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08/30/2005 09:30:53 AM · #1 |
How many images can you put on a 1 gig Compact flash card? I am interested in purchasing one that is on sale, but it doesn't come with a card and was wondering how many images I can put on that card. I think that I will either shoot in Raw or Fine JPEG.
What do most people use? Is the 4 or 6 gig overkill most of the time. I carry my laptop with me and can dowload my images to it as I go, so that has to also play into my decision.
Thanks for your input.
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08/30/2005 09:33:41 AM · #2 |
With my 350D I can get 130 sumthing raw images, in 2 512 compact flashes. Over 500 JPEG (large fine).
I guess you'll get sum more with the 300d. |
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08/30/2005 09:37:52 AM · #3 |
I have a 1 gig card, but unfortunately I can't remember how many it holds (jpeg fine), maybe 340 or so (a guess, I rarely fill it).
I think multiple 1 or 2 gig cards is smarter than a 4 or a 6. Putting ALL your images on one card would suck if something happened to the card and the images were lost. |
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08/30/2005 09:38:07 AM · #4 |
I have a 300D with a 1 gb card in it. I never use the auto mode - which will give you 320 shots. I usually stick to the Av or Tv settings, or totally manual and that gives me 320 if at 100 ISO, 315 at 200 ISO, or 291 at 400 ISO. As the ISO goes higher, more space is taken up with each shot.
Even though I have plenty of space on the 1 gb card most the time, I carry a 256mb card also. I am looking to get another 1 gb or 512 mb also. Just in case one card crashes, it's always good to have 1 or 2 back ups. |
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08/30/2005 09:41:53 AM · #5 |
Yes, Shutterpug made a good point! As your ISO goes up you get less photos! I shoot in RAW and usually get about 130 photos on a 1 gig card at ISO100! I tend to carry about 5 gigs worth with me! They are cheap enough now to carry a couple, but I do also have 2 older 512 meg Sandisks and 4 256 meg Verbatim cards! To be sure to be sure! :)
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08/30/2005 09:53:20 AM · #6 |
The user manual for my 300D compares image-recording quality and maximum capacity for a 128 MB card.
The highest quality jpeg (L fine) is about 3.1 MB--or maximum 38 images on a 128 card.
They list RAW + jpeg as 7 MB--or 16 images on a 128 card.
Their testing was based at ISO 100 with Parameter 1 set....they say "actual image file size and the CF card's maximum capacity varies depending on the subject, shooting mode, ISO speed and processing parameters."
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08/30/2005 09:55:30 AM · #7 |
Additionally, if you install one of the hacks for the 300D, you can reduce the size and quality of the JPEG image that gets embedded in the RAW file, thus permitting a few more RAW shots per card.
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08/30/2005 09:56:04 AM · #8 |
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08/30/2005 10:57:18 AM · #9 |
You should also note that 1GB cards are not all equal. Some 1Gb cards that I have used have been as low as 960MB. Others have been as much as 1024MB. That's over 80MB difference. That's 12%.
That having been said, I have always felt that it was best to buy one card that is the cheapest dollar per MB. make sure you check the speed of the cards you are comparing, don't compare slow cards with fast cards. Sandisk is notorious for having slow cards and not stating the speed.
I haven't been checking for a couple of months, but I keep a regular watch on the grey market area of Taipei City. It is a hotbed of wild products and crazy variations on pricing for different items.
Currently orderable is a 8GB 133X CF card for close to 600$ US.
Last I checked, a 1GB was around $70US at 80x.
I believe 2GB cards are slightly cheaper per MB already, but I would say the difference is minimal. Don't buy a card to be your only card. It is best to have at least 2 cards. If you have a good deal on a 1GB and it isn't too slow (30x is the cutoff, a lot of manufacturers were putting buggy controller chips in at that time), go for it. Keep your eye on prices for 2Gb as well.
PS. Stick with Solid state if possible. Bigger cards can be had as microdrives and they aren't too bad for the most part, but if your data is valuable, they are less reliable. These are usually spotted because they have odd sizes that don't match the typical 1GB, 2GB.. 4... 8... They also draw more power and operate slower, usually 40x.
PPS. Don't let people bully you too much with brand name preferences in this area. One brand is basically as good as the other for reliability in general. All brands buy their flash memory off of Samsung company in Korea. Then they put their own controller chip (governing the speed) and sticker and put it in a package. Transcend, Ridata, Adata etc are all good. The ones to watch out for are the big name cards like Lexar and Sandisk who often overprice older technology. Be very careful if anything says made in China. Taiwan and Korea and Japan are currently the leaders in quality merchandise (Japan doesn't make a lot of stuff these days though, just design).
Sorry about the rambling. Hope it is useful info from a guy who lives in the hub. |
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08/30/2005 11:03:46 AM · #10 |
| I've found this database to be a helpful resource. |
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08/30/2005 11:18:20 AM · #11 |
the 300D uses DOS FAT16 to record on the CF card. Because of that 2Gb is the biggest space it can address, so larger CF cards will only show up at 2Gb cards anyway.
I have 4 512 cards (sandisk regular speed) and they work fine. I also have a Kingston Elite Pro (similar in speed to a Sandisk Ultra II) 1Gb card. While it is not any faster in the camera (as far as i can tell) it is a bit faster when i use my card reader (USB 2.0) to download the images to the computer.
if you are shooting JPG 512 cards should be fine. If you are shooting RAW, then 1Gb cards would save some swapping.
I use the 1Gb when i know I will be shooting alot (as in a wedding or otehr event) and the 512 cards for day out with teh family, DPC, etc. The smaller cards are nice at times because you can seperate events, places or days - as in june when we went on vacation, i used 1 card per day so it was easy to know where the pics were, organizationally speaking.
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08/30/2005 11:23:41 AM · #12 |
eschelar, are you basing the sizes of the cards 960 vs 1024mb on formatted size or in actual size. The standard 1gb storage size on any device is 1000mb while in actuality a gigabite is 1024mb. All harddrive manufactures for example use 1000mb. I'm not sure if a CF maker would do the same thing? I believe viking advertised at 1024mb...
Also 8gig isn't the biggest available, but probably the most affordable. Also be reminded not all cameras can support cards bigger than 2gigs. I believe the rebel can but even the 1DII cannot if I remember correctly.
there is a 12gig card here (rediculous price warning, but probably has come down since)
//www.dpreview.com/news/0405/04052601pretec12gb.asp
edit: thanks prof for clearing up that the 300D cannot support over 2gb.
Message edited by author 2005-08-30 11:24:56.
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08/30/2005 11:25:53 AM · #13 |
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08/30/2005 09:48:11 PM · #14 |
mk. Good resource. I would imagine some cards perform slightly differently in different situations, but looks about right. I have seen other posts a while back when I was researching PDA's that had slightly different layouts for which cards were faster.
I'm not surprised by the 12GB card, but I wouldn't really call it available to the public. I was referring more to public availability in a price structure that follows reasonable market standards.
$600 for a 8GB isn't too bad per megabyte, although it is still more per megabyte than a 1 or 2 gb.
Kyebosh. A lot of manufacturers are advertising their cards as having true 1024 sizes recently because there is quite a difference. A lot of older cards still have smaller sizes. This can also change a fair bit based on the file system used. File systems can use space for header information. I have seen anywhere from 930-990MB available on different 1GB cards. I haven't seen the new ones yet, but I would assume they have closer to the 1024MB size advertised. I believe there is also a little native information taken up for instructions dealing with the controller chip, but I am not 100% on this.
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