SD Card Compatibility

I really think a "better card" is not the way to go. Rather, spend the same amount on a size of card that's been around a while, say 1Gb or 2Gb, and make sure it's a brand name. Get a couple of smaller ones, because believe me when I say the stress is high when you have hundreds of photos on one card, and to get them back if corrupted you have to spend thousands and weeks of your time. "All your eggs in one basket" comes to mind.

Also to quote someone on this forum, and my mother to boot, you get what you pay for!!!

I have a couple of 'cheap' 1GB 133x cards which work nicely, but the construction is not very good (write protect tabs tend to shear off).

I ordered a sandisk extreme III card to see if it is any better. In terms of speed there is absolutely no difference, the DS is quite slow in storing in the card.

What I am wondering about is what the price of the sandisk would be if they left all the extra's out of the package (user manual???, waranty information could be printed on the packaging, capture one LE two pc license, etc.)

Yes, you get a license for two PC's for Capture One LE for free including one update (whatever that means).

Rightly or wrongly, we always buy branded goods in the belief that they will be made to better standards.

When you compare the nicely made pentax battery in my new A20 with the unbranded item that I saw someone take out of a Rollei compact then there is indeed a difference to be seen. The unbranded battery didn't even fit properly and had to be teased into position.

Another friend had a Canon G5 and had to prise the CF card out with the blade of a knife...

We spend a lot of money on our well made Pentax kit and I really think quality is the way to go for all the accessories.

Cheap is rarely cost-effective.

...not necessarily the card that was poorly made.

Dan

True...

I have just bought a sandisk extreme III, 2GB card. Blazing fast it is too!

You may be right, but when your computer does not cooperate, it doesn't work.

Six months ago I bought a Sandisk Ultra II 2 GB card and it worked like a charm. Two weeks ago I bought another Sandisk Untra II 2 GB card and the cardreader in my computer did not accept that card. When I looked in the system's log files I saw all kind of errors. A second Sandisk Ultra II card did not work on my computer either. In the shop they were no problem on their computers.

The Apacer 150x 2GB was no problem.

The DNG format (K10D) can place 239 files on my 4GB generic SD card and 120 on my 2GB card; I shoot in PEF with NO JPG and achieve about 350 and 175 respectively! The PEF is definitely a compressed format and is lossless. When DNG is converted to DNG (compressed) by Adobe DNG converter 4.0 (a free download fron Adobe) with no jpg or embedded thumbnail weilds almost exactly the ssame file size per image as the PEF delivers natively. When DNG converter saves the PEF to my HDD in the DNG compressed format as above there is no change in file size.
Since ascertaining this I shoot PEF exclusively. BTW PSCS3 and Bridge handle the PEF as if DNG and there is really no reason to make the conversion except to "future proof" your images.
Ron McDermott

For anyone in the UK I just thought I'd add these cheap 4Gb SDHC cards to the list of cards working with the K100D (updated to 1.02, but not with 1.00, as I just found).

http://www.mymemory.co.uk/memory/MyMemory/4GB/SDHC/Card

I know price isn't a good way to shop for cards, but I've had no trouble with a mymemory brand x133 2Gb card (currently going for a tenner when they've got stock). That's hardly a scientific test though.

I was going to stick to 2Gb cards, but my recent experience at Biggin Hill Air Fair, taking about 500 jpgs each day, convinced me to switch to PEF, which has made my 2x2Gb collection feel rather too small!

Andrew McP

Andrew McK
My K10D is performing very well and I am completely wrapped in the camera. Since March I have shot 4000+ images. Exposure is very accurate although the aim point is 1/3 to 2/3 stop lower than I could like. No problem the adjustment is right to hand!
RE: your observation as to relative speeds of the various cards.
An associate has the K100D and has a x133 Sandisk 2GB and an Apacer 4GB SDHC. There was no measurable difference in the time taken to save a burst of 3 RAW (limit or buffer) to the 2GB x133 Sandisk and to the 4GB Apacer SDHC 1. This may be due to an inherent limitation of the camera or the superior performance of Sandisk to Apacer.
BTW have you experienced the occanional image that PS3 shows to be faulty and refused to process?

I shouldn't post straight after a night at work! Your reply made me realise I've only had the camera set for PEF for a few days, and my memory is still working in jpg mode. There's no significant difference between the write times with the 2Gb or 4Gb cards... both take about 6-7 seconds between shots once the buffer's full. So I've edited my original comments (in case anyone's wondering what we're talking about).

I'm still new to RAW/PEF, and until recently my only software was Paint Shop Pro 5 (which is, er... a little long in the tooth!) and Picassa2 which (if I'm honest!) I rather like, even if it's a bit weak in the editing options department. Picassa even recognises PEF files and I haven't had a problem so far. Though with only about 100 test shots to my name, that's not much of a test.

I've trialed PS Elements and PSP XI this week, and Elements is losing the upgrade battle so far. But I suppose this thread isn't the place for this discussion.

Andrew McP

If you used a K10D in continuous shooting mode you'd really notice the difference between a 4GB SDHC and the Extreme III. The Buffer would fill up because the card would bottleneck it on the 4GB SDHC but you'd shoot till the card was full on the Extreme III.

You may have fake SanDisk cards. They are the most copied cards one can buy. One of the indications of a fake card is they don't hold as much info as the real thing.

There is a very interesting article on Ebay about this very subject.

RG.

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/3511925/Play-com-8GB-SD-HC-Memory...

Just got one of these and it seems to work fine.

to add to this, i have just purchased a Sandisk Ultra II 8gb SDHC card from Amazon for £26 and it includes a little card reader. works absolutely fine. Ideal for me wanting to set the camera to RAW+ for a wedding.