question re fast cards for s100/s200

has anyone tried the 4G SAN DISK EXTREME III SD SDHC 4GB Class 6 30MB/s cards in an s100fs or s200exr? Just wondering if they increase the speed a 7 shot 11mp burst would be saved, or if the camera's processing speed would be the limiting factor. I need a couple of new cards and am wondering what to get. I generally stick with 4gig cards because I can transfer a card to a single DVD when full.

The exIII's sell for $25.00 delivered on ebay while the regular class 6 cards are about $13.00 delivered and Im wondering if the exIII's will really deliver more speed in these particular cameras.
jj
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjlad/sets/

... I haven't tried them.

However, If I were shooting 'burst' modes, like you, I would definitely get the very fastest card possible.

Ultimately, I think the internal buffer will be the limiting factor. However, getting rid of as many bottlenecks, as possible, is always a good idea.

I'm using Kingston SDHC Class 6 cards and find them good, for what I do. Non burst. Just single Raw frame, at a time.

I just 'bounce' the shutter after each shot. Clears immediately, and allows me to recompose, refocus, and shoot.

Good luck.

Cheers.
--
Rgds, Dave.
Have fun - take lotsa pix.

My Site - http://www.pixplanet.biz
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Lloydy said:

... I haven't tried them.

However, If I were shooting 'burst' modes, like you, I would definitely get the very fastest card possible.

Ultimately, I think the internal buffer will be the limiting factor. However, getting rid of as many bottlenecks, as possible, is always a good idea.

I'm using Kingston SDHC Class 6 cards and find them good, for what I do. Non burst. Just single Raw frame, at a time.

I just 'bounce' the shutter after each shot. Clears immediately, and allows me to recompose, refocus, and shoot.

Good luck.

Cheers.
--
Rgds, Dave.
Have fun - take lotsa pix.

My Site - http://www.pixplanet.biz
My RedBubble Site - http://www.redbubble.com/people/pixplanet

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply Dave. I guess what I'll have to do is see if anyone in our club is using them and try one at a meeting or on a shoot. No point in doubling the expense if the camera won't do the internal processing any faster. I'm worried it might be like shoving a bigger hamburger in one's mouth ...only so much can go down at a time!
jj
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjlad/sets/

I have tried both the Sandisk Ext III 20mb/s and 30mb/s cards in my S100fs and I could perceive no difference in terms of write speed (yes I tried burst mode). I think card speed helps only up to a point where the camera's write speed limitations take precendence.

I think the Sandisk EIII 30mb/s edition was specially made with Nikon D90 in mind to take advantage of the 30mb/s peak theoretical speed could be taken advantage of (that too for increased responsiveness during playback not necessarily write speed which is more variable). The S100fs on the other hand seems to have been made trageting plain-vanilla class 6 SDHC cards. Sorry I have no clue how the S200exr behaves in this regard.

Since I seldom shoot burst mode I am happy with just a 16GB class4 SDHC card as my primary one (16gb because it is bit of a pain to run out of space in the middle of a dewy insect shoot) and three other 4gig cards (2 Sandisk EIII 20mb/s and another 30mb/s) as backups. I cull my shots ruthlessly so can't really take advantage of card size matching with DVD capacity ...

--
Arnab P Das

jjlad said:

has anyone tried the 4G SAN DISK EXTREME III SD SDHC 4GB Class 6 30MB/s cards in an s100fs or s200exr? Just wondering if they increase the speed

Click to expand...

My understanding is that what separates the SanDisk Extreme III from other Class 6 cards is some proprietary timing circuitry that allows faster read/write times if the hardware that the card is read by or that writes to the card has complementary circuitry. For instance, if you have a SanDisk ImageMate Multi-Card reader, the Extreme III will be faster, but if you have a SanDisk ImageMate All-in-One reader, the Extreme III offers no advantage. See: http://www.amazon.com/review/RKRPK3SUU2L2Y/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#RKRPK3SUU2L2Y

I think that the Fujifilm S100fs does not have the complementary circuitry to allow the special circuits of the Extreme III to be used to advantage.