to be laws against codec abuse. ;-)

[USLatin]

There ought to be laws against codec abuse. ;-)

Didn't say it would look pretty. :D

[Jackson Miller]

I saw one test where a non UDMA card actually performed slightly better for video than a UDMA one. I just spent 10 minutes looking for it and I can't find it anymore. Dengit. Anyways, I have two Kingston 133x 32 GB cards and they are fine these are probably the most commonly used cards and I have never heard of a problem. Just make sure you get real ones and not imitations (goes for all cards).

[ChadKinkle]

I had an Extreme IV 8gig at 45mb go down after only a little bit of shooting video. I think it failed because the camera's battery light was flashing red. So be warned. Do not shoot when the battery is low.

-chad

www.harpegraphicnovel.com

[Nick_Lee]

so...I've been reading about CF cards for hours and I still haven't reached much of a conclusion. I really don't want to spend 300 dollars on memory cards if I can at all avoid it. Are the kingston elite 32gb cards enough? Does the camera really dumb down the footage when it senses the speed of the card?

Sorry!

[PaPa]

Nick, don't

I got some Sandisk Ultra 2 15mb/s. reasonaly cheap and get the job done. All you need is 8mb/s and they recommend 10.. 15 is fine.

[Nick_Lee]

PaPa,

don't as in...don't get the kingstons or don't spend 300 dollars on the udma? haha. I'm assuming you mean don't spend the 300. hopefully at least.

I don't really plan on shooting stills while recording.

[PaPa]

lol yeah, don't spend the hundreds. It's really overkill.

[Nick_Lee]

that makes me happy. thank you. haha.

[Rakesh Jacob]

I'll be going with this unless I find it cheaper
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134901

32GB for $76? Kiss my a$$ HVX200a, I should have sold you while the selling was good!

[Zim]

that is a good price.

[mhood]

That's where I got mine. Now all I need is a camera to use it in. ;-(

[USLatin]

I'll be going with this unless I find it cheaper
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134901

32GB for $76? Kiss my a$$ HVX200a, I should have sold you while the selling was good!

:happy: Though I sold a 200 and not a 200a, very different story.

I just got my 32GB 133x Kingston and though my camera isn't here yet I tested it with HD Tach...

...:Drogar-Shock(DBG): 4MB/s?!?!??

a. I got a bad one.
b. Maybe HD Tach isn't benching this guy right?

@#$%! B&H is closed (hope they are having a nice holiday). I guess I'll find out if it is b, since my camera arrives before B&H is back!

I first tested on a USB multi card reader, 4.1MB/s. Then I tried formatting and testing again (FAT32) same result. So I tried on my CF to PCMCIA adapter on the laptop but it is slow there aswell.

Hope all I need is to format in the camera or something... :violin:

Any ideas?

[Barry_Green]

According to the reviews on Newegg, there's a guy there who found it to run at about 5MB/sec. So it sounds like your results aren't that far off. That Kingston is a "133x" card, and it's not UDMA.

[USLatin]

According to the reviews on Newegg, there's a guy there who found it to run at about 5MB/sec. So it sounds like your results aren't that far off. That Kingston is a "133x" card, and it's not UDMA.

Barry, could you please help me out. I am a bit confused. Did I not buy the card everyone is talking about? Do I have to check for a UDMA on the specs? I bought from B&H: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/601738-REG/Kingston_CF_32GB_S2_32GB_CompactFlash_Elite_Pro.ht ml#accessories

I'd love to know if I should order a new one from Newegg right now. Or is that one ALSO not the one everyone is talking about?

How much and where? Please. Thank you!


That's where I got mine. Now all I need is a camera to use it in. ;-(

Sounds like I am not alone.

[Barry_Green]

From what I understand, none of the Kingston cards are UDMA. Not even the ultimate pro 266x card.

[Barry_Green]

If you want a fast compactflash card, you want the Hoodman or the SanDisk Extreme IV. In this test from rangefinder magazine.com, the Hoodman 300x was about 2.5x faster than the Kingston 266x card, and over 3x faster than the Kingston 133x card.

http://www.rangefindermag.com/storage/articles/RF0909_NeedSpeed_Kotsinadelis.pdf

[USLatin]

But isn't everyone saying that they work with the 5D? Others are saying they work with their 7Ds...

http://www.zumovalusa.com/DELETE/CF_front.jpg . http://www.zumovalusa.com/DELETE/CF_back.jpg

http://www.zumovalusa.com/DELETE/case.jpg

[ryansheffer]

I have 4. They have been running in two 5ds and two 7ds without issue. They all get between 10-20 MB/S on blackmagic disk speed test.

I have shot with these on my 5d for 6 months and have only dropped frames twice. Both times were when the card was about 90% full. Obviously, no one should operate with the card 90% full.

[USLatin]

I have 4. They have been running in two 5ds and two 7ds without issue. They all get between 10-20 MB/S on blackmagic disk speed test.

I have shot with these on my 5d for 6 months and have only dropped frames twice. Both times were when the card was about 90% full. Obviously, no one should operate with the card 90% full.

How are your offloading speeds? They would have to be the same as they benched so not much hope for an explanation for my issue there... time to RMA?

Here is the 4.1MB/s on HD Tach (http://www.zumovalusa.com/DELETE/CF_bench_empty.jpg), which is the same with the card completely empty and with ~1.5GB of stuff in it.

(Throwing 1.5GB of data into it took close to 10min!!!)

And I also got 3.9MB/s on HDtune (http://www.zumovalusa.com/DELETE/CF_bench_tune.jpg).

[Rakesh Jacob]

I have 4. They have been running in two 5ds and two 7ds without issue. They all get between 10-20 MB/S on blackmagic disk speed test.

I have shot with these on my 5d for 6 months and have only dropped frames twice. Both times were when the card was about 90% full. Obviously, no one should operate with the card 90% full.
THANK YOU RYAN!!!
Your videos will not look better if you pay more for higher spec memory than you need. If it works it works....
You can argue future proof, but prices will MOST ASSUREDLY GO DOWN and the low end of the market WILL GET FASTER AND BIGGER before our little cameras get "RAW" video, or neural synaptic interfaces, or direct to MotionPDF, or Holographic 3D Liveview Recording (only 30p at first, WTF Canon!), or 3168p :)

But if you have the money for UDMA and feel more confident by using it, go for it.

[USLatin]

This is ridiculous... I get UNDER 1MB/s on my laptop with the PCMCIS adapter.

Do I need to format in the camera? Could that be the issue? I formatted in the desktop (FAT32).

I put in an order for a second one from Newegg. At least I know that I'll be able to RMA with them till I get a good one.

[Rakesh Jacob]

Dude it really sounds like a bottle neck in your system somewhere, or, on a longshot, a driver issue

[USLatin]

Dude it really sounds like a bottle neck in your system somewhere, or, on a longshot, a driver issue

I was wondering but benching software uses nothing but the drive that is being tested and RAM. I have tested SDHC cards before and gotten over 10MB/s on the same reader on the desktop. I just ran one of them again and got 13.6MB/s minimum transfer. So anything below that rate can be attributed to this specific CF card sample I was so f'ing unlucky to get.

I hope that;s the case, I hope I just got a bad one. It seems many people on Newegg complained about slow cards. Usually, if you have a problem with something you just bought, you inmediately get online and whine about it. So I hope that there are many satisfied customers out there who might have gotten good ones and said nothing. Cause otherwise, based on Newegg reviews, there are a whole lot of slow ones out there.

Also encouraging is that many DVXusers seem happy with them, and have used them on their 5Ds, now some on their 7Ds I suppose. Unfortunately I can't remember anyone specifically stating they used this particular type of card with their 7Ds. If anyone does please let me know to give me a bit of peace of mind.

!#@$% B&H will charge ME for shipping back of the FAULTY card... stuff like that really stinks, no matter how little the charge.

[Rakesh Jacob]

I feel your pain... :(
Have you benched marked another CF card or just SDHC? Sometimes hardware/software(drivers) can have weird specific issues like that.
And yeah I think upset/dissapointed people have a greater desire to give a rating than satisfied people, so there's that

[ryansheffer]

Try formatting in camera. Works wayyy better than with your computer.

[USLatin]

This is my first CF, I was an SD guy till now. I downloaded the firmware for the reader and tried again. Same deal. I will try to reformat in-camera as soon as I get it.

In the mean time all I can do is: http://www.reduser.net/forum/images/smilies/incazzato.gif


:violin:

[Animaitor]

Why there's not such thing as rebates in Japan?! CF prices here are crazy. Fujiya, Map Camera, Yodobashi, Bic Camera, even the tinny little shops in Akihabara are charging double of what people are paying in the US. The cheapest place I found was Amazon.jp so I ordered a SanDisk Extreme III 32GB 30MBs version. Even though it doesn't say so on the card or package itself, this 30MBs is in fact UDMA as stated at SanDisk website (http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/262/session/L2F2LzEvc2lkL0VpRE1OSUpq). Hope it doesn't give me any headaches. Seems that getting a trouble free CF is like playing the Lotto...

[Cleverpork]

If you want a fast compactflash card, you want the Hoodman or the SanDisk Extreme IV.

Barry (or anybody else), thanks for your thoughts on this... I found a Sandisk card that didn't say "Extreme IV". Almost pulled the trigger, but thought I'd just ask for opinions...

On first look, it's faster / cheaper than the Extreme IV and is UDMA enabled. It's over at eBay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/SANDISK-EXTREME-COMPACT-FLASH-CF-16GB-16G-400X-60MB-SEC_W0QQitemZ320427865475QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Dr ives_Storage_Internal?hash=item4a9afd3583#ht_2913w t_849

Whad'ya think?

Thanks,

Cris

[Barry_Green]

They are dropping the "III" and "IV" names, and going with just "Extreme" and "Extreme Pro".

[j]

That's so 90's!

[Zack Hill]

First post. I have a few 8GB Sandisk Extreme III's 30MB and haven't had any trouble yet. I've only messed around with it a little. Maybe 20 min. total. I'm getting ready to order a few of the 32 GB cards but have been a little trigger-shy. Has anyone had any trouble with these cards and the 7d?

[USLatin]

More dropped frames today... sCAN'Tdisk's x133 32GB's are NOT for pro use, period.

That is 4 times already and I got my camera less than a week ago.

I am returning them and getting something faster, 16GB hopefully.

[Rick Rock]

I just tried out a friend's 2GB Sandisk Ultra II and it works fine in my Canon 7D. Captured at least a dozen clips and I never saw the buffer meter.

That said, I'm still ordering Extreme III cards to be on the safe side.

[Zack Hill]

More dropped frames today... sCAN'Tdisk's x133 32GB's are NOT for pro use, period.

That is 4 times already and I got my camera less than a week ago.

I am returning them and getting something faster, 16GB hopefully.

Are these the Extreme III 30GB speed cards? On there site they say the 30MB cards are UDMA compliant. Just want to make sure we are talking about the same cards.

[USLatin]

These are the ones I am talking about:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134901

What would be the next step up in speed? It seems they only have issues sometimes. I guess perhaps with the Tokina more than not due to the deep focus. Also, I've been deleting clips so perhaps the card doesn't like that? Either way, I need to get something more reliable.

What is the next step up in speed? 16GB I guess to try to keep it close to the same $$$.

[7DDude]

'Photofast' have been getting some really good reviews on both price and performance, but availability is limited and customer support unknown.


I would do a little research before you purchase any off brand CF Cards.
I was just reading tonight at the dpreview.com forum in the 7D thread that one person has had problems with his 7D recognizing 32Gig and 64 Gig cards.

Photofast was one of the brands, and the other was Ridata, I think. Supposedly the camera is showing only half of the CF size. Even formated in camera, or b
y the computer. I'm suspect that he may have a couple of bad cards, but 2 of them? Just some food for thought.

7DDude

[shortguy]

Barry (or anybody else), thanks for your thoughts on this... I found a Sandisk card that didn't say "Extreme IV". Almost pulled the trigger, but thought I'd just ask for opinions...

On first look, it's faster / cheaper than the Extreme IV and is UDMA enabled. It's over at eBay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/SANDISK-EXTREME-COMPACT-FLASH-CF-16GB-16G-400X-60MB-SEC_W0QQitemZ320427865475QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Dr ives_Storage_Internal?hash=item4a9afd3583#ht_2913w t_849

Whad'ya think?

Thanks,

Cris

I as well would like to know if this is a smart choice, at least for shooting video on the 7D. I've been reading for the past 2 days trying to find a good CF card and I cannot find anything concrete, mostly rumors. I hear that you should only stick with an 8GB because the 7D only recognized 8gb, and if you get a larger card, you can run into problems (not sure if that's true). Then there is the UDMA only recommendation. Anyone have anything concrete? I have this nice new toy and I can't even play with it because I don't have a CF card!

[Cleverpork]

I have this nice new toy and I can't even play with it because I don't have a CF card!

Shortguy,

I did make a purchase at that above link, but they haven't arrived yet. They're coming from Hong Kong, so I'm still waiting... that was about a week ago. I'll post info when I get them, if that would be helpful.

I did find that very card on Sandisk, so here's that info if it helps...

http://www.sandisk.com/products/dslr/sandisk-extreme-compactflash-card.aspx

...but can't speak to whether or not it's gonna' be a good card or not.

c

[shortguy]

Awesome, thanks pork, please do let me know how it turns out.

[Cleverpork]

Awesome, thanks pork, please do let me know how it turns out.

Just got them today. For the record, I purchased them on the 7th and received them in Nashville (it's the 16th). 9 days to receive from Hong Kong, but the price was less than anywhere else by a fair amount -- was worth it since I'm not pressed for time.

Also, working great so far. Just shot and viewed about 5 minutes of footage at 1080p -- seems to be working without any hiccups and no drop frames, thus far. Not enough shooting to determine anything, but thought I'd throw down the update.

c

[shortguy]

Great news! I need more than one, but one will do me fine for now. Thanks for the 411.

[shortguy]

Just got them today. For the record, I purchased them on the 7th and received them in Nashville (it's the 16th). 9 days to receive from Hong Kong, but the price was less than anywhere else by a fair amount -- was worth it since I'm not pressed for time.

Also, working great so far. Just shot and viewed about 5 minutes of footage at 1080p -- seems to be working without any hiccups and no drop frames, thus far. Not enough shooting to determine anything, but thought I'd throw down the update.

c

Forgot to ask, does it recognize all 16GB?

[Cleverpork]

Forgot to ask, does it recognize all 16GB?

I'm showing 13.3gb left after having shot for a bit. So, yup. It's recognizing 16gb cards.

Also, if you go that direction from the link I gave, no need to only order one... I purchased two and will likely get two more in a couple of weeks.

Hope that helps.

c

[shortguy]

Awesome, thanks man. Ordered mine today.

[USLatin]

Has anyone gotten dropped frames or even buffer meters showing up with the SanDisk Extreme III 16GB cards yet?

I already got an RMA lined up for the one I got from B&H. And I need to make up my mind which today for the replacement because I need the cards to arrive in LA before the end of the week.

Any info is much appreciated! The IV's are $60 more each, so $120 down the drain if unnecessary.

[USLatin]

I couldn't wait, put in an order for two 16GB Extreme III's and if they are any faster at all in comparison to the 133x cards then I should be golden. Just hope I am not paying $25 extra per card only to get half the capacity. :crosses fingers:

FYI, if you don't have mission critical needs the 32GB's worked well over 95% of the time. Probably about 97% to 99% of the time if I had to take an accurate guess.

Over the past week and a few days I had dropped frames 7 (seven!) times, which is horrible. But at the same time, if you are not spending money on production and you are shooting narrative, then they seem to be the best purchase out there. Just don't tell your actors and pray they won't murder you in the very unlikely event that you ruin a great take.

And 32GB with h.264 is a shit load! Very nice to have.

[andrew00]

Is anyone using the new Extreme and/or Extreme Pro's?

I thought there were just renamed Extreme III and IV's, but looking at the specs they are much faster.

The Extreme, which replaces the Extreme III, is 60mbs up from 30mbs, and the Extreme Pro is up to 90mbs.

Seems a worthwhile upgrade to me, esp as if you shop around you can get the new stuff for the old prices.

[USLatin]

Just got my pair of Extreme III's. Only used one so far and no warnings yet. I will shoot a lot more before I make up my mind though. So far so good. Tomorrow I will try shooting trees moving in the breeze on the Tokina at f/16 and leave it recording for the full 4GB, see if it complains at all.

However, the Extreme III clocked in at 0.7MB/s in the PCMCIA slot on my laptop... even lower?! Makes no sense. Horrible speeds for offloading. Horrible is actually a compliment. Not at home to test on the USB reader but I should look into a firewire reader anyway I guess, or I'll shoot myself offloading on location. Anyone using one?

And it sort of sucks that the 32GB 133x's hadn't been dropping frames for a couple of days, but I hadn't been shooting as much so it might be just me. They are not a bad buy for short films and such. I regret having to let them go since they really are a bargain and they work 98% of the time.

[MikeWilkinson]

Anyone get their rebates from Sandisk yet?

[j]

Just a note, out of last minute desperation (all the San Disk rebate cards were sold out in my area) I purchased a couple of PNY Optima pro UDMA 266x 8gig cards at frys for under $50 each. I was nervous, but they worked flawlessly. Never saw a buffer warning, never saw a dropped or corrupted frame. Shot in 1080 and 720p60.

-J