Best Compact Flash??

[lokni]

I am about to go on a trip to Europe for 3 months and am taking my shiny new anon A70 with me. Currently I have a 128 meg CF card and a 16 meeg CF card, but I want to get at least a 256 meg card, but even better would be a 512 mb card. What is the best brands out there right now for high speed compact flash cards?

 

[filmmaker]

Viking has worked out well for me in the past, but in all reality, there isn't much of a difference in choosing CF cards. There isn't a huge performance difference.

 

[Mark R]

I've got some Twinmos Ultra-high speed Compact flash. It's 26x speed, and is noticable faster than the 'high-speed' card supplied with my canon G3.

It was also the cheapest brand I could find - by a long way. My 512 MB card cost less than most inferior 256 MB cards (about £80).

 

[Chaotic42]

I have a 64MB Crucial CF card. It was inexpensive, and has, after about six months, given me no problems.

 

[lokni]

Mark, where did you get the Twinmos compact flash card from? I need a 512 mb card, and I cant find them on pricewatch.

Any other good brands out there?

 

[alkemyst]

bigger is slower usually....it depends what you need.

Most users find 64MB plenty for things depending on resolution and 128mb overkill (considering most batteries will be dead before the card is full).

I would dump pictures to a PC before filling 512MB....it's easy for the cards to get corrupt.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Kingston high speed.

 

[filmmaker]

Most users find 64MB plenty for things depending on resolution and 128mb overkill (considering most batteries will be dead before the card is full).

I've gotten a good 400 pictures in one day with my Canon Powershot S300 and my Viking 256MB card. But that's because I shoot a lot and shoot quickly.

 

[alkemyst]

still on 400 pictures you would need more battery than CF....I can get almost 400 pictures at 1290xwhatever on my A50 (highest non-RAW image) with a 128MB flash, and I have a 16mb flash. However with two batteries I need to recharge still.

I think a few smaller cards of 64MB-128MB are better than a couple 256MB+ cards. Many larger cards take longer to cycle.

Make sure you have enough battery time (allow for idle time too) to get all the pictures you want, many overlook that and get out with a GB or more of memory space and after the first 20 pictures they are out of battery power.

 

[dpm]

Originally posted by: Mark R
I've got some Twinmos Ultra-high speed Compact flash. It's 26x speed, and is noticable faster than the 'high-speed' card supplied with my canon G3. It was also the cheapest brand I could find - by a long way. My 512 MB card cost less than most inferior 256 MB cards (about £80).

That's a pretty good price. Crucial UK sell 512mb for £85, and they aren't supposed to be particularly fast. Where did you find it?

 

[GTaudiophile]

This article may be a good read for you.

 

[filmmaker]

Make sure you have enough battery time (allow for idle time too) to get all the pictures you want, many overlook that and get out with a GB or more of memory space and after the first 20 pictures they are out of battery power.

Also know when you want to take a picture and once you are done taking it, turn the camera back off.

 

[tsapiano]

In my experience the best brand out there is Lexar - they have a lifetime warantee on their professional products, and their service is second to none. Not sure if all of the cards have it, however all of mine came bundled with software for recovering images from corrupted discs - never had to use it, however it is good to know that it is there in case I did. It is hard to find a card that works faster than their 40X WA series cards (although I've only used these on my cameras that support the WA feature, most don't).

They are a bit expensive, however when you depend on them they are worth every penny.

 

[tsapiano]

Also, a good link for an up-to-date database of various CF cards take a look at this.

 

[Mark R]

Where did you find it?

I got it from www.komplett.co.uk

Although, having just checked the price - I'm sure they've changed it. It's listed at over £100 now - though the 256 MB cards are much less.

Yup, just checked it was £79 + vat

 

[bigpow]

free ones are the best!