Compact Flash Cards

egor · 4 Apr 2005, 12:00 (Ref:1269743)

Looking at buying some new compact flash cards, forget the expense what do you use a few samller cards e.g. 256, 512mb etc or a lesser number of the bigger cards 2.0gb etc.
Any recommendations????

Pigit · 4 Apr 2005, 13:29 (Ref:1269849)

I've just Brought a 2Gb 80x lexar for £129.99 + 2.95 p&p
at mymemory.co.uk orderd Thursday was here today...

**Tim Falce** · 4 Apr 2005, 13:43 (Ref:1269862)

I use 512mb by Crucial technology. I was going to get a 1Gb but I though that if it goes wrong I could lose a lot of images in one go. If you shoot for a living it could cost you a lot of money.

TerryC · 4 Apr 2005, 13:50 (Ref:1269869)

Just bought myself a 1Gb CompactFlash from Crucial UK, £43.98 all in including 4% discount. Ebuyer does a Kingston version for £42.66. To be honest, I'd recommend splashing that extra £1 something and get it from Crucial because of their promptness. I got the card very next day and once again I was impressed. Let me know if you need discount codes.

Should your card fail, I'll trust Crucial more than ebuyer for sure.

Phoenix1 · 4 Apr 2005, 13:58 (Ref:1269874)

Try CCLOnline.com - currently they are out of flash but a 256 was around £26 + p&p with next day delivery.

Personally I would have more than one card and swap through the day so that at a certain point should one not work / get damaged you not lose everything!

**Tim Falce** · 4 Apr 2005, 14:17 (Ref:1269909)

Terry, Crucial are excellent on returns service. I had to return a couple of PC memory modules as they were incompatible. They refunded the money immeadiately and I always get next day delivery, not bad considering it is one end of the country to the other.

Snapperjack · 4 Apr 2005, 16:18 (Ref:1270018)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pigit

I've just Brought a 2Gb 80x lexar for £129.99 + 2.95 p&p
at mymemory.co.uk orderd Thursday was here today...

That's a good price for a great cf.

So you did n't fancy the 8gig one for £900 then!!!! lol

Cougar · 4 Apr 2005, 16:28 (Ref:1270024)

7day shop (although not always very prompt) are doing a Viking 2GB CF card for £99

Oh and I use a 1GB CF card and a 512XD card as my camera supports both... havnt filled them both up yet... havnt tried hard enough i guess

**bella** · 4 Apr 2005, 22:47 (Ref:1270321)

my dad bought a 2gb one from hong kong for about £50, i think, he's still on smug git mode about that and it was a good 5 months ago now...

i've got a 512mb and 32mb card, then a microdrive. the 512mb card is from jessops, and it's got a tendency to eat pictures, to such an extent that i'd be wanting to take significant pics twice just in case.

thebear · 5 Apr 2005, 00:49 (Ref:1270375)

You might wish to exaimine the `write speed'. Here in the US, prices of the older cards are dropping significantly as the newer `high speed' write versions appear. In some cases, the new cards can be written on at double the speed of the old ones. If this is important, wait a few months. Even so, it might pay to wait as the older cards will be bargain priced at that time.

rdjones · 5 Apr 2005, 07:12 (Ref:1270552)

I have a pile of them 1x128Mb and 2x 256Mb which don't get used that often now. But when I can 10D I bought a 512Mb card from Amazon for £35 and 1Gb card also from Amazon which was about £50. But parents are currently in Australia, but the went to Singapore first and they are bring me back a 2Gb card.

egor · 5 Apr 2005, 07:32 (Ref:1270565)

What is the write speed of the crucial cards? Had a quick look at the web site, can't see any where with the info.
I have had a look around ebay and you can get some of the new fast cards(80x) from the far east for some very good prices, anybody gone this route or would you stay well clear of it?

Pigit · 5 Apr 2005, 10:24 (Ref:1270699)

For Snapperjack don't think the Mrs would let me spend more money.

TerryC · 5 Apr 2005, 11:48 (Ref:1270757)

Quote:

Originally Posted by egor

What is the write speed of the crucial cards? Had a quick look at the web site, can't see any where with the info.
I have had a look around ebay and you can get some of the new fast cards(80x) from the far east for some very good prices, anybody gone this route or would you stay well clear of it?

I'm wondering the very same thing. Connected the DSLR for the 1st time last night and the transfer seemed pretty fast (not obviously slow) to me.

thebear · 5 Apr 2005, 13:00 (Ref:1270831)

Quote:

Originally Posted by TerryC

I'm wondering the very same thing. Connected the DSLR for the 1st time last night and the transfer seemed pretty fast (not obviously slow) to me.

Write speed is the issue, not read. The write speed affects the ability to take sequential pix. You can not take another if the data is still being written to a `slow' (early syle memory chip) card. Read speeds are governed by your PC which always has the ability extract the data very fast.

Phoenix1 · 5 Apr 2005, 13:30 (Ref:1270847)

look on cclonline.com the 256mb is now under £16 :-D

**Woolley** · 5 Apr 2005, 23:36 (Ref:1271343)

I've used Picstop several times for very prompt service. Currently offerring 4GB for £230-£290 depending on make, complete with recovery software.

Other cards seem to be competitively priced too.

MolsonBoy · 6 Apr 2005, 01:36 (Ref:1271395)

One thing to remember about the write speed of the newer, faster cards is that the camera has to be able to write at that speed. Lexar 80X and the Extreme III cards there are few cameras that can take advantage of their speed. Usually the pro level cameras can do this. But if you get a deal I suppose it won't hurt to use them.

TerryC · 6 Apr 2005, 08:29 (Ref:1271530)

Ok since I just bought the Crucial 1Gb model (same as egor), I have a strange feeling that it is indeed the slower version. Would someone confirm? Is there any freeware out there that tests the transfer speed? If not, I'll order some of the fast ones mention and ask for refunds at Crucial. BTW, what is fast and what is slow in terms of the (??X) number?

MolsonBoy · 6 Apr 2005, 17:09 (Ref:1271862)

Quote:

Originally Posted by TerryC

Ok since I just bought the Crucial 1Gb model (same as egor), I have a strange feeling that it is indeed the slower version. Would someone confirm? Is there any freeware out there that tests the transfer speed? If not, I'll order some of the fast ones mention and ask for refunds at Crucial. BTW, what is fast and what is slow in terms of the (??X) number?

Check here: Rob Galbraith This may help you find the info you need.

David L · 6 Apr 2005, 18:04 (Ref:1271916)

I mostly use Lexar Professional Write Assist cards now, 1Gb and 2Gb.. 80* and 40* speeds depending upon when bought..

I have some 512 crucial cards as well, and they are way slower..

kdr · 6 Apr 2005, 18:08 (Ref:1271919)

i just got 2 new lexar 512, 80x cards today...plus some sort of lexar card reader that apparently i need a firewire lead or something for. technology...my head hurts!

jonathan500 · 9 Apr 2005, 10:19 (Ref:1273880)

I use 2x 2gb Ridata x40 CF cards and a 4gb Microdrive last year, looking to replace the microdrive with 2 more 2gb cards, i got the Ridata cards from http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/ which are pretty cheap and the marked down my invoice to $20 so i did not pay any import duty etc

MikeHoyer · 9 Apr 2005, 10:29 (Ref:1273882)

I got a 1gb CF card from crucial, for some reason it holds a few less photos than my other CF card, and my microdrive. But it's no real problem, it was cheap and works fine!

thebear · 9 Apr 2005, 13:33 (Ref:1273991)

Recent camera magazines have reported that Sandisk is incorporating male USB plugs on their 512mb & larger cards.

The card actually FOLDS in half to reveal the connector, effectivly making the card a USB flash drive.

This will allow transfer to a PC without any external adaptors or cables.

Just another reason that prices on current cards will be dropping.

A note on transfer speeds: Sandisk "Ultra II" has a sustained write speed (80x) of 9mb/second and read speed of 10mb/second.

Suggeted retail prices in the US are $109.99 (512mb) and $149.99 (1gb).

Click HERE for Sandisk's web site.

Lexar is not standing still either.

Their "Platinum" series are rated at 40x (6mb/sec) and their "Professional" series are 60x & 80x.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Cheap Sandisk Compact Flash Cards	egor	Motorsport Art & Photography	3	13 Oct 2005 17:33
Compact flash card problem	Snapper Baz	Motorsport Art & Photography	9	23 Mar 2005 10:09
Compact Flash Card Help	Carrie	Motorsport Art & Photography	6	24 Jul 2004 20:18
Compact flash vs Microdrive	Tim Falce	Motorsport Art & Photography	10	13 Jan 2004 16:00
Digital Compact 4m or 5m	JAG	Motorsport Art & Photography	4	15 May 2003 03:11