choosing a compact flash card

[Lizzydoll73]

I'd rethink that. If you lose or damage your card, you've lost it all. If you've got photo's on two cards and lose or damage one, you've got some left.

Anne

I agree with Anne about buying the smaller size memory card. If something happens to the card or you lose it you haven't lost all your images.

Thank you, I did not think of that. I ended up ordering a 1GB for $28 after rebate. I am sure a 512mb and 2 1GB cards will be ok. If not we have our car so I can go to Walgreens to have them transfered to a cd. Thanks everyone, you saved me @ $40.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

if you want to transfer them to CD, 512 Mb will be more ideal. Around 500 Mb is the "safe data area" for a 650 Mb-700 Mb CD-R. Also it eliminates the need for file-spanning between CDs.

I personally use 6 512 Mb Ultra II cards and 1 2 Gb Extreme III card (I was forced to buy this one since one of my card went down the gutter and I don't have any card left during a location shoot)

 

[hannahsmom7]

I am looking for the Compact Flash card for my yet to be determined DSLR. Seeing as how we're going to Disney with a new camera and hubby and daughter have never been there, we'll probably take lots and lots and lots of pics, so I want a 2GB card. Ritz suggested a 80x 2GB (no manufacturer) at the least, someone else suggested the SanDisk Ultra II, I found a 60x Ultra II 1GB and an Extreme III 2 GB from a store I have bought all of memory products from. What do all of the numbers (60x, 80x) mean and how can I determine which is the one to buy?

 

[Magix]

The faster the card, the faster it will read and write your images. I just recently bought two of the SanDisk Extreme II 2 Gig cards and used them this weekend to shoot the Long Beach Grand Prix. I never had a problem waiting for the images to write to the cards, like I used to have with my microdrives. They were fast to write and very fast to read when I downloaded to my computer. Really great cards, so far. The "extreme" aspect means they're a little more rugged and can handle a wider range of temperatures than regular CF cards. I'd recommend them.

 

[AZ JazzyJ]

Speed is great if your camera can handle it otherwise it is kind of wasted. You want to get as fast a card as your camera and/or card reader can support. I've kind of settled on the SanDisk Ultra series and the Lexar 80x series for my Nikon gear. Both have been great and I haven't had any problems with them.


Jeff

 

[Kelly Grannell]

All my cards are 512 Mb Sandisk Ultra II (6 of them) except for one that is 2 Gb (Sandisk Extreme III, much faster for on-camera picture selection and download, but not for photo taking)

 

[mabas9395]

You may want to decide on a dSLR before you pick a card. I think the Nikon D50 takes Secure Digital (SD) cards. If you decided that was the best camera for you (can't see why you would though, a Canon is the way to go), but if you did go for the D50, you wouldn't be able to use your CF cards.

BTW, if you're going to Ritz, stay away from their Quantaray lenses.

 

[MICKEY88]

has anyone ever tried these cards and are they reliable..??

 

[Kelly Grannell]

I exclusively use their blank media for CDR and DVD-R also DVD-RW. I don't know about their CF, though. I don't think they own their own manufacturing plant for CF and I don't know what brand they rebadged.

 

[molly2004]

Hi, there! I have a Canon Powershot A60. It uses compact flash. I need more storage space for photos (believe it or not, I only have a 56 MB card). So I was wondering what you suggest? Should I buy a 512 MB card or a "thumbdrive" device to download the photos into. I've never used a device like this before. Can you download photos into the thumbdrive multiple times before downloading them into your computer? Or can you only download once into the thumbdrive before you have to run to the computer? My primary thought was that the larger member card, hence more photos, will drain the batteries faster. If I just kept to a small card and downloaded often, I'd save battery life.

What do you all think?

Thanks for your help!

 

[WillCAD]

Definitely get more CF cards! You should have enough CF cards to store one whole day's worth of pics with room to spare (in my case, I shoot 100 or fewer pics per day at WDW, so a 512mb card is enough).

As to buying some other type of storage, that's not a bad idea if you have the money, but you can get away without it. I have a laptop, which I take with me to WDW to download my pics every day, but if you don't have a laptop you can use Disney's downloading service, available at the camera shops in the 4 theme parks. They will download pics from your memory card to CD for $12.99 per CD, limit 120 pics per CD. There are also self-service machines at the MK and MGM camera shops, same price.

If you have a car, you can drive off-site to any Walgreens in the area and download your pics to CD for $2.99 per CD, for as many pics as the CD will hold.

If you do want to buy a portable storage device, a "thumb drive" is not the correct device. You need something like a portable hard drive, or a portable CD burner. One of the more popular devices is the Epson P-2000, which is a 40gb hard drive with card reader and LCD screen built in. It can also hook to a TV so you can view your pics. It costs about $500 and is compact and easy to carry.
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=49164278

There are also portable CD burners on the market that have CF card readers built in and can burn your pics to CD for you without a computer. PC Magazine has a good review online:
http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/4520-6501_16-5145238-4.html

Whatever storage option you go with, a couple of additional CF cards are a must. Just don't be tempted to get one gigantic card and call it quits - two cards of 1gb are a better investment than 1 card of 2gb, because then you will have a backup.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

buy more CF cards. For sure, for sure, for sure

 

[tigger795]

I would definitely get more compact flash cards. I believe that downloading from the camera consumes a lot of battery power so minimizing the number of download cycles should increase your battery life between charges. Of course I could be wrong.

--
Randy

 

[We-Luv-Disney]

I have to agree with everyone else. A good 1GB card can be found for as little as $40.

 

[molly2004]

Okay, CF it is! One question about this. Since my Powershot A60 is an older camera, do you think there would be issues with buying a large capacity CF card? My brother said that I might have issues with the camera not being able to recognize the card. Is this a legit concern?

Thank you all for your advice!

 

[Kelly Grannell]

No, it's not a legit problem. Unlike Smart Media (now discontinued), CF has its own built-in driver imbedded within the card. Now the drawback is access time. The larger the CF, the slower the access time would be.

Imagine a car moving a 60 mph. The longer the distance, the longer it'll take from the beginning to the end of the journey. This only apply, of course, when you're previewing your previously taken pictures. It won't affect your picture taking performance.

I used to have a A80 and I've tried using up to 1Gb card with no problem (I didn't have any card to test larger than that). Now I've upgraded my A80 to A95 and I've used a 2 Gb (Sandisk Extreme III) without a problem.

 

[PaulD]

There is compact flash type I and II. I checked the specs on your camera and it has a type I slot. The difference between the two card types is thickness. Since type II is a little bit thicker it won't fit in a type I slot. Most cards are type I but the microdrives are type II. So you should avoid microdrives.

I found the following regarding compatibility (from Steve's Digicams):

CompactFlash cards contain both memory chips and a controller. Most digicams that use CompactFlash (CF) cards can use ANY capacity card up to 1GB (and probably 2GB) with no problems. CF cards above 2GB use the FAT32 file system, the camera must be able to read this format or it won't work.​

Since your camera is a little bit older I don't know if it supports FAT32 so you should probably stick with 1gb or smaller cards. The good news is that you can store a WHOLE LOT of 2 megapixel images on a 1gb card!

 

[Kelly Grannell]

The A60 (such as A80 and A95) uses CF I cards. So I guess you'll be safe at least up to 1 Gb and may be able to use up to 2 Gb (but no guarantee). Considering it's a 2MP camera, even at the SuperFine setting, I doubt you'll need more than 1 Gb card.

Cheers,
Kelly

 

[MOmousefan]

I used a 1GB card in my A70 Powershot until last May when I purchased an S70. You can't have enough memory on vacation!

 

[chirurgeon]

Is the added speed worth the price? I have a Canon Rebel XT and I have liked the results with the Ultra II, but I was wondering about the Extreme.

TIA