SanDisk Ultra vs SanDisk Extreme - help

[Khia]

Hi there,

I have an old Canon EOS 300D. I've had some issues with my SD Ultra II-CF 2GB memory card... I decided I need to upgrade anyway. So I've been looking around and noticed there is a new CF card called "Extreme - 60MB/s".

Can anyone please tell me if this new card will work in my old camera (2004 model) or should I stick to the Ultra? What are the differences besides the MB/s.

I don't know much about memory cards and can't seem to find the information I'm after.

Thanks in advance :)

[Bennymiata]

Save yourself some money, and buy a Lexar card.
Same quality as Sandisk, and about 20-30% cheaper.

60mb/sec should be fine for your camera, but Lexar now have a 150mb/sec CF card and it's amazingly fast!

[Speedway]

For the 300D the ultra is more than enough. I have an 8G ultra in my 7D and the other weekend I gave it a test out taking up to 51 frames non stop on high speed continuous (8 frames per second) without a problem. The $28.90 8Gb Ultra V $54.95 for the 8Gb Extreme and $33.95 for the Ultra equivalent Lexar from site sponsor Crazy Sales makes the choice easy. The extreme would be a huge overkill on the 300D.
Keith.

[patrickv]

Highest resolution at highest rate video recording will mess up with a 30MB/s card (1080p @ 30 fps on 7D) : it will skip frames a couple times per minute, rendering it unusable. You will also notice that if you shoot some big RAW bursts, it will be significantly faster to flush on the 60MB/s CF.

With a 300D, any card will do, as you can't record video all or burst fast with it.
Any CF will work because the CF controller is in the CF itself. It's not like with SD cards where you have old SD readers that can't read biggest SDHC stuff (my old Dell 2407WFP computer screen can read any CF but no SD bigger than 4GB).

In other words, for still photography if you don't intend to get a 1D or a 7D any time soon, you'll be completely fine with the 30MB/s card. If you don't want to shoot highest res and frame rate video, you'll be fine too. 1080p @ 25fps (PAL frame rate) works OK with a 30MB/s card. It's only at 30fps that is messes up.

Cheers

[Khia]

Thanks for your help.

I'm upgrading my camera in the next few months to a Mark III - so would the CF Ultra still be ok with that, or should I opt for the Extreme which would mean I don't have to update the memory card when I upgrade my camera. If that makes sense lol.

P.S. I'm new at this forum stuff :)

[patrickv]

Except for the cases I have described (high fps raw shooting or 1080p 30fps video), you'll be completely fine with the 30MB/s.

[patrickv]

I'd like to add that the imports to the computer from a 60MB/s card will be significantly faster though, particularly if you shoot raw (which I guess you don't right now since you had a 2GB card), there is a LOT of data to transfer. For me it's sometimes the difference between 15min and 30min for a bit import ...

[fess67]

Go the 60MB/s given your intended upgrade and that means you are likely to play with video and try your hand at burst shots for birds / sports etc. I have both the 30 and 60 and for the most part the 30 is fine but for the reasons mentioned above I prefer the 60. Given the likely life of the product, the price difference is nothing over the years.