Memory Cards and Minolta A2

Looks to me like the speed of the card makes a small difference.
I bought the Lexar to get a high capacity card that I could use in a DSLR (when I save up for it) and also save battery on RAM vs rotating disc.
While the Minolta will accept fast cards it doesn't support WA so I don't get 40x speed :(
But nearly a 25% reduction in single image save time is worth it.


Lexar Pro 40x 1GB
1 image saved 15.5, 16.8, 17.4, 17.8, 17.9
3 images saved 40.7, 40.8, 44.3, 48.8, 49.8


Sandisk 256M
1 image saved 18.4, 20.0, 20.6, 19.8, 19.2
3 images saved 51.5, 54.7, 53.6, 53.8, 51.3


Microdrive 340M
1 image saved 23.4, 29.1, 27.0, 25.6, 22.9
3 images saved 59.3, 60.4, 63.4, 67.1, 52.9

Microdrive 1G
1 image saved 23.1, 26.1, 25.1, 25.2, 24.5
3 images saved 65.5, 65.3, 61.0, 63.5, 52.7

That's some excellent data. I'm going to copy this post to the Digital Cameras Forum so that the people who really need it get to see it.

Keep in mind that this is very camera-specific data. Just because these tests hold true for the Konica Minolta A2 doesn't mean that a high speed card will help with a particular Fuji or Nikon compact digital camera. In general, it's best to assume that high-speed cards won't speed up your compact digital camera. The bottleneck in most cameras is the camera's processor and buffer size, not the memory card. So, while it may help, there's no guarantee. You're gambling if you buy a fast card for your Digital ELPH or other compact digital camera. On the other hand, if you have a Digital ELPH, and you're planning to buy a digital SLR in the near future, like SmartWombat, then maybe it's worth a shot.

Thanks for posting those numbers, SmartWombat. That's good stuff. You're bet was a good one :)