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Do CF card brands matter?

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YOTS

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When it comes to compact flash cards, does the brand matter is any old CF card good enough for a D200? I know the Scandisk 2GB Extreme IV ha the fasted write speed on the D200 but will a cheaper one be just as good?
 
I think you can get by on a slower and less expensive card. I don't think the D 200 can utilize the top speed the fastest cards provide.

With that said, I would buy the fastest card, whether I needed it or not:)
--
Ed
 
If you're taking a picture of the Grand Canyon, card write speed probably doesn't matter much.

If you are cranking off 5fps trying to freeze a soccer goalie stopping a penalty kick, then it probably does matter.

And faster cards definitely make a difference when transferring to your computer through a card reader.

Brands are individual preference, I haven't found much correlation between the numbers on the cards (50X, 133X etc.) and the actual write speed.
 
I take a somewhat middle of the road approach with regard to CF cards. For example, I don't think unless you're pretty much a sports/rapid fire shooter you need the top end Extreme III/IV level cards.

That said, I'm not a fan of the "normal" speed cards and no name brands. While you can get away with a no name brand, given the relatively inexpensive price (I've got 3 cards of 1/2GB Extreme III for under $170) I prefer to stick with the big guys, most commonly Sandisk and Lexar.

The way I see it, for little things like a camera strap, case, card that may not make a "difference" in your actual shot I think are worth spending a bit more for. The extra you'll spend is minor in return for usually more reliability and stability.

Nick
http://www.ashotapart.com/ - photoblogging nyc and beyond
 
i believe buying a name brand card is largely "faith based"

if you read these posts, you will find nary a PQI or Kingston failure but will find a some Lexar failures.

most brands are warranteed for life (or 5 years which ever comes first)

if they work out of the box, they will probably work until the pin sockets fail in 10,000 cycles

That said, i prefer my name brand disks for important jobs becuse i believe the photos are sharper...they have more of that 3d effect (jk)

as i said, it is faith based.....
 
I use slow and fast cards.

Fast cards are only faster in emptying the buffer. So you will only notice it with coninue- shooting

Faster cards are read faster by your computer, but only when you have the appropriate card reader.

Bottom line. I personally don't care a bit about card speed.
ymmv
 
markmark said:
That said, i prefer my name brand disks for important jobs becuse i
believe the photos are sharper...they have more of that 3d effect
(jk)
Click to expand...
I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to hear more information about this amazing 3D effect. I'll be back in a mo, just got to go and investigate a pig I saw flying past my window.
--
Dave (Sgt. Pepper), Epsom, England.
http://www.pbase.com/davecq

 
I bought two 4GB SD cards for my D80 and use them in my D200 with a cheapo adapter that reduces the speed to about 3 MB/sec. In normal use I don't notice and even with the sports games of my kids I don't notice if I shoot jpeg at 5 FPS. When shooting NEF at the sports games I have to hold my finger back a bit to go easy on the buffer. That's not a bad thing btw, because at the end of the day you have to browse trhough everything you've shot :-). In the end I'm sure I'll get a fast (150x) Transcend 8 CF card (or two 4 GB) just for that one time I have to shoot NEF at 5 FPS and don't want to hold back. But that'll be work related.
YOTS said:
When it comes to compact flash cards, does the brand matter is any
old CF card good enough for a D200? I know the Scandisk 2GB Extreme
IV ha the fasted write speed on the D200 but will a cheaper one be
just as good?
Click to expand...
--
Philip

 
There may be some faith in the equation, but I no longer believe all cards are equal. Imagine my surprise when a brand new PQI 2GB 100x card failed in my D200 after 100 shots. I had picked it up at Fry's for a good price and tossed the receipt since I have NEVER had an issue with a memory card. Ever return anything at Fry's? The thought brings to mind the Spanish Inquisition, even WITH a receipt!

I'll be hanging on to those receipts for memory cards from now on, and reading the user reviews (like those on Newegg, etc.) before deciding.

--
Edward
 
tennanah said:
I think you can get by on a slower and less expensive card. I
don't think the D 200 can utilize the top speed the fastest cards
provide.
Click to expand...
Oh, but speed in the camera isn't the most important thing. All the current ones are fast enough in the camera. Speed of downloading it into your computer is more important. That way you can quickly recycle the card back to the camera. That why I like the 40 MB/sec SanDisk Extreme IV cards. You can get a SanDisk card reader that actually utilizes this speed and unload a 4GB card into your computer iin less than 2 minutes.

--
http://www.pbase.com/fjp
FJP, Software Developer
 
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