4gb SD cards -- Redux

[scott kirkpatrick]

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I did a quick check comparing the time to download 1 GB of stuff from a Transcend 150 2GB card and from a SanDisk Extreme III 2GB card, since I have both, and the Extreme III can be read twice as fast in the same reader.

 

It does seem as if we are in a transition into standardized HC cards, with suppliers working off inventories of the older cards. That suggests a buying opportunity coming soon for the old Extreme III's, which still cost almost 2X what the Transcends sell for. And I hope Leica will decide to offer support for HC once it is solidly in the marketplace.

 

scott

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[rvaubel]

I did a quick check comparing the time to download 1 GB of stuff from a Transcend 150 2GB card and from a SanDisk Extreme III 2GB card, since I have both, and the Extreme III can be read twice as fast in the same reader.

 

It does seem as if we are in a transition into standardized HC cards, with suppliers working off inventories of the older cards. That suggests a buying opportunity coming soon for the old Extreme III's, which still cost almost 2X what the Transcends sell for. And I hope Leica will decide to offer support for HC once it is solidly in the marketplace.

 

scott

 

Did any one notice a new card reading software program installed on their computer. It seems that I have a new dialoque box when I plug in my USB sandisk card reader. Work rather well too.

 

How do these things happen?

Rex

[scott kirkpatrick]

Did any one notice a new card reading software program installed on their computer. It seems that I have a new dialogue box when I plug in my USB sandisk card reader. Work rather well too.

 

How do these things happen?

Rex

 

Just basic Borg intelligence and awareness. MS's regular automatic downloads can bring all sorts of new drivers along, although they are usually advertised as security patches so that we will feel it is best to let them be installed. By coincidence, one or our students just walked into my office, proudly showing off the design his team has finished doing (at Intel) that will let your keyboard, mouse and display all be operated under remote control. They have strong security built around all this, but You Are Not Alone in the privacy of your home office with your PC.

 

scott

[wparsonsgisnet]

I did a quick check comparing the time to download 1 GB of stuff from a Transcend 150 2GB card and from a SanDisk Extreme III 2GB card, since I have both, and the Extreme III can be read twice as fast in the same reader. /QUOTE]

 

Scott, is the ExIII faster when the M8 writes to it? Would you test by filling the buffer and seeing when the writes are done?

[bsmith]

The Transcend 4g 150x is reliable but significantly slower than Lexar or Sandisk 2g 133x cards in review and download. The 4g SDHC won't be as fast as the current 2 gigs even when they are finally compatible either. The HC is high capacity , not speed. They were designed for video use

[wparsonsgisnet]

The Transcend 4g 150x is reliable but significantly slower than Lexar or Sandisk 2g 133x cards in review and download. The 4g SDHC won't be as fast as the current 2 gigs even when they are finally compatible either. The HC is high capacity , not speed. They were designed for video use

 

I'm particularly interested in knowing if the M8 writes faster to a particular card. The roughly one-minute recovery from a full buffer is long to me. If the ExIII card gets written to faster -- by the M8 when saving a pic -- then it's more desirable during photog sessions.

[scott kirkpatrick]

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I have a SanDisk XIII card in the camera right now, so I tried the obvious experiment. Camera on C, enough light so that there will not be frame subtraction going on in the background to complicate things, hang my watch in sight and in focus. I hold the shutter down and get 12 frames at 2 per second. Keeping the shutter down I then get another frame after 2 sec, another after 2 sec, then another after 3 sec. Now take finger off the shutter and watch the red light flash as the buffer clears. When it stops, shoot again. That was 19 sec later, so if I allow 1 sec to recognize that the flashing red has stopped, the clearance time was 18 sec. I looked at both the picture of the watch's second hand and the frame time stamps to confirm this. So with the Extreme III's i can clear a frame from the buffer every 2-2.5 sec, and clear the entire buffer in 18 sec.

 

Try it with the Transcends, and let us know what you see -- how long can you shoot continuously, and what is the clearing time?

 

scott

 

PS, I had lens detection ON+UV/IR the whole time. Don't know if that would slow things down.

[wparsonsgisnet]

I have a SanDisk XIII card in the camera right now, so I tried the obvious experiment. Camera on C, enough light so that there will not be frame subtraction going on in the background to complicate things, hang my watch in sight and in focus. I hold the shutter down and get 12 frames at 2 per second. Keeping the shutter down I then get another frame after 2 sec, another after 2 sec, then another after 3 sec. Now take finger off the shutter and watch the red light flash as the buffer clears. When it stops, shoot again. That was 19 sec later, so if I allow 1 sec to recognize that the flashing red has stopped, the clearance time was 18 sec. I looked at both the picture of the watch's second hand and the frame time stamps to confirm this. So with the Extreme III's i can clear a frame from the buffer every 2-2.5 sec, and clear the entire buffer in 18 sec.

 

Try it with the Transcends, and let us know what you see -- how long can you shoot continuously, and what is the clearing time?

 

scott

 

PS, I had lens detection ON+UV/IR the whole time. Don't know if that would slow things down.

 

Ok, Scott.

 

1. I have my M8 set to write both a hi-res jpg and a dng.

 

2. Setting to Continuous and holding down the shutter, I get exactly 10 exposures before the "data transfer" message appears and stops the continuous shutter.

 

3. It takes about 1 1/4 minutes (80 seconds) before the red light stops blilnking.

 

4. I am using a 4GB Transcend 150x SD card.

 

If you will tell me what record mode you were in (jpg or dng or what variety of both) I will run the test for your setting.

 

Thanks for this.

[scott kirkpatrick]

Just saving DNG's, nothing else.

 

scott

[wparsonsgisnet]

Just saving DNG's, nothing else.

 

scott

 

Saving just dng's, I get exactly 10 pix before the "data transfer" and it takes 40 seconds for the red lite to stop winking.

 

If I round your timing up, the M8 writes to the ExIII card twice as fast as to the Transcend card. This is both an enormous difference and a big bit of info for the M8 users.

 

I came from the D2 and that camera is write-challenged. ExII's worked well, but there was no difference between cards of similar or even faster speed.

 

To check this wonderful discovery, would you do a write test on your ExIII card for hi-res jpg plus dng? I'm getting 80 seconds, so you should get about 40 seconds (might be "double the files, double the fun" - thank you Mr. Wrigley)

 

Thanks for going thru this exercise.

[scott kirkpatrick]

Saving just dng's, I get exactly 10 pix before the "data transfer" and it takes 40 seconds for the red lite to stop winking.

 

If I round your timing up, the M8 writes to the ExIII card twice as fast as to the Transcend card. This is both an enormous difference and a big bit of info for the M8 users.

 

To check this wonderful discovery, would you do a write test on your ExIII card for hi-res jpg plus dng? I'm getting 80 seconds, so you should get about 40 seconds .

 

I forgot to count how many shots before the stalls occur, but the time to clear the entire buffer when writing DNG + JPG fine is 52 sec, a little more than half the time that the Transcend takes. But a lot less painful than 80 sec. There must be some camera-induced limitations when writing both kinds of files.

 

scott

[rbaron]

If one of you is testing with a 2gb card and the other testing with a 4gb card could that make any difference?

 

And could the number of images already on the card make a difference?

 

I have no idea, which is why I ask.

 

--Bob

[wparsonsgisnet]

Nice catch, Bob.

 

I tried with a 2GB Ridata 150x card and the times are shorter.

 

Timings for hi-res jpg + dng:

 

1. Ridata 150x 2GB -- 42 seconds (versus 52 seconds for the ExIII)

 

2. Transcend 150x 4GB -- 82 seconds.

 

Having images on the card does not seem to matter -- at least not 30 or 40 of them. The size of the card seems to make a difference.

 

This sucks. It's not that I shoot in the shotgun style, but when I do a studio shoot of dancers, I end up filling the buffer a couple of times during each set of shots. So, while the buffer is clearing, these guys are getting cold.

 

How 'bout some others check 4gb vs 2gb and 1gb cards?