Need advice for CF card purchase

[IsaiahT]

Hi all.

Long-time lurker on Hot Deals, so I figured you guys would be helpful here.

So, I take a lot of photos; it's one of my dayjobs and also I just love photography. And I lost my backup 1 gb card... somehow; probably changing it out on the subway. Fortunately, I still have a 1 GB (Kingston Elite Pro) and a 512 (PNY, I think; I don't recall at the moment because I pretty much never use it), but I figure this is as good a reason as any to upgrade while I replace.

Question the First: Will I really notice the speed difference between, say 45x and 133x? Is there some point beyond which it's just "really fast" and I shouldn't worry about this or that latest standard?

To be honest, I've always been moderately pleased with the r/w speeds I'm getting, but maybe I just haven't used those really powerful cards so I don't know better (I use a Sandisk ImageMate CF reader to get the images back onto my computer, and my handy Rebel XT to take the photos). Sure, it would be nice to get my photos onto my computer faster, but is it $10 nice? $20? $40?? There's got to be a diminishing return here; at some point the limiting factor isn't the card anymore -- how much faster, really, will these "Extreme Ultimate Barry Bonds on Steroids" cards unload?

Question the Second: How much space do I really need? I've been shooting RAW but I trained on film cameras so I rarely fill up a gig unless I'm really being shutter-happy and I'm out all day. I figure 2 GB should do it for most daytrips, and I could get another 2 GB later if I went on a vacation or something; does anyone think it's worth it to go for a 4 GB now and just never take it out of the camera? Is this safer than having a bunch of smaller cards to trade in and out, or is it risking fate to have one supercard?

Question the Third: Anyone have a brand recommendation (or better yet, a reason NOT to go with that brand) and/or a deal to point me to? I know Kingston and Sandisk are running May rebates.

Currently I'm looking at these (prices factoring shipping and rebates):

2GB:
A-Data 120x ($25)
PQI 40x ($20) and 100x ($25)
Sandisk Extreme III ($35)
Transcend 120x ($29)

4GB:
Kingston 45x ($40) and 133x ($45)
Sandisk Extreme IV ($75!)
Transcend 120x ($48) and 266x (!) ($60)

And of course, anything at Adorama, which seems to have similar prices to B+H.

So, I'm pretty much at analysis paralysis here. Help?

 

[Madwand1]

First:

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007-7699

According to that database, the Canon 350D caps somewhere around 6 MB/s. There's some chance that that's out of date, but from what I see the Sandisk Extreme III is rated at 20 MB/s, so it's much more likely that that's a camera cap than a card issue.

1x = 150 KB/s. So 6 MB/s = 40X. By this logic, your camera can't benefit from much more than a 40x card.

USB 2 can do around 30 MB/s in practice. In theory a good card reader will be able to do this as well. Let's say 20 MB/s to be a bit conservative about the ideal, as there would be inefficiencies in implementations and some loss in dealing with the relatively-small image files, which due to relative overhead can't be transmitted as quickly as much larger files.

2 GB / 20 MB/s = 100s.
2 GB / 6 MB/s =~ 333s.

IMO, this is a significant subjective difference, although it's not much in real terms. About a minute and a half to unload a full 2 GB at best vs. about 5 minutes and a half. Subjectively that 5 minutes may be long. In real terms, comparing the time you're going to be spending reviewing and editing the pics, etc., it's nothing.

20 MB/s = 133 X.

So yes, if you have a good USB 2 implementation, fast enough HD (e.g. any modern non-overcrowded desktop drive in good condition), and a really good card reader, you can have a subjective benefit from 133X cards; and you can also ignore it and do something else for the additional 4 minutes (double that to 8 minutes with 4 GB data).

Second:

Get as much capacity as you need. Some like to have lots of cards to reduce the damage caused by a single loss or failure. I'd tend towards few cards -> less chance of loss or failure; easier to keep track of what's where, and greater convenience. I might take other measures for shoots that are really important (if I ever had one) (e.g. cycle cards just for the important shoots, or do on-site backup / off-loads to other devices for them).

Third:

I don't know enough about models and brands to comment on this. I'd stick with the major well-known brands and hope I got lucky enough.

 

[corkyg]

I am on my 4th Canon digital SLR - a EOS 5D. Just some personal experience observations following Madwand's excellent, detailed response.

I shoot sometimes 1000 pics a month on trips, but since printing is almost never a need, I rarely use RAW.

I find the SanDisk Extreme III at 2 GB to be sort of a sweet spot - good performance at a decent price. I carry two of them, but rarely have to use the second one.

Offload regularly - always have my "darkroom" available - albeit in a hotel room or ship's stateroom.