BigBlueDodge wrote:
Mike, where did you wind up buying your Photofast cards from? Also, is the www.mydigitaldiscount.com website posted in this thread a reputable place to buy from. I'm in the market for some CF cards for an upcoming vacation, and I need to purchase soon.
Do yourself a favor and don't buy from MDD. They used to be a great place some 3 years ago or so. But recently the place has gone seriously downhill, orders f'd up or seriously delayed or both. My last two orders over the past two months were both complete nightmares, and others on this board had the same experience. I wish we had the MDD of 2005 back, but that's in the past I guess.
Go check resellerratings.com for recent feedback. It's not isolated.
BigBlueDodge wrote:
Mike, where did you wind up buying your Photofast cards from? Also, is the www.mydigitaldiscount.com website posted in this thread a reputable place to buy from. I'm in the market for some CF cards for an upcoming vacation, and I need to purchase soon.
They get back to you quickly and I received my order ahead of schedule. Reminded me of Newegg in that respect. My cards came with only a plastic protector. I didn't receive all that fancy packaging you commonly see on the web. I'm ok with that because I would have thrown it away.
I have used both cards many times and I have filled them completely up on 4 different occasions. (7D really rips through the storage) No issues thus far. I'm pretty happy with these cards. I say go for it!
I understand that the card, camera, reader and PC can all be limiting factors in the isue of data flow. I'm shooting on a 1D MK II N, so I know that writing to a new card will likely be limited to the camera's abilities. Accordingly, I don't need the FASTEST card for that application. Here, best 'bang for the buck' would be good (thinking 4 or 8).
But, for the uploads to the PC ... that is probably a different matter. My PC is USB 2.0 and I have a generic reader (Promaster I think). I'm thinking I should find a much better USB reader that will accomodate USB 3.0 and a CF card to match or exceed USB 2.0. I have no idea what the limits of USB 2.0 vs. USB 3.0 vs. Firewire(s) ... so a bit of quick education might be in order here as well.
1. Reader Recommendations (Future / Long Haul)
2. CF Card Recommendations (Current Bang for the Buck to exceed USB 2.0 @ 4GB/8GB)
I could install a firewire card in my PC (still limited to USB on my laptop) just not sure how much gain there is to be achieved ... plus the universal aspect of taking the USB reader to other PC's. I'm open to be swayed ...
Very true, your camera is not able to take advantage of the faster cards of today. You will want to look for the fastest cards of yesteryear. You will end up saving $$ and get a pretty fast card in the process. I'm not going to recommend any brand names to you because every brand makes good cards, and every brand makes bad ones.
I could install a Firewire card in my PC (still limited to USB on my laptop) just not sure how much gain there is to be achieved ... plus the universal aspect of taking the USB reader to other PC's. I'm open to be swayed ...
Thanks
I think you would be happier sticking with a USB card reader. It will work on both your desktop and your laptop. You may want to ask yourself, "How much of a hurry am I in when I transfer my photos to my computer? Am I loosing a lot of $$ by waiting an extra few min per card? Is it enough to justify a $60 Firewire card reader?"
Any indication of the reliability of the GMonster or A-Data cards? I am all about saving a few dollars here and there, but on memory cards? I can understand for recreational shooting, but do you trust your business to these? Seriously, I'd like to know I'm concerned over nothing. Given that, the only failure I've had was with a Sandisk card.
32067dlm wrote:
...Given that, the only failure I've had was with a Sandisk card.
You kind of answered your own question there, don't you think? ;-)
Similarly, my only loss was with a Lexar. In contrast, I have many hundreds of thousands of frames through lowly, but highly effective, Ridata cards with no problems whatsoever.
