Memory cards

[ashman]

I am considering getting a D300 body and some of the research I have done has mentioned that the performance of writing images to the card is greatly increased with the use of the latest UDMA CF cards. How many of you with D300's use these latest cards and those that do, do you notice a huge increase in overall shooting performance?

AM

 

[ANDS]

Don't have a D300, but the "speed" of the card is really relative, and based on what exactly your usual shooting setup is. If you're doing sports photography and have a need to utilize the 8FPS and find yourself filling up the buffer on-camera, then sure - go for the high-speed write that cuts down your "downtime" - which is really the only benefit of these "high speed" cards.

 

[SLRShooter]

I am considering getting a D300 body and some of the research I have done has mentioned that the performance of writing images to the card is greatly increased with the use of the latest UDMA CF cards. How many of you with D300's use these latest cards and those that do, do you notice a huge increase in overall shooting performance?

AM

I have the D300 and two 8GB UDMA cards. I don't notice a "huge" increase but there is definitely an increase when shooting and emptying the buffer. The real speed increase comes when you transfer the photos on the card to your computer using a UDMA card reader.

 

[Matthias]

My understanding is that the real performance is getting the images in the computer (with the proper card reader), while the camera buffer should smooth out the writing to the card (little performance increase). Just my 2 cents.

 

[cdnpilot]

I have a number of 4 gig Lexar cards, with one being a non-UDMA card. I do notice a difference in how fast the buffer clears on my D300 when the non-UDMA card is in the camera. Can I quantify it? Not really - I am just basing my opinion on how long the green light stays on after taking a burst of a few shots.

 

[gadgetguy11]

I use 16GB Extreme III cards in D3 and both D300 bodies. They are "fast enough" for my needs. For my type of shooting, I do not find myself waiting for the card to write. The 16GB size at Extreme III speed is a higher priority for me than a smaller UDMA card. I have not found a UDMA 16GB card manufactured by Lexar or SanDisk yet - I do not use any other manufacturer.

I do recommend a high speed card reader for your computer, however, to download the files, preferably a FW800 reader.

 

[TimK]

I have tested the cards that I have, shooting 40 frames of 12 bit NEF with the D300 and the time it took to finish writing was :

Extreme IV 8G - 58 sec
Adata 350x 8G - 57 sec
Adata 350x 16G - 62 sec
Transcend 300x 16G - 64 sec
Adata 266x (not UDMA, I think) - 80 sec

So if you want a fast card in the camera, get a 8G UDMA card. 4G and 8G cards are faster than 16G fr writing. On the other hand, if you have a Firewire B reader, a PCI reader or a SATA reader the 16G cards will be faster in read, meaning you can transfer data to your computer faster.

 

[TimK]

btw, for all the card I've tested I got 18 frames before the buffer ran out, except the Adata 266, whch was 17 frames.

So if you are looking for more "burst". don't bother!

 

[Dawgneck]

... I have not found a UDMA 16GB card manufactured by Lexar or SanDisk yet - I do not use any other manufacturer.....

Sandisk released the 16gb Extreme IV cards: http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Item(2678)-SDCFX4-016G-901-SanDisk_Extreme_IV_CompactFlash_16GB.aspx

 

[gadgetguy11]

Sandisk released the 16gb Extreme IV cards: http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Item(2678)-SDCFX4-016G-901-SanDisk_Extreme_IV_CompactFlash_16GB.aspx

Thanks - Had not seen this announcement.