I just got a Canon 7D and need a new, larger CF card. The prices vary SO much as I'm sure the speed and quality do. Is it safe to go with a lower priced, less popular brand?
I need at least 16GB and would like decently fast read/write speeds. I've read that Lexar is good, I've used some Sandisks... what about Transcend or Kingston?
Thanks for any advice!
If I don't remember wrongly, 7D needs an SD card.
Get a brand name one, and a fast one, at that, if you're planning to record any video.
A fast and high capacity, CF card WON'T come cheap....but for the 7D have a look at the Sandisk Extreme IV CF card (45MB/sec).
Sandisk also make the Extreme PRO CF card (90MB/sec) and it's 16GB version is only slightly dearer than the 16GB Extreme IV.
The prices you will see on the Sandisk link below will be higher than what you could really buy these cards for. So, you need to shop around for the best price.
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The 7D very much requires a CF card and the rule is buy the biggest and fastest you can afford. I bought my 7D back in December and had several 4GB Delkin, SanDisk Extreme III and Lexar 233x cards that have been great and were just fine while I was shooting the 40D. However, after upgrading to the 7D, I quickly found that I needed larger cards because the near 100% increase in resolution also meant the cards only hold about 150 raw images. Now, if you shoot JPEG, you can still fit over 500 images on a 4GB CF Card and this isn't necessarily an issue. But as I said, it wasn't working for me as a raw shooter.
You don't have to use UDMA enabled cards but, when you start shooting in bursts, UDMA cards will clear the buffer faster and allow you to shoot longer bursts. And fast cards are especially important if you shoot video. UDMA cards also allow you to download the pictures faster if you have the right kind of reader. I've simply never used Kingston or Transcend cards...Friends who were pros told me to avoid them. Lexar and Delkin have been traditionally cheaper than SanDisk while offering comparable reliability and speed so I can readily recommend them. Hoodman is another good brand but, they are actually more expensive than SanDisk which was a shock for me.
I tend to buy everything through B&H Photo. I shop at a lot of other places but it is pretty rare for anyone to beat B&H prices. Some may match them but, because they've been so reliable that I stick with them as a vendor. Anyway, here's the search results I got at their site for 16GB cards, sorted from lowest price to highest.
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I'm running the new SanDisk Extreme and Delkin Pro UDMA 16GB cards. Prices have been dropping fast lately. I bought those cards in December locally at Best Buy and a local photo shop for nearly $300 each and now they are barely priced over $114 at B&H.
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