Question about the Digital Canon Rebel XT EOS

[MeghansMommy]

Hi everyone!

I'm a very inexperienced photographer (if that even) and my wonderful DH bought me this camera!! I'm so excited!

I have a 256 San disk memory card, but we're going to the World in 10 days. I don't have a laptop, so I know I'll need more storage while were there.

I'm also an avid scrapbooker, so I KNOW I'll be taking tons and tons and tons of pictures.

Would any of you have any recommendations of what kind of card I should get? I know nothing about what to look for.

Thanks so much! This is a great place!

 

[handicap18]

I would get 2 or 3 1gig cards and 1 or 2 2gig cards. With the 256mg card you have you'll be getting only about 100 or so pics on that 1 card. You could also get just 1 2gig card and also an external hard drive that also doubles as a card reader. Then you could download your pictures daily to the hard drive (no computer needed). Then just hook the hard drive to your USB connection when you get home. Cost of the external hard drive is going to depend on how large the hard drive is. The case w/card reader is about $30 and then you can get internal hard drives that slip right into the case from $40-80 (the smaller the gig the smaller the price, they usually start around 80gig, but deals on 160 and even up to 250gig hard drives can be found for around $50-60)

 

[MeghansMommy]

Thank you - that was very helpful. I didn't think about an external hard drive. Great idea.

(I'm sooo new to all of this!)

 

[DemonLlama]

Welcome!

I just got my Rebel a little over a month ago. One of the things I found invaluable was the advice of what to buy from the experts here.

The main thing you want is the fast writing speed, so you aren't missing pictures while it writes the previous one to memory. And your settings on the Rebel will have a lot to do with how many pics you can get per card.

If you use the large setting (jpg only, not RAW) you will have less room than say, the medium or small setting.

I bought:
2 Gb 80x speed Lexar Ultra II Compact Flash

and with the 70 pictures I snapped this week from the football game (large, jpg), it still shows I have 457 more before I fill up the card.

When I switch it to medium size, it goes to 784 (still counting the 70 large pics on there now)

Go to small and I have 999.

The large size is HUGE, and for scrapping, you might not ever notice the difference between large and small at all, although someone who prints their photos can weigh in on that.

Hope that helps!

 

[MeghansMommy]

Oooh - you're all so helpful.

Okay, I have a follow up question. Does it matter what brand of card I get? I see a lot of people talking about the SanDisk, but has anyone heard of ATP? I found a 2g on Amazon for 47.99. It seems like a good deal, but I'm not sure.

 

[JR6ooo4]

Oooh - you're all so helpful.

Okay, I have a follow up question. Does it matter what brand of card I get? I see a lot of people talking about the SanDisk, but has anyone heard of ATP? I found a 2g on Amazon for 47.99. It seems like a good deal, but I'm not sure.

that is about average, compare shipping rates, return policy, memory speed etc... to overall price

try www.pricebgrabber.com for best price searches
when reviewing the results I will often pay $5-10 more if needed to go with a reputable company like B&H, Adorama and many others etc

also use
www.resellerratings.com for reviews of any company you see listed.


Mikeeee

 

[_chill_]

Hey MM... just thought I would add my .02. I keep an inexpensive (i.e. slower write speed, but only $60) 4G chip in my XT most of the time, but when I know I might need to shoot continuously (i.e. Everest! ) I switch to a high speed (i.e. more expensive ) 2G chip. I also carry a small 80G rechargeable portable hard drive (~$80 if you look around) that I can plug my cards into, press a button, and all of the data is copied to the hard drive (I can then delete the pics on the chip and start over). One thing I'll add, is to stay away from 'microdrives'. They may be more reliable now, but I've had a couple die on me in the past. They're tempting cost-wise, for the amount of space you get, but because they have moving parts they tend to have higher failure rate than the solid state CF chips.

 

[jann1033]

there was a recent thread on card speed where i posted a link http://www.steves-digicams.com/high-capacity_storage.html
that said the rebel xt doesn't handle the really fast ( pro type) speeds so it would be a waste of your money. i have a 130 speed card and some 60 speed cards that i use most often ( 1 or 2 gb)and they all seem about the same to me in my rebel xt.
he mentions another site where you can compare card speeds that was also posted by( i think) bob q on that other thread... perhaps way more than you want to know but you can use the scroll to get to your camera if you want . there is an atp card listed if it's the same one.( bout 1/2 way down, a few past the dark blue)
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007

i also have two of the same as the slower ones mentioned there( simple tech, 2 gb/512 mb) also and i can't really say i've ever had a problem except it might seem a little slower downloading to the computer to me t . i haven't had the need to do a large continuous mode ( i've only taken probably 5-6 shots in one, max burst is 14 large/best quality, although it also says a faster card will give more burst shots ) but so far none of the cards i have, cheapie or not, have been to slow to work fine at that. just fyi i know the rebel book mentions if it seems slow in coninuous drive it could also be a low battery.

if you have a nearby micro center they have 1 gb micro center's sd bulk cards for $15 fairly often ( the salesman said they were 60 speed) that i have and use a lot...they have worked fine. ( see below about the converter for sd to cf)
naturally you can spend more but since i have dropped them a number of times already, i figure since they are still working they must be sturdy enough.

also if you have a previously used sd cardfrom another camera, you can get a converter to use it in a cf camera...i got one for around 20 on ebay that works fine with my sd cards plus that way i can "borrow" my kids sd cards for vacation

edited cause...I tried the burst mode with the cards i have( dd has my fastest one). the results of my unscientific to much time on my hands research was...... simple tech,2 gb= 96 photos before it slowed down, then the busy went away within a fraction of a second..simple tech 512, about the same( lost count at 87 when the phone rang but it kept going after that for a while ), micro center sd in sd converter, 1 gb, =49, till it slowed down as above, san disc sd utlra, in converter, =38 pics till it did the above.

not sure how long expedition everest is but i would guess you could take a lot of the ride without even pausing,( not to mention if your finger got thrown off the shutter button due to motion, fear, shaking what ever ) then the brief pause and reshoot. can't really think of to many other places i'd take 100 pics in burst

 

[captaincrash]

True...

Microdrives can and have failed. But the temptation for the cost is huge. You can get a 4GB Microdrive for under $50 shipped... possibly as low as $40. I had a 1 gig IBM drive that ran flawlessly from about 1999 (?) til about 2005... then it sort of got quirky and I gave it to a friend to tinker with. I paid $450+ for that when it was the biggest thing in the marketplace. Then I replaced it with a 2GB magic...? brand microdrive for about $125 or so. I was tickled to death with it until - while on a cruise I was wearing an anti-seasickness wrist band that was electrically powered. It generates a pulsed current over an accupressure point and is a non-chemical solution that works even after the onset of seasickness in medium seas for me. Well... these were pretty rough seas so I cranked it up higher than normal and then... ZAP! A spark traveled through my fingertips to the DSLR and the microdrive died with about 400 pictures on it! Now... I am very cautious with the relief band use while shooting photos... and I wonder if the same failure would have happened with a solid state card. I believe it would have been te same result.

So... I have friends who have microdrives and they report no failures. But I am a heavy user compared to them. Now - if cash is an issue then a single 4GB micordrive would give you (using the aforementioned capacities as a guide ... IE 527 LG images/2GB) up to 1,054 of the FINE LARGE images... or about 105 shots a day for 10 days. Your largest and best quality image setting. If you dropped it down to MEDIUM quality and an assumed retention of the FINE compression setting then I calculate you would get 1,808 images. This enables 180 shots a day on average for 10 days without downloading. The risk here is that a failure on the 10th day would result in the loss of 10 days worth of memories. The advantage is you would dispense with a portable storage drive/ viewer or notebook computer.... or the expense and inconvenience of burning to a CDR at a kiosk.... unless buring to CDR is convenient somehow.

I actually have a portable Epson P-1000 viewer with a whimpy 10GB drive but a stunning 3.8" VGA screen (which I rarely use), and a notebook with only 45 GB of storage. External drives are a 75 GB ($50 1.5 year ago) and 250 GB drives (paid only $69 2 months ago!). The 250 is kept in a fireproof safe and the 75 a working drive. My cards consist of a 1GB, and 512 card for the DSLR. The backup SD400 uses a solitary 1GB card that can only fit it. And I have an old Canon G1 that is mostly for my daugther to use and it has a 128 card. I am currently shopping for a 4GB microdrive as it would enable me to leave my notebook behind and I was going to switch to the P-1000 on the next vacation.

If I were you I would just do the microdrive and shoot the 256 card first so you have some images from your trip to start out with. And as an alternative I would just buy a big card from Costco for their fair prices and no questions asked return policy in case you have a problem down the road. Costco.com prices are as follows for storage (for hand comparison):

SanDisk Extreme III 4MB CF (20+MB/sec)....... $190
Lexar Pro 4GB 133x CF (20+MB/sec)............... $180
Sandisk II Ultra 4GB CF (9+MB/sec) ............... $147 after $23 rebate
Kingston Elite Pro 4GB CF 50x (no speed?)....... $134
ATP Promax 4GB CF 150x CF (18+MB/sec)...... $109
Cube 4GB CF 60x (no speed, no name?).......... $58 <!?!?>

The 4GB Cube is probably 1/3rd the speed and less than 1/3rd the cost of the Lexar Pro!

SanDisk Extreme III 2GB CF (20+MB/sec)...... $99
Lexar Pro 2GB 133x CF (20+MB/sec).............. $89
SanDisk II Ultra 2MB CF (9+MB/sec).............. $89
Kingston Elite Pro 2GB CF 50x (no speed) ..... $63

Wolverine Flash Pac 60GB portable storage (no view screen)... $169 (below left)
Wolverine MVP Multimedia player 80GB (2.5" LCD 720x480)... $249 after $50 rebate. (below right in RED)

If you are SURE that shooting multiple exposure bursts is NOT an issue... then the 4GB CUBE is a "no brainer" at $57. My 1GB CF card is a dirt cheap no-name card too and it serves well enough that I don't think about its' performance most of the time. However, the next card I get will be a big super high performance card like the Lexar Pro 133x. The ATP Promax is rated by the manufacturer at 18MB/sec but I am skeptical with no reputation behind the claim. Lexar is about 70% more and it's a flip of the coin hich way I'd ultimately lean. Of course, the best way to compare is to buy both and shoot an identical 10 frame burst and MEASURE the speed to write it out in seconds. If there is no significant difference then keep the cheaper PROMAX. And you can take this a step further and compare the CUBE against these two "fast" cards and see if you notice any difference in speed ... and you SHOULD see a significant difference in write speeds.

 

[Master Mason]

I just saw a Maxtor exteral drive.... 1TeraByte for $479.... It takes USB2 or firewire.

 

[captaincrash]

I just saw a Maxtor exteral drive.... 1TeraByte for $479.... It takes USB2 or firewire.

But...

Is the MAXTOR configurable as a RAID array?

If you are seriously concerned about the safety and security of your photo collection and data then a RAID array is the way to go. BUT to build or buy one is usually pricey... until now. Or so it seems to me? Western Digital has an "all in one" RAID in a box called the My Book Pro II for only $479 (AMAZON and Google) for 1TB divided by 2 for the RAID 1 setting yields 500GB of physically seperate and redundant mirrored storage. The case has detailed instructions for cracking and servicing to swap if needed without voiding the warrenty! I was just reading about this and marveling at what this delivers in security!!! Of course, a spilled cup of water or physical accident could trash both drives in one fell swoop too!

ATTENTION!!! ~ IMPORTANT NOTE.... When you buy this drive it is set for the RAID "0" setting with both drives set up to perform as a single 1TB drive! So there is NO REDUNDANTCY or unusual safety! If you want redundant security then reset it to the RAID "1" setting.

http://www.wdc.com/en/company/relea...elease={898C10DE-1F16-4EF6-A8BE-50950849A2CA}

I'm impressed with this. I have 45,000 images on a 250GB HD + other stuff and it's only 1/4 full. When I get up to 3/4 full I'm gonna NEED a RAID array to store all my precious data securely! If I upgrade from my 6MB DSLR to a 10MB next generation 30D (the 40D) then I'll double my storage needs in no time. With any luck the going rates will offer a 4TB RAID for under $300 then and I'll gladly buy it! Then my 75GB external will go to my kids' computer and the 250GB drive will become my "working" drive.

I must checked...
The Maxtor appears to be a RAID configurable drive. Plus it offers extra features for encrypton in case the drive is stolen (I like that) plus it has a FUBAR rfecovery routine. I'm not sure what that costs to enable? Do we lose another half of the RAID capacity to do that? So... I like what I see in the Maxtor.

And so long as my data storage needs are not being severely stretched I'll study this and wait for the prices to drop a bit more!

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Hi everyone!

I'm a very inexperienced photographer (if that even) and my wonderful DH bought me this camera!! I'm so excited!

I have a 256 San disk memory card, but we're going to the World in 10 days. I don't have a laptop, so I know I'll need more storage while were there.

I'm also an avid scrapbooker, so I KNOW I'll be taking tons and tons and tons of pictures.

Would any of you have any recommendations of what kind of card I should get? I know nothing about what to look for.

Thanks so much! This is a great place!

i have a 512 MB card and it will take on the lowest setting 770 photos. i got a portable 20 gig harddrive. click here with this you empty your card nightly. or with the 256 mb card twice a day. this storage device is smaller then a Ipod. last year with the rebel XT i took almost 3900 pictures in 11 days learning to use the camera. i hope this helps

 

[NJDad18]

I also have a rebel xt. I won't buy a card that is over 1g because if the card goes bad, I'm not going to lose all of my pictures. I have several 512 mb and several 1g cards. The brands that I have the lexar professional 80x, san disk ultra II, standard PNY card and kingston elite. To me there is very little difference between all of the cards. I usually buy my cards from amazon or ecost. I believe Kingston elite pro 512 card is less than $25 on ecost and the 1g cards should be around $50.

My wife is a scrapbooker and we did not run out of memory when we where just there in August for a week. She is somebody that thinks about what she wants to shoot and then takes the picture. She winds up keeping most of the pictures that she takes. Other people will just snap away and take 1,000 pictures and then review them when they get home. So it really depends upon what type of photographer you are. We had plenty of room with 2g worth of memory.

 

[Groucho]

Remember that if you start to use Raw mode, you'll have room for a lot less photos. If shooting jpg, I really think you think have it on the highest setting available, especially when using a nicer camera like a DSLR.

IMHO buy as big a memory card as you can get until the cost per meg starts to decline. You can put 500 megs on a 2 gig card as easily as a one gig card, but if you're in a situation where you run out of space on the one gig, you're stuck whereas a 2 gig will give you a lot more "elbow room."

 

[MeghansMommy]

Follow up question (if you don't mind - I'm so new to all of this).

I've read here that sometimes cards fail. Is this common? Are some brands more likely to fail than others?

Thanks! FWIW - I have a digital photography class tonight at the library. I'm so excited!

 

[NJDad18]

None of my cards have failed, but like I said in my previous post, I use smaller cards so in case a card does fail, I'm only losing a small amount of my pictures. Since I have enough memory, I don't need to buy a portable hard drive. It seems that most portable hard drives run around $250-$300, well you can buy 5-6 1g cards for the same amount of money.

 

[Groucho]

Follow up question (if you don't mind - I'm so new to all of this).

I've read here that sometimes cards fail. Is this common? Are some brands more likely to fail than others?

Thanks! FWIW - I have a digital photography class tonight at the library. I'm so excited!

Any storage media may fail but memory cards are relatively very reliable - having no moving parts goes a long way towards that!

Look at it another way - most memory cards have a lifetime warranty, whereas most hard drives have a one-year warranty. I admit that that's a rather simplistic way of looking at things, but your hard drive (in your PC, laptop, MP3 player, camcorder, portable backup, whatever) is far, far, far more likely to fail than your memory card.

For brands... well, some swear by one brand or the other, but I think that by and large most are quite reliable.

Still, like any other storage media, don't trust it TOO much.

I did have a 2g SD card (PQI) show up dead on arrival recently. They've shipped my replacement, I suspect that it'll give me years of trouble-free service... hopefully I'm right.