E-510 CF card write speed? owners, pls help

Would the E-510 benefit from a (very) high speed CF card such as the Sandisk Extreme III (20 MB/s) or IV (40 MB/s) ?

At some point, the camera's own processing / writing speed will be the limiting factor. Can the E-510 process image data at speeds higher than 20 MB/s (raw and/or JPG) ?

I'm very close to ordering the camera, but I need to know which card to buy with it. If a kind owner could check his manual for me that would be great. Thanks!

Also, what is the maximum CF card size that it can use? eg. 4 GB, or larger?

As far I remember one of our posters here bought himself a 16GB Extreme III for his E-1 and I'm using also ExtremeIII in my E-1. I have the feeling they are faster than the Ultra II and wanna buy the $GB now as the prices came down... Think the E-510 should also being able to handle the 16GB card - if it makes sence to take such an huge card is another issue we should not discuss here as it was discussed many a times before...

Bottomline, I think you should be able to take any fast card in any size - the faster the better, at least when you download with a fast card reader.
Jan

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jan-krux/

Thanks Jan! I'm not too concerned about download speed, but I'd like to be able to shoot as many photos consecutively as possible.

That's more of a buffer issue. I just got my E510 a few days ago, and am learning as fast as I can. I was shooting RAW pictures this morning and was able to shoot 10 photos before the buffer filled. I've read there is no delay while shooting JPEGs, but I've not tried that yet.

Tom

Thanks! The manual (just appeared on the web) doesn't seem to say either, so, for my money, I think I'll go for a big high speed card rather than a smaller extremely high speed card.

I just looked through my manual and it does not state the write speed or the maximum card size. Great camera! I'm already getting some decent shots, but have a lot to learn as this is my first DSLR. I need to seach on this site about how to post pics, and then I'll upload a few.

Tom

Judoman said:

That's more of a buffer issue.

Click to expand...

Not necessarily correct.

E300/500 can shoot unlimited HQ JPG with ExtremeIII and faster.

Don't know about 510 but the JPGs are going to be bigger.

I'm so excited. An hour ago I didn't even know that the E-510 was already available here in Holland, but I just found a retailer (digicamshop.nl) who has it in stock :-b....

I ordered the E-510 1-lens kit, a 4 GB Sandisk Extreme III, and a big backpack that will take the camera, my notebook and a few big lenses that I yet have to buy, once I decide which ones I like best (and can afford .

I'm delighted to join the Olympus ranks! This is my first digital SLR. I shot my first images in the '70s when I was a kid, using my father's (now) almost 50 year old Asahi Pentax, the world's first 35mm SLR. I later got my own Nikon FG, had a few of my images published, but then was distracted from photography for 20 years as I discovered the computer. I've had a few digital compacts (my first Kodak had all of 0.8 Megapixels) and in recent times I've borrowed my father's C-8080 a few times, which is an excellent camera with incredible optics, but moreover it introduced me to Olympus. I'm impressed by this brand's many innovations, its craftmanship, and the excellent quality of the images that Olympus cameras and lenses produce. I still like Pentax and Nikon (and dislike Canon), but somehow I find Olympus gear more fitting and inspiring for the creative and classical kind of photography that I want to pursue.

Danielvr said:

Also, what is the maximum CF card size that it can use? eg. 4 GB,
or larger?

Click to expand...

Anything under 128GB should work for CF cards (maybe it has ATA-6 support for greater than 128GB, but 128GB cards aren't near term anyway).

I've used 4GB cards in my E-510.

In terms xD cards, 2GB is the current max size that is produced. I would hope Olympus supports it (particularly since they are selling 2GB type M cards).

I have also a 4 GB Sandisk Extreme III in my old E-300. It can keep me shooting for a whole day in RAW+SQ/JPG. E-510 has smaller files I think, at least the RAW files. It's the minimum card I would recommend to anybody, at it has really transformed my older E-300 with it's minimal RAW buffer.

Wish you all the fun in the growing crowd with your new E-510 camera!

Ref:
Thread with some links to tests of card readers and CF cards:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=23404231