Topic: CF Cards, whats good and whats bad?

[Jimna]

i was just shopping around and see a massive difference in prices.  i found 1 card for $16, and another fro $40(4gig cards).  also, can anyone tell me what is the max size of card a canon xt will take?

anything else i should know that im totally missing?

thanks
jim

[BJ]

well..here is my .02$ 

the 1GB card that I sent isn't the fastest.  I don't even remember the brand name on it.  It works.  I do have the exact card from Newegg that i linked you to earlier, the SanDisc Ultra II.  This card is, to me, SOO much better.  The camera seems to operate smoother when compared to my 1GB card that I had.  You really only notice this when you are shooting in burst mode (i shoot RAW+JPG in the highest settings), but the Ultra II handled it great.  The second point in my decision to get the SanDisc is reliability.  To me, NOT losing my pictures was worht the extra 25$.  I have no proof that any other brands do/do not mess up, but the feedback on the sandisc cards are excellent...so it was a piece of mind thing.

I hope that helps a little.

I don't know the max size of the CF card, but I am guessing it is either 4GB or 8GB right now.  Also, i NEVER updated the firmware on the XT....just never needed too.  If you wanted/needed to do that, it might also include a capacity increase, you would have to go read the release notes though to find out.

BJ

[Frank in JC]

The second point in my decision to get the SanDisc is reliability.  To me, NOT losing my pictures was worht the extra 25$.  I have no proof that any other brands do/do not mess up, but the feedback on the sandisc cards are excellent...so it was a piece of mind thing.

I couldn't agree more, I make a lot of equipment decisions based partly on peace of mind.   It may be irrational, but if I'm more confident in my equipment, I'm probably going to take better photos. 

[stevetoney]

I can't argue with the above ^^^ logic.  However, you really can't argue with logic that all things being equal if you can save some decent amount of money, you're ahead of the game.

Here's the key.  Find out what works in your equipment.  Find a website where people post their experiences with a specific product that you're considering, and even better if they have experience using it in the same gear. 

For example, lots of people have posted here about their luck with CF cards in their SD 7XX.  At newegg, the huge A-Data 16 and 32GB cards are at least half the price of Sandisc and nobody has reported problems with the cheaper card.  That's over $100 savings for the bigger card with no reported issues...in that case I'm definitely saving the money or buying two for the same price as one Sandisc.

OTOH, if you don't have any indication from others that a particular card will work in your equipment, you're taking your chances.  In that case, I might personally also opt for the cheaper media under the presumption that I'd back up to harddrive frequently until I have enough confidence that failure will not happen with the cheap cards.  That and always keep a spare card handy if in-the-field issues happen.

Finally, I will say that the above is based on a hobbyist perspective.  If I were doing any of this professionally, there's no doubt in my mind that I'd 100% of the time go for the best money can buy.

My 2 cents.

Steve

[Jimna]

ok, this has all been very helpful.  i think i can make an educated decision now.


...so can anyone tell me the largest card a rebel XT will use?  i would get an 8gb if it will work.  anyone know?  ive been poking around canon's site but no luck on that detail. 



thanks everybody.

[stevetoney]

ok, this has all been very helpful.  i think i can make an educated decision now.


...so can anyone tell me the largest card a rebel XT will use?  i would get an 8gb if it will work.  anyone know?  ive been poking around canon's site but no luck on that detail. 



thanks everybody.

For the cards that have been out for awhile, newegg seems to get a good amount of feedback from users, both positive and negative.  So, you might get lucky and maybe someone has posted that a particular card did or did not work with the rebel XT.  Might be worth a try.