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A co-worker needs a new compact flash card for his digital camera. We've been looking around and prices seem to differ quite a bit. Kingston seems to be the cheapest. We also looked at Sandisk and PNY technologies. So are any brands more recommendable than others?
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If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did." -
Sandisk Ultra II are by far the fastest, hands down. Sandisk Extreme are equally fast and more rugged (shock proof, extreme temperature proof). Both may of course be overkill for your coworker. Stay away from ALL other sandisks, they are dog-slow.
AZ -
Lexar Pro cards are also quite fast if the camera supports WA (write acceleration) technology.
I personally use Ridata cards (ordered from http://www.powerinnumbers.com.au ), they were the cheapest I could find (that still are a known brand).
I also own an older PNY-card, but it is too old to be of any reference (32 MB, bought in 2000 to accompany my Psion 5mx).
And here is a detailed comparison of speeds of various cards on various cameras:
JörgComment
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When reading VJ's link keep in mind that smaller/cheaper cameras usually don't benefit as much from a faster card as those DSLRs - which doesn't mean you should use the cheapest, slowest you can find, but the difference won't be as big and at the upper end will become nil.
AZComment
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If his camera supports CF+ you can use a Hitachi MicroDrive. the 2 and 4 GB versions have tons more space than normal CF cards and write just as fast as write accelerated flash, if not faster.
Otherwise I would recommend Lexar and SanDisk.
Jammrock“Inside every sane person there’s a madman struggling to get outâ€
–The Light Fantastic, Terry PratchettComment
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With a microdrive, there could be a delay if the drive still has to spin up. Once it is spinning, speed is indeed up to par. It is said (have no experience with this) that use of a microdrive impacts the battery-lifetime, as the disk requires more power.
Another argument that is often used is that the microdrive is more prone to drops, etc..., but one doesn't intend to drop a camera, so...
JörgComment
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I agree with the sentiment so far. I've had good luck with Lexar. My bro has a sandisk ultra that's also very quick and reliable. Can't go wrong with either of them.Lady, people aren't chocolates. Do you know what they are mostly? Bastards. Bastard coated bastards with bastard filling. But I don't find them half as annoying as I find naive, bubble-headed optimists who walk around vomiting sunshine. -- Dr. Perry CoxComment
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The new 2 and 4 GB microdrives (3K4 series) are built on second gen technology. They are faster and tougher than previous gens. But yes, a big shock could kill them.
Jammrock“Inside every sane person there’s a madman struggling to get outâ€
–The Light Fantastic, Terry PratchettComment
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A big shock would of course also kill your camera, so it's no big deal. A Microdrive should survive a fall from a desk to the ground, if it is wood or softer.
AZComment
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Well we checked up on the microdrive and the cam doesn't support it.
I WAS suggesting that the get a Creative MuVo something with the 4 GB microdrive and gut it. That a 4 gig drive at half price right there
If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did."Comment
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You also have to make sure your camera supports Fat32 if you're getting a card over 2GB. Many cameras don't, even if they do support microdrives.
Most D-SLRs and high end consumer camers (>=5 megapixels) do support Fat32.Lady, people aren't chocolates. Do you know what they are mostly? Bastards. Bastard coated bastards with bastard filling. But I don't find them half as annoying as I find naive, bubble-headed optimists who walk around vomiting sunshine. -- Dr. Perry CoxComment
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Well, it was. Don't they have the same mods now that mini-iPods do?Originally posted by Chris B
I WAS suggesting that the get a Creative MuVo something with the 4 GB microdrive and gut it. That a 4 gig drive at half price right there
Gigabyte P35-DS3L with a Q6600, 2GB Kingston HyperX (after *3* bad pairs of Crucial Ballistix 1066), Galaxy 8800GT 512MB, SB X-Fi, some drives, and a Dell 2005fpw. Running WinXP.Comment
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