Memory cards?

[JDocPony]

I would love to know how you deside on a memory card... I had two bought for me that were 4GB, which have now had a major melt down... of course AFTER I took the important photos... I have the CF= type II but which brand size works best for you?... I do not have portable storage yet for my files... working on that too...lol... thanks!

[Grandpaw]

I have a few Kingston cards a a few Sandisk Extreme III cards that are all 2gig each. This size works well for me but It will just depend if you shoot RAW or RAW with JPEG. What size you need depends on what files you take the pictures at and how many you will be taking. Every one's needs vary from person to person and job to job, Jeff

[gahspidy]

I stick with a reputable brand such as sandisk or Kingston. Each brand has their own economy level cards and up to their high performance cards at different choices of capacity. I would not try to save a buck when it comes to the memory cards by buying a generic or store brand. I usually get the Sandisk Extreme lll cards at 4GB. I have a couple of 2GB and am considering getting a couple of 8Gb.

[another view]

I guess I'm basically in agreement with above - they're all so cheap these days, and the information stored on them is valueable enough (when I'm lucky!) that I make sure to get something good. I usually buy Lexar, and one level back from the top of the line. I don't shoot sports and don't have the latest/greatest gear so speed really doesn't matter to me. Best time to buy is right after the new version comes out - last 4gb I bought was about $25 after rebate (!) and I think it was closer to $100 when it came out.

I shoot RAW so you might not need a card this big, but they're handy for me. Plus, if it's important enough I can copy the whole thing to a DVD for backup without having to split it up before burning. Note that some older digital cameras can't accept anything larger than a 2gb card, so be sure it'll work if you before you buy something bigger.

[freygr]

Even Kingston, Sandisk, and Lemark CF cards are cheap. I would not purchase any thing but name grand cards of any type for paid shots. As the no-name cards can leave you hanging, and if the price is too good it could be counterfeit and you could take photos and lose them to bad memory chips.

[Didache]

I use Kingston myself - I have 8 identical 1 Gb cards, each of which hold 61 RAW files. I prefer the 1 Gb because I don't have all my eggs in one basket in the event of failure. Having said that (touch wood!) I have never had a card fail on me.

Mike

[SmartWombat]

I use sandisk 2GB CF just because it's what Costco sells
I've only ever had one card fail on me, and that was when I upgraded from a 20D to 1D and the Lexar 1G 80x card wasn't compatible.

[fx101]

I use the Kingston 4GB cards just because that's what I got cheapest (from a reputable brand) at adorama. I rarely do long RAW+Fine Jpeg Bursts so speed is really not a factor for me. 4GB is perfect because it lets me back up and format at a nice interval while a larger card might entice me to shoot until it's full and then perform a backup.

Stick with a reputable brand (Sandisk, Lexar, Kingston among others) and you'll be fine. If you need more speed then take a look at the card's speed ratings.

[Franglais]

I have been using mostly TRANSCEND cards - I have a supplier near where I do my dance classes, the prices are the same as the noname cards but it's a known brand. I have measured the performance of each CF card generation from 1GB up to the current 8GB 266x UDMA and it's consistent.

Personally I prefer to put the biggest, fastest card I can in the camera and not have to change cards. I shot a wedding on Saturday in RAW+JPG 12Mpix with the 8GB card. After 500 shots the D300 was saying that there was still space for 20 images.

When I got back to the hotel I connected the camera to my ARCHOS video player - this is not a hard drive but it has 4GB of internal storage. The ARCHOS just copied the JPG's which gave me an extra security copy plus it allowed me to show people what I'd done. I put the 8GB CF card in my suitcase and put the reserve 2GB CF card in the camera for touristing the next day.

[PhotoRookie]

" I have the CF= type II"

I believe most of us use Type I cards, I use Sandisk Ultra II's and I've never had a problem. I wonder if it's a type II thing ?

[Franglais]

I believe most of us use Type I cards, I use Sandisk Ultra II's and I've never had a problem. I wonder if it's a type II thing ?

Compact Flash type 1 and type 2 refers to the physical dimesions of the card (the type 2 ones are thicker).

The Sandisk Ultra I/2/3/4 is the generation of the card from Sandisk's point of view, pure marketing, doesn't mean anything.

Same with the 80x 133x 266x speed indications - it gives you an idea of how fast the card is, but there are many ways to determine speed - reading small files, large files, writing small files, large files, etc.

[Anbesol]

keep in mind that failed flash drives aren't totally hopeless - recovering files from those cards ARE VERY possible. There are programs that read the residual static charge created by the binary language, I've done it a couple times - one time I got all except 3 pictures back from the card (out of about 90). It once, was lost, but now is found... ;) :P It should also work with type II cards, if anything it would work better as the residual is stronger - but you can certainly expect that to happen with type 2 cards.

I stick with the cheap but good one - I have sandisk, sony, and pny....

[WesternGuy]

I agree with all the advice to stick with the reputable ones. You should also know, if you don't already, that some cameras have a limit on the size of the memory card they can format. HTH.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

[JDocPony]

keep in mind that failed flash drives aren't totally hopeless - recovering files from those cards ARE VERY possible. There are programs that read the residual static charge created by the binary language, I've done it a couple times - one time I got all except 3 pictures back from the card (out of about 90). It once, was lost, but now is found... ;) :P It should also work with type II cards, if anything it would work better as the residual is stronger - but you can certainly expect that to happen with type 2 cards.

I stick with the cheap but good one - I have sandisk, sony, and pny....

SO how would I do this... help please!.:idea:

[another view]

SO how would I do this... help please!.:idea:

Check the "sticky" thread for a lot of ideas...

[topsi_belle]

Wasn't sure where to post this, but...
I'm using a Fuji Finepix s5700, with a Transcend 2gb SD card, and twice now, all my pictures have "disappeared" from the memory card. It hasn't seem to have been triggered by anything - I have simply turned my camera on, and they have all gone.
Firstly I don't know if the problem is likely to be with the memory card or with the camera (hopefully the card...!!), but any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks!