Which Brand Of Compact Flash Is Good???

[vivre]

I've been looking thru the treads here and found that the digicam media~CF cards have not really been discussed in detail... Just wanna gather more info on this media used by many digicams.....

Please give your comments on all sorts of Compact Flash cards which you have used and also kindly list your purchase price to act as a guide for newbies like me....

[Pinoy]

Why not just read DPReview's Digital Film Comparison: Compact Flash write-up?

:Later,

[vivre]

Quote: Originally posted by Pinoy Why not just read DPReview's Digital Film Comparison: Compact Flash write-up? :Later,

I've read thru it already, but they tested the the CF cards using Canon EOS-1D, Canon EOS-D30 and the Nikon Coolpix 995... It is true that the web article gives us a general idea of Compact Flash cards, but how many Singaporeans (Newbies especially..) use these 3 digicams??

I just hope that thru this thread, we can get more practical comments and evaluation pertaining to the needs of typical Singaporean digital photography enthusiasts (who use more of the Canon G1/G2, S30/40, A10/A20, Ixus Series, Nikon Coolpix series, and the Casio QV series etc). As mentioned in the dpreview article, "Your camera and its CF interface has a large influence on how a card performs." So how do the different branded cards perform in these more widely used digicams??

Whatsmore, the prices listed in dpreview is in US$ as retailed in USA (right??), thus it's not really relevant in Singapore's context, cos the prices here may be different.

Another issue is the disparity of prices of the CF cards in Singapore (as seen in many threads in this forum) Perhaps a discussion here of the local prices would provide the would-be consumers a greater transparency of the Singapore market prices of CF cards and prevent many newbies from unknowingly paying too high a price to scheming retailers...

[vivre]

Dear ClubSnap Forumners, to help us newbies, kindly also reply to this thread with your purchase prices of your different branded CF cards please... Your provision of this information will be very much appreciated by us newbies (Me for sure at least!!!)

[Flare]

Hee hee... This all really depends on what cam you use.... But Never buy a transcend card for minolta's Dimage 5 or 7 (dunnoe about the rest)... Its not supportedine works fine for a while before the camera spits it out and refuse to take it.... now its sitting in my card reader as a 64meg HDD...

Quote: Originally posted by Flare Hee hee... This all really depends on what cam you use.... But Never buy a transcend card for minolta's Dimage 5 or 7 (dunnoe about the rest)... Its not supportedine works fine for a while before the camera spits it out and refuse to take it.... now its sitting in my card reader as a 64meg HDD...

sell it, to me

[erwinx]

Quote: Originally posted by vivre I've read thru it already, but they tested the the CF cards using Canon EOS-1D, Canon EOS-D30 and the Nikon Coolpix 995... It is true that the web article gives us a general idea of Compact Flash cards, but how many Singaporeans (Newbies especially..) use these 3 digicams?? I just hope that thru this thread, we can get more practical comments and evaluation pertaining to the needs of typical Singaporean digital photography enthusiasts (who use more of the Canon G1/G2, S30/40, A10/A20, Ixus Series, Nikon Coolpix series, and the Casio QV series etc). As mentioned in the dpreview article, "Your camera and its CF interface has a large influence on how a card performs." So how do the different branded cards perform in these more widely used digicams?? Whatsmore, the prices listed in dpreview is in US$ as retailed in USA (right??), thus it's not really relevant in Singapore's context, cos the prices here may be different. Another issue is the disparity of prices of the CF cards in Singapore (as seen in many threads in this forum) Perhaps a discussion here of the local prices would provide the would-be consumers a greater transparency of the Singapore market prices of CF cards and prevent many newbies from unknowingly paying too high a price to scheming retailers...

Does a difference in read/write speed <really> matter? Perhaps if you're a sports/action photographer reeling off 3-9 frames a second. Just buy the cheapest If you want high speed writes, IBM Microdrive is very fast, easily beating Sandisk and Ridata 20x

[Watcher]

For performance and frequent updates, I prefer CF database on Rob Galbraith Website. It shows performance numbers over a range of cameras with different types/brand of CF.

It DOES matter for the better cameras, the CF card that you choose. An example is for D100. Compare the el-cheapo SanDisk standard vs the top-performing Lexar. 780 kb/s vs 1758 kb/s for fine JPG, 851 kb/s vs 2033 kb/s for RAW, both > 2.2x in terms of speed.

Now, if the camera used is a non-DSLR, it would not matter as much as the amount of data written makes the difference not noticable. However, with a high quality camera like, say, Canon 1Ds, a 2x in writting speed is very significant.

Look on the database to see if the CF brand matters to your camera. 10D users don't bother.

As for the price, check out here, in particular the MOs and at HWZ...

[sehsuan]

speed is not so much a criteria to me, data reliability is.

[linse]

How come no one commented on compatibility? For instance, my Ridata 128 MB CF card is not recognised by one card reader, only works with the X-drive if I pull the card out a little bit, and, can only write but cannot read any data written at the 70MB mark with another reader.

[AJ23]

My first choice is Lexar, the undelete/repair feature simply rocks, images deleted or partial corruption can also recover. A 512mb card is ard US$199 while a 1GB card is ard US$350.

2nd choice is Transcend. A 512mb card is slightly below S$200, while the 1GB card is less than S$400.

3rd choice is Hagiwara, prices about the same as Transcend.

[Green Baron]

Quote: Originally posted by Watcher Now, if the camera used is a non-DSLR, it would not matter as much as the amount of data written makes the difference not noticable. However, with a high quality camera like, say, Canon 1Ds, a 2x in writting speed is very significant.

It depends on what you photograph. I use CP995 for nature photography. The speed difference between a Lexar and SanDisk very significant. We the Lexar, the delay between shots is very minimal while with SanDisk, I literally have to wait for the data to be written to the card. I have missed many opportunities becasue of this. Now I stick to Lexar & RiData.

[taker]

I'll vote for both Ridata & Transcend...

[busycheesy]

i'm planning to get a ridata cf card. can anyone recommend a compatible card reader for it? I'm sorry but i'm a total newbie to this.

[tweakmax2]

although Ridata and Transcend is a better and trusty Brand so far ... however i did use be4 PQI high speed... soo far no problems.

[subhuman]

How much is a Ridata and Transcend 128MB CF?

I know Hagiwara cost abt $60 from CP. How about these 2 other brands?

Actually, I got a voucher from Best Denki, maybe can use there... anyone knows how much Best Denki selling these cards for?

[mpenza]

Quote: Originally posted by subhuman How much is a Ridata and Transcend 128MB CF? I know Hagiwara cost abt $60 from CP. How about these 2 other brands? Actually, I got a voucher from Best Denki, maybe can use there... anyone knows how much Best Denki selling these cards for?

probably selling ~$100 or so (or whatever is the list price) at Best Denki.

RiData 128MB probably goes for $50 or less since 256MB is less than $100.

[cyrilng]

Quote: Originally posted by AJ23 My first choice is Lexar, the undelete/repair feature simply rocks, images deleted or partial corruption can also recover. A 512mb card is ard US$199 while a 1GB card is ard US$350. 2nd choice is Transcend. A 512mb card is slightly below S$200, while the 1GB card is less than S$400. 3rd choice is Hagiwara, prices about the same as Transcend.

I recently bought a 1GB 32x WA Lexar CF at S$499 (price based on 3pcs ordered incl. shipping) from http://www.provantage.com/buy-home.htm

Note - it did not come with the Jumpshot cable & Recovery software though as redemption for these items is only available in the US. Some other webstores may sell the complete set but at higher prices. Best if you have a friend in US who can order & redeem all the items for you & send them over.

Ridata 52x 1GB CF is now selling at S$389 at http://www.flashcard-bestbuy.com/sho...front/shop.asp

[Jay]

Bought SanDisk Ultra 256MB for $230 about a year ago and SanDisk Ultra 512MB for S$290 about five months ago and there are used on both my Fuji S1 and S2.

Recording is pretty fast when I should at 6MB and above resolution.

Furthermore, I have been using them for data transfer for my work via card reader and PCMCIA.

Never had a problem in any sort ... if this answer the question of reliability.

If this is the choice, suggest purchase the ULTRA instead of the normal as ultimately the recording speed is needed when situation arises (surprisingly often!).

[ahbeng]

reliability is the most important.