1D III Memory Card question.

[Fast Glass]

So I'm getting a 1D III by Saturday. Would a faster card make a difference in how fast the buffer empties?

When I still had the 60D the Sandisk Extreme Pro with 90mb/s card it made a very large difference compared to a 20 or 30mb/s card.

It doesn't seem that expensive to just spring for the 160mb/s Sandisk or Lexar cards. Or would it even matter and just go for a lesser card?

[Joel Eade]

Do you mean a 1D X III ?

Either way ... I would go with the faster Sandisk cards .... It does make a difference in clearing the buffer and I have had a couple bad experiences with Lexar cards.

[clemmb]

Fast Glass,
I have a 1DIII and I upgraded my mem cards to 150 MB/s. When I did this I almost doubled the # of shots before buffer full. I used a SanDisk Extreme Pro for the CompactFlash 160 MB/s card and a Lexar Professional 150 MB/s for the SD card. I have not had any issues with my cards. I think at the time I went with the Lexar to save a few bucks. My thinking was if the card fails I have a backup in the SanDisk.
Cheers
Mark

[Fast Glass]

Joel Eade, I'm getting a 1D III. The 1Dx III is way out of my price point. But oh man I would love one. With a 800mm f/5.6.

Mark, that's really good to know! Because having only 30 shots is kinda sucky by todays standards. But still way better than the T2i I had for the last 6 months. Felt like to huck it so many times how slow it was!

[Joel Eade]

My first 1D series was a 1D III (which was used when I acquired it) .... I'm just a bit surprised they are still available.

Its a very capable camera and I'm sure you will enjoy it. My advice is still the same ... go with the Sandisk Extreme or Extreme Pro.

Have fun!

[Fast Glass]

I certainly will.

Also, and I suppose you might not know. They make some seriously fast SD cards that match or exceede CF cards. For example Sandisk makes a 300mb/s and is only $54 for a 32 gig card. That's very reasonable and more than enough capacity for a 1D III and for how I shoot.

So my question is, because the 1D III is not UDMA compatible and can't fully take advantage of the speed of super fast CF cards. Some have said that SD might be able to actually be faster than a CF because of how these old beasts work? I haven't actually seen concrete evidence, might just need to test this theory out.

[Joel Eade]

I never noticed any difference between an SD card and a CF card if they have similar write speeds.....I'm sure an SD card writing at 300mb/sec will perform wonderfully for you. I cannot remember ever having an issue with the buffer in my 1D III but I tend to shoot short bursts rather than the "machine gun" approach.

[Fast Glass]

Thanks for the advice. Probably gonna do some comparing. I tend to do shoot a bit longer bursts with manual lenses, I sometimes like to rack the focus and shoot a burst. So it might be a lot of bursts in succession, so having a card that can empty the buffer quickly is nice.

Overall I'm not to worried, I'm sure I'm going to be thrilled compared to anything I have used before.

[Jonathan Huyer]

I turned my 1D III into a brick by letting it get wet. Canon was unable to repair it and now it sits as a monument on my shelf. So be careful if you're using it in the rain --- it's not so weatherproof.

[Fast Glass]

Yeah, figured that out with my 60D. It was supposed to be "Partly" weather sealed. On the the shutter button and another button it became kinda sticky and had to press hard after a little rain. It cleared up on it's own with use but yes, it's not super water proof.

Just received it today, I can't believe how much better than the 60D or T2i this thing is! I'm very much not used to such a large body but I love it. Only way to describe it is its built like a tank! I love this thing.

Just waiting on a conversation mount so I can use my Minolta 600mm f/6.3 and I'm back in the birding game. Sort of, still need a decent tripod. Probably a used Gitzo 1325 and a Wimberley style gimbal. Not sure if I should go Wimberley or something else?

[Fast Glass]

But right now I used my 28-135mm and was messing around with my cat, who is active. The burst rate is great and I didn't run out of buffer during the 20 min shoot I had with him. Granted it's not birding but even with a 20mb/s card it unloaded quickly enough where I never ran out of shots. The real test is when it comes to birding....

[Joel Eade]

Congratulations ... thought you would be impressed.

Check out the FlexShooter Pro ballhead .... it functions as a gimbal but is much smaller and lighter .... It really works well even with big lenses.

[Fast Glass]

I definitely will.