Extreme, Ultra, UDMA - which CF Card?

[Roxie2401]

Bob, I know you wrote an article on various memory cards but I can't tell how current it may be.

So, I have begun shooting RAW and am looking at larger files sizes, and probably write times (camera to card).

I know that SanDisk now makes an Extreme IV; Kingston makes Ultra (266x); and Lexar makes something called "UDMA".  Not sure if these are SLC or not.

Do you have any comments on the three manufactures'  types of cards?  Any incompatiblities with Canon 40D?

I think I'm probably looking at 4GB but am confused as to what a "UDMA" is and will the Extreme IV vs III work better.

Thanks

[Bob Atkins]

UDMA is Ultra Direct Memory Access and makes cards faster IF the camera also supports UDMA. The 40D doesn't, so UDMA won't make things any faster.

Unless you are shooting bursts of images, the card speed won't make much difference to the camera operation, and unless the camera is capable of writing to the card at high speed, a high speed card won't really help much.

The Kingston 4GB 266x is pretty good and I've been happy with the 45x Kingston Elite 4GB card I have:

See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000UDUBBA/bobatkinsphotogr

Even the Kingston 133x would probably be more than fast enough and it's cheaper! In fact it's great deal for under $25

See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000Y0ZGS2/bobatkinsphotogr

The Sandisk Ulta III and IV are also good. I doubt you'll see mich difference between them in a 40D, so I'd probably go with the III

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0008D76L0/bobatkinsphotogr

[Roxie2401]

Bob,

Thanks.

The Lexar UDMA was recommended by a pro photographer, but then I realize they use the Mark II's.

Do you know if the 50D will use UDMA?  And, can the 40D use the card even if it doesn't support the UDMA?

[Bob Atkins]

UDMA cards are fully compatible with all cameras that take CF cards. If the camera doesn't have UDMA support, the card looks just like a non-UDMA card.

If you look at the 50D specs (http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/digital/canon_eos_50D.html), you'll see that the 50D can take advantage of UDMA cards (as can the new EOS 5D MkII).

The EOS 40D doesn't support UDMA, but can use UDMA enabled CF cards.