Maximum Memory Card size and speed on A700/900?

I did search the forum but found no answer, so here is my question:

I am tempted to get bigger CF cards for my A700 and A900. As 64GB cards now become available, has anyone found a hint on max memory size in any Sony manual, Sonystyle support site, Friedman's eBook or elsewhere (I looked and found nothing)?

Also, would the even faster speeds (UDMA 6 at 90MB/sec (600x) Speed) available now work faster on the A700/A900?

Thanks for any feedback.

FYI, I am currently using a Lexar and a Delkin card, both 300x UDMA 5, each 8 GB, since March 2008 with no problems at all.

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Ralf



http://ralfralph.smugmug.com/
10.000 slides still to scan........

Apparently SanDisk have verified the A900 works with the new Extreme Pro 64GB (UDMA mode 6). Don't know if it's any faster as Dyxum lists the A900 as only mode 5 compatible.

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-10043-10255

Interestingly the Nikons D3x isn't compatible.

At first I used Kingston 4GB Class 6 SD Cards, with my Sony a380, after going throught 3 of them, I thought I might go for a 16GB Sandisk Extreme III class 6 SD card. Unfortunatly every now and again the card kept missing and not saving the photos. So Ive gone back to purchasing another 5 Kingston 4GB Class 6 SD cards.

Maybe my Sandisk SD card was faulty or perhaps my camera could not handle the high GB in the card. Maybe the same applies to CF.

My advice is to stick with something safe that you know works well with your camera.

Ralf,

Read Michael Reichmann's article on these new large and fast CF cards . He tested the 64GB in the a900. Note how he indicates incompatibility with some cameras like the Nikon D3x.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/accessories/photofast.shtml
Richard

I have a 16GB MS and a 16GB Lexar UDMA - both work fine in the A900.

Some cheaper cards are problematic - lost shots etc.

W.

Transcend 32GB card for my a700 here.....thousands and thousands of pics with no issues whatsoever.

--
My Flickr - Still lots to learn....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simon_j/

A-700

32G 133X kingston. No problems
16G Sandisk Extreme new version no issues at all
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In god we trust, all others are suspects

I have 16GB versions of the SanDisk Extreme IV and the Lexar pro 300x, both UDMA. The a900 performs to spec(actually a tad better) with these cards. I doubt that the camera would perform any different with a faster card, but you would benefit from faster uploads to the computer if you're using a UDMA-capable reader like the Lexar units. I have this one and am very satisfied with it: http://lexar.com/readers/pro_udma_dualslot.html

Well, I would go 16G at most.

Unless you are going to shoot videos.

Ralf Bliesener said:

I did search the forum but found no answer, so here is my question:

I am tempted to get bigger CF cards for my A700 and A900. As 64GB cards now become available, has anyone found a hint on max memory size in any Sony manual, Sonystyle support site, Friedman's eBook or elsewhere (I looked and found nothing)?

Also, would the even faster speeds (UDMA 6 at 90MB/sec (600x) Speed) available now work faster on the A700/A900?

Thanks for any feedback.

FYI, I am currently using a Lexar and a Delkin card, both 300x UDMA 5, each 8 GB, since March 2008 with no problems at all.

--
Ralf



http://ralfralph.smugmug.com/
10.000 slides still to scan........

Click to expand...

--
http://jozphoto.com

Natural, the Way Photo Should Be

the links to Rob Galbraith's and Michael Reichman's experiences and your personal experiences, too, including confirmed 64 GB for the A900 and 32 GB for the A700. The Sony manuals and support pages fall short on any detail on this subject as far as I could find. See below for SanDisk, though.

I am in the market for a bigger card, as I frequently hit the 210 RAW files limit on the A900 + 8 GB CF combo. WRT "all eggs in one basket", I kind of like the MR thought on keeping a big CF card in cam, dump the content daily and avoiding the risk of bending a pin one day. The 64GB Photofast is only available at 40 MB/sec write speed, their 32GB "plus" reaches 80 MB write. That puts the 64 GB Sandisk price tag into perspective, as it seems the fastest read & write (90/90) at that size - for now. It also puts it out of reasonable reach for me.

So I guess I'll opt for maximum write speed at a reasonable price and will try the Photofast plus 32 GB CF variant. I will keep you posted for results.

I should also mention that i more than once mixed the cards I used in the A900 and A700. No problems with lost pics or such, just that the number counters in both cams were thrown off and i got duplicate files indicated when importing - stupid me. So another reason to have a big enough card in the camera....any workarounds anyone?

FYI:
I checked the SANDisk support pages in the US and in Germany:

The SanDisk US pages at least know there is an A900, but the compliance checker only recommends Extreme III, missing out on Extreme IV. The SanDisk Germany pages only even know about the A100 and no other Alpha DSLR. Obviously their products are much faster than their web page hosts....
This seems even worse than Sonystyle online content management ;-)

Thanks again for the help!
--
Ralf



http://ralfralph.smugmug.com/
10.000 slides still to scan........

ordered the "G-Monster Compact Flash 32GB 533X Plus" read 90MB/S write 80MB/S
at
http://www.dvnation.com/Flash-Media-Cards.html

Their web page is "basic", the online order process was "basic", too, including no choice of shipment method etc, leaving me with a "hmm" feeling.

Well, the next two things I got was NOT a phone call trying to up-sell or anything similar, but an order confirmation e-mail, followed by a FEDEX Shipment notification e-mail with tracking number and estimated arrival date, including the info that "Jason Atkins of DV NATION sent Ralf Bliesener 1 FedEx Express Saver package".

Will update when the "Monster" was been formatted....

--
Ralf



http://ralfralph.smugmug.com/
10.000 slides still to scan........

EVAGORAS said:

Maybe my Sandisk SD card was faulty or perhaps my camera could not handle the high GB in the card. Maybe the same applies to CF.

Click to expand...

1. Sandisk is being counterfeited a lot. The cards are relatively expensive, and in high demand. So it's an attractive brand to "manufacture". Buying from sources that are very cheap is tempting, but not the wisest thing to do. Unfortunately, for end users it's very difficult to impossible to see what's a cheap gray import, and what's counterfeit.

2. CF is completely different from SD. High amounts of storage are possible due to the on-card controller. With SD, the camera needs to understand the memory layout as the controller is in the camera itself, not on the card. As a result you'll see more problems with high capacity SD than with CF.

EVAGORAS said:

My advice is to stick with something safe that you know works well with your camera.

Click to expand...

That's always good advice. I've used Kingston (50 & 133x) and Sony cards (300x), no problems.

I have found that SD cards over 4GB draw more power - and this is probably true of CF as well. If the camera does not supply the necessary power the card will not work even if the software can handle the size. This also probably differs between card models and card manufacturers, so generalization is difficult. The large cards will also drain the battery faster, though the amount may not be significant compared to the processor and motors.

I prefer to use cheap 8GB on my A900 & don't like the idea of the possibility of losing a cards contents either from corruption or loss. They are slower than much more expensive cards but don't actually give me any problems in real-time use. They also parcel up photos into manageable amounts for PP on my slow computer.
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Keith-C

Leon van Bommel said:

I've used Kingston (50 & 133x) and Sony cards (300x), no problems.

Click to expand...

Are you using the Kingston 133x on an a900? I have heard anecdotal reports of problems with that combo(aside from the fact the memory can't keep pace with the camera)

That's my backup card for the Sony 300x's. Works without a flaw. Using cRaw the buffer of the 900 is big enough for me not to run into problems with the 133x cards speed.

Thanks.

I'm curious if the faster cards with UDMA 6 ability are going to be significantly faster in the Sony models like the A700/A850/A900 as compared to existing 300x UDMA 5 cards.

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JimC
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http://www.pbase.com/jcockfield

The Photofast "533PlusX" 32 GB CF card arrived, obviously formatted already. After insertion and power-up, the A900 indicated 853 RAW images available on the rear display. Re-formatting the card in camera did not change that figure. It looks like image play-back is a bit faster, but I won't do any elaborate comparison tests.

Works like a charm, fully compliant. Highly recommended.
--
Ralf



http://ralfralph.smugmug.com/
10.000 slides still to scan........

Over 600 RAW shots, some RAW+Jpeg shots and already some shots deleted in camera later - NO PROBLEMS with the PHOTOFAST 533xplus. At 249 $ from DVNation for 32 GB and 90/80 MB/sec speeds, no worries. Highly recommended.
--
Ralf



http://ralfralph.smugmug.com/
10.000 slides still to scan........

Thanks for the updates.

I've already taken your previous posts into consideration when others have asked about fast cards for the A900 (as you and Michael Reichmann have indicated that the A900 works fine with them).

I don't suppose you happen to own the A700, too? I'd like to know if they work fine in it (as I've already had A700 users ask me about them).

--
JimC
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http://www.pbase.com/jcockfield