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Comparing Compact Flash Card types



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 19th 04, 04:45 PM
Rick Miller
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Default Comparing Compact Flash Card types

The speed factor of a card is noce, but if your camera won't write at the
high speed, it doesn't matter. It's kinda like having a car that can go
250mph, but show me the city freeway where that is useful 9-5..... It may
be hard to determine your camera's write speed to the CF also, but that is
important to know if you are really going to shop around. Also, note that
no standard exists for "12x" speed labelling. Unlike CDR where 1x is 150k/s
(I think) and 12x is simple math, no such standard exists for CF, so note
the actual speed, not just "12x".

640*480 movies; have you tried a sample yet to see how impressive this
resolution is?(NOT!) That is what my Oly 5050 uses and it is very poor!
Stamp size video is claer, but zoom in a bit so you can see the action and
it is so pixelated as to be unviewable.

I have a 256mb card and it holds something like 300 seconds of movie; don't
think I have ever used more than 20-30 seconds.... It is why I still carry
around my DV camcorder; it kicks butt over the OLY 5050 movie mode (and
probably every other digicam although some are rumoured to be out that do
still & movie well).

Good Luck,

Rick

"Rick S." wrote in message
...
I'm shopping for a high capacity (512MB or 1 gig) for my new canon S1
IS, (I want to use its 640x480 movie capability, necessitating high
capacity). I see a few types on the market, I'm asking for info from
those that have experience or knowledge. I'm leaving brand name
considerations out, so as not to muddy the issue. So far, it looks
like the only significant difference between type I and type II is
the physical size; so if I get a type II it won't fit in my old canon
SD110. No biggy, really, I've resigned myself to get a type II. The S1
IS takes either one. So my concern is that I believe that taking
movies may REQUIRE a 'high speed' CF card, and the best I can deduce
is that the regular type will write maybe 6MB/sec, 'ultra' will write
at 9MB/sec, the 'extreme' claims 16MB/sec, but also has inernal
recovery s/w if the card fails.
A 512Mb CF card, roughly, goes for: regular type II, 100-125$. Ultra
type II, 175$. Extreme type II, 250$ !!!
Obviously, I'd rather not spend more money for speed I don't need, I
would think there's a memory buffer in the camera that acts as a
reservoir while it's filming, writing to the flash card as the flash
card can take it. But if there's any risk at all that the card is the
week point, I'm willing to spend the extra money for the 'ultra'. The
'extreme' sounds nice, but as we all know from the great 'steve's
review' (and others) site, there is third party recovery s/w available
to recover images from a failed card, so I'm dubious about the feature
of internal recovery s/w.
Please, talk to me!
thanks so much,
Rick



  #2  
Old July 19th 04, 04:45 PM
Rick Miller
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Comparing Compact Flash Card types

The speed factor of a card is noce, but if your camera won't write at the
high speed, it doesn't matter. It's kinda like having a car that can go
250mph, but show me the city freeway where that is useful 9-5..... It may
be hard to determine your camera's write speed to the CF also, but that is
important to know if you are really going to shop around. Also, note that
no standard exists for "12x" speed labelling. Unlike CDR where 1x is 150k/s
(I think) and 12x is simple math, no such standard exists for CF, so note
the actual speed, not just "12x".

640*480 movies; have you tried a sample yet to see how impressive this
resolution is?(NOT!) That is what my Oly 5050 uses and it is very poor!
Stamp size video is claer, but zoom in a bit so you can see the action and
it is so pixelated as to be unviewable.

I have a 256mb card and it holds something like 300 seconds of movie; don't
think I have ever used more than 20-30 seconds.... It is why I still carry
around my DV camcorder; it kicks butt over the OLY 5050 movie mode (and
probably every other digicam although some are rumoured to be out that do
still & movie well).

Good Luck,

Rick

"Rick S." wrote in message
...
I'm shopping for a high capacity (512MB or 1 gig) for my new canon S1
IS, (I want to use its 640x480 movie capability, necessitating high
capacity). I see a few types on the market, I'm asking for info from
those that have experience or knowledge. I'm leaving brand name
considerations out, so as not to muddy the issue. So far, it looks
like the only significant difference between type I and type II is
the physical size; so if I get a type II it won't fit in my old canon
SD110. No biggy, really, I've resigned myself to get a type II. The S1
IS takes either one. So my concern is that I believe that taking
movies may REQUIRE a 'high speed' CF card, and the best I can deduce
is that the regular type will write maybe 6MB/sec, 'ultra' will write
at 9MB/sec, the 'extreme' claims 16MB/sec, but also has inernal
recovery s/w if the card fails.
A 512Mb CF card, roughly, goes for: regular type II, 100-125$. Ultra
type II, 175$. Extreme type II, 250$ !!!
Obviously, I'd rather not spend more money for speed I don't need, I
would think there's a memory buffer in the camera that acts as a
reservoir while it's filming, writing to the flash card as the flash
card can take it. But if there's any risk at all that the card is the
week point, I'm willing to spend the extra money for the 'ultra'. The
'extreme' sounds nice, but as we all know from the great 'steve's
review' (and others) site, there is third party recovery s/w available
to recover images from a failed card, so I'm dubious about the feature
of internal recovery s/w.
Please, talk to me!
thanks so much,
Rick



  #3  
Old July 19th 04, 09:30 PM
Dan Wojciechowski
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Comparing Compact Flash Card types

"Rick S." wrote in message ...
I'm shopping for a high capacity (512MB or 1 gig) for my new canon S1
IS, (I want to use its 640x480 movie capability, necessitating high
capacity). I see a few types on the market, I'm asking for info from
those that have experience or knowledge. I'm leaving brand name
considerations out, so as not to muddy the issue. So far, it looks
like the only significant difference between type I and type II is
the physical size; so if I get a type II it won't fit in my old canon


Absolutely correct. Type II cards are thicker than Type I cards. A slot
that can take Type II cards can also take Type I cards, but a Type I
slot CANNOT use Type II cards.

SD110. No biggy, really, I've resigned myself to get a type II. The S1
IS takes either one. So my concern is that I believe that taking
movies may REQUIRE a 'high speed' CF card, and the best I can deduce


Require means "without significant number of dropped frames".

is that the regular type will write maybe 6MB/sec, 'ultra' will write
at 9MB/sec, the 'extreme' claims 16MB/sec, but also has internal
recovery s/w if the card fails.


I doubt that the S1 IS can write more than 4MB/sec, but you should
check the specs.

A 512Mb CF card, roughly, goes for: regular type II, 100-125$. Ultra
type II, 175$. Extreme type II, 250$ !!!


Are you also checking the prices on Type I cards? You can use them,
after all.

Obviously, I'd rather not spend more money for speed I don't need, I
would think there's a memory buffer in the camera that acts as a
reservoir while it's filming, writing to the flash card as the flash
card can take it. But if there's any risk at all that the card is the
week point, I'm willing to spend the extra money for the 'ultra'. The


I'm sure the camera has a RAM write buffer as you suppose. However,
when capturing a video, it is sure to overflow (even at the little 0.25 MP
frame size) so the camera processor or the memory card becomes the
bottle neck. I'd bet the camera cannot write anywhere as fast as the
fastest CF cards. Still, check the camera specs.

....

Of course, if you really want to take videos (of good quality), use a video
camera. A cheap video camera will do a better job than an expensive
still camera. Similarly, a cheap still camera will take better photos than
an expensive video camera. Until the two worlds converge, choose the
right tool for the job. }
--
Dan (Woj...) dmaster at lucent dot com
----------------------------------
"What can you see / On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea / A pale moon rises.
The ships have come / To carry you home.
And all will turn to silver glass.
A light on the water / All souls pass."


  #4  
Old July 19th 04, 09:30 PM
Dan Wojciechowski
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Comparing Compact Flash Card types

"Rick S." wrote in message ...
I'm shopping for a high capacity (512MB or 1 gig) for my new canon S1
IS, (I want to use its 640x480 movie capability, necessitating high
capacity). I see a few types on the market, I'm asking for info from
those that have experience or knowledge. I'm leaving brand name
considerations out, so as not to muddy the issue. So far, it looks
like the only significant difference between type I and type II is
the physical size; so if I get a type II it won't fit in my old canon


Absolutely correct. Type II cards are thicker than Type I cards. A slot
that can take Type II cards can also take Type I cards, but a Type I
slot CANNOT use Type II cards.

SD110. No biggy, really, I've resigned myself to get a type II. The S1
IS takes either one. So my concern is that I believe that taking
movies may REQUIRE a 'high speed' CF card, and the best I can deduce


Require means "without significant number of dropped frames".

is that the regular type will write maybe 6MB/sec, 'ultra' will write
at 9MB/sec, the 'extreme' claims 16MB/sec, but also has internal
recovery s/w if the card fails.


I doubt that the S1 IS can write more than 4MB/sec, but you should
check the specs.

A 512Mb CF card, roughly, goes for: regular type II, 100-125$. Ultra
type II, 175$. Extreme type II, 250$ !!!


Are you also checking the prices on Type I cards? You can use them,
after all.

Obviously, I'd rather not spend more money for speed I don't need, I
would think there's a memory buffer in the camera that acts as a
reservoir while it's filming, writing to the flash card as the flash
card can take it. But if there's any risk at all that the card is the
week point, I'm willing to spend the extra money for the 'ultra'. The


I'm sure the camera has a RAM write buffer as you suppose. However,
when capturing a video, it is sure to overflow (even at the little 0.25 MP
frame size) so the camera processor or the memory card becomes the
bottle neck. I'd bet the camera cannot write anywhere as fast as the
fastest CF cards. Still, check the camera specs.

....

Of course, if you really want to take videos (of good quality), use a video
camera. A cheap video camera will do a better job than an expensive
still camera. Similarly, a cheap still camera will take better photos than
an expensive video camera. Until the two worlds converge, choose the
right tool for the job. }
--
Dan (Woj...) dmaster at lucent dot com
----------------------------------
"What can you see / On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea / A pale moon rises.
The ships have come / To carry you home.
And all will turn to silver glass.
A light on the water / All souls pass."


  #5  
Old July 20th 04, 06:31 AM
Kimberlee
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Comparing Compact Flash card types

You, too, are spoiled! Grin

I love my S1 IS.
I just got back from a trip, and I was very, *very* pleased with the photos
I took. The toughest shots were from a boat, trying to photograph water
skiers...but even those turned out wonderful (nice thing about digital is I
can erase the shots of just the knees because we hit a wake).

I was happy with the speed of the CF card's speed, and I was estatic with
what I'd learned to do in just a week.
Storing photos and taking photos in succession was not a problem, and I shot
about 400 pics in 4 days; various settings, exposures and speeds.
The CF speed was not an issue (SanDisk 256).

I was thinking of getting just a couple more 256 cards until I tried to
shoot a video...not nearly enough storage space, so I'm going to go bigger.
I understand that I can shoot up to 5" of video with a 1gb card. Okay,
then! All in all, though, I think this S1 IS is way better than the Minolta
Dimage Z1.
~Kimberlee

"y_p_w" wrote in message
om...

I've got a PowerShot S1 IS. I've played around with it using the
slowest CF cards I own (standard SanDisk purchased in late 2002).
It takes a long time before I can't take a shot. I supsect the
camera has a large internal high-speed memory, and that speed of
the cards won't be an issue in the camera unless you manage to max
out the internal memory. It might be an issue in an card reader.

My PowerShot S200 would max out quickly when bursting shots. With
the S1 IS, I was able to get well over 20 straight medium 1 shots
with fine compression before it refused to take any more shots.



  #6  
Old July 20th 04, 01:32 PM
Renee
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Comparing Compact Flash card types


"Kimberlee" wrote in message
...

snip

I was happy with the speed of the CF card's speed, and I was estatic with
what I'd learned to do in just a week.
Storing photos and taking photos in succession was not a problem, and I

shot
about 400 pics in 4 days; various settings, exposures and speeds.
The CF speed was not an issue (SanDisk 256).

I was thinking of getting just a couple more 256 cards until I tried to
shoot a video...not nearly enough storage space, so I'm going to go

bigger.
I understand that I can shoot up to 5" of video with a 1gb card.


snip

CF speed actually IS an issue when you're shooting video, Kimberlee. (I've
changed my outlook on things.) Try to make sure it's a high-speed card.

I didn't think there was a problem with shooting video on my S1 using slower
CF cards until last week. I took a couple of videos of people rock'n rolling
to some pop music. When I viewed the videos on my computer, the shots looked
smooth -- well, as smooth as you'd expect a rock's roller to look -- but the
audio sounded terrible. It sounded all choppy! Dropped frames is not
apparent in the video portion, but it must be happening based on what the
audio sounded like.

I have my sights set on the Transcend 40x 1 GB someday. The price seems
reasonable compared to the other brands.


 




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