Which SD Card?

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nonymouse - 26 Nov 2006 20:34 GMT

I'm sure this topic has been covered before somewhere; I've just
purchased a Nikon D80 with 18-135mm lens (kit) and am now hunting for
the ideal SD card - either Sandisk Ultra II or Extreme III. Is the
latter worth it?

I read at www.dpreview.com that write speeds of the Nikon are around
6Mb/s - the Ultra II manages sequential read/write of around 9/10Mbs
and the Extreme around 20Mbs. Am I right in thinking that I won't
notice any difference in the speed between the two?

I'm currently using a 12month old standard Sandisk 512Mb (not sure what
the write speeds are) which is performing fine; however, I've not yet
tried the camera in RAW format where 12Mb images are frequent I
understand

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Paul Furman - 26 Nov 2006 21:11 GMT

> I'm sure this topic has been covered before somewhere; I've just
> purchased a Nikon D80 with 18-135mm lens (kit) and am now hunting for
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> and the Extreme around 20Mbs. Am I right in thinking that I won't
> notice any difference in the speed between the two?

It can be nice for faster downloading with a capable card reader, that's
the advantage. My older cards take more than half an hour to download
2GB of files.

> I'm currently using a 12month old standard Sandisk 512Mb (not sure what
> the write speeds are) which is performing fine; however, I've not yet
> tried the camera in RAW format where 12Mb images are frequent I
> understand

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Paul Furman
http://www.edgehill.net/1
Bay Natives
http://www.baynatives.com

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Jim Redelfs - 26 Nov 2006 22:43 GMT

> Am I right in thinking that I won't
> notice any difference in the speed between the two?

Probably.

On the other hand, there is a $12 difference between the 2gb Ultra II ($80)
and Extreme III ($92) on B&H. You never know where this technology will take
you, so I'd opt for the faster card if buying at or beyond that capacity.

I have a 20D but suspect that its buffer will fill before it can transfer to
the card any faster than the Ultra II is rated. ...and that would be with
BOTH jpeg and RAW being written and shooting a LONG burst (rare for me). The
difference, at the 2gb and greater threshold, would be most noticeable when
downloading to your computer, via a fast interface, a FULL card. Heck,
considering they have a LIFETIME warranty, for a mere $12, get the faster card.

Signature

:)
JR

Canon EOS 20D

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Ed Ruf (REPLY to E-MAIL IN SIG!) - 26 Nov 2006 22:58 GMT

>I'm sure this topic has been covered before somewhere; I've just
>purchased a Nikon D80 with 18-135mm lens (kit) and am now hunting for
>the ideal SD card - either Sandisk Ultra II or Extreme III. Is the
>latter worth it?

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007-8531

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Ed Ruf (Usenet2@EdwardGRuf.com)
http://edwardgruf.com/Digital_Photography/General/index.html

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Phisherman - 27 Nov 2006 00:19 GMT

>I'm sure this topic has been covered before somewhere; I've just
>purchased a Nikon D80 with 18-135mm lens (kit) and am now hunting for
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>tried the camera in RAW format where 12Mb images are frequent I
>understand

You'll notice a big difference transferring many large RAW files
to/from the card. Other than that, the SanDisk Ultra II is better
than many other cards. Be sure you are getting genuine Sandisk cards
because there are fakes being sold!

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Jim Redelfs - 27 Nov 2006 01:28 GMT

> Be sure you are getting genuine Sandisk cards
> because there are fakes being sold!

That suggests that one buy their memory from a REPUTABLE source; good advice
in any situation.

I picked-up some prints at Wal-Mart yesterday. On the counter, in a basket,
we're 1gb SD cards for $13.94! Acme brand, to be sure, but HOW CHEAP?!? $14
for a gig of storage. Where's it going? Fill-up a card and keep it as a
final archive? Just keep buying more cards?

All it would take would be ONE, unrecoverable failure to keep me away from the
cheap cards, if I am ever tempted. So far, I'm not. But $14?!?!!?! ARGH!!

Signature

:)
JR

Canon EOS 20D

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Smokey - 27 Nov 2006 14:38 GMT

> > Be sure you are getting genuine Sandisk cards
> > because there are fakes being sold!
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> Canon EOS 20D

I bought a Transcend 2GB SD card from Transcendusa.com, for $38. It is
fast, and works very well in my D80. You may want to check them out.

Looks like it's now 63.70 for their 150x 2GB.

http://ec.transcendusa.com/product/product_memory.asp?chtype=Flash%20Cards&Cid=7
&indexnum=2

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