Best Sandisk CF card for 40D?

[George Slusher]

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This is based on the Canon EOS 40D Owner's Manual:


Recordingmedia: Type I or II CFcard


Like adrianholerga said, you can use a faster card (Type III or IV) but I don't think it will give you any advantages in-camera. The 50D does benefit from a "UDMA" CF card in the respect that it will increase the number of shots that can be taken in succession (high speed burst).
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"Type I or II CF card" has nothing to do with SanDisk's designations. (They're the only company that uses Roman numerals in designations. Others may use "Class 6," "133x" or the like.) The "Type" refers to the thickness of the card, not the speed. All of SanDisks CF cards are Type I (3 mm thick). The thicker Type II (5mm) include the microdrives.

Maybe that's what I read---not that
the Exteme III or IV would be incompatible with the 40D, but that
they'd offer no advantage over the Extreme II.


Do I have that right?

First, there is no "Extreme II." SanDisk's designations are "Ultra II," "Extreme III," and "Extreme IV. I have several of each, plus a Lexar 133x card.


Second, yes, there may a difference between different cards in the camera, especially for 1) high megapixel cameras, 2) shooting RAW (much larger files), 3) rapid bursts and 4) HD video. If you don't believe this, get an el cheapo CF card and compare the performance to an Extreme IV.


However, the difference between Extreme III and Extreme IV may not be significant for many people. It's not for me with a 30D, though I do shoot in RAW + JPEG. For me, the camera is the limiting factor. For a 50D, 1D Mark III, 1Ds Mark III or 5D Mark II, on the other hand, there may be a measurable difference. I don't have any of those to test.


The major difference between Extreme III and IV isn't so much in the camera, but in downloading. However, you have to have a card reader that's capable of the speeds of the Extreme IV or UDMA cards. Most are not. SanDisk makes an "Extreme" CF card reader that does take advantage of the faster cards, IF your peripheral bus can keep up. I have their FireWire 400/800 model, which is fastest when used on FireWire 800. I can tell the difference in download speed between the Extreme III and Extreme IV


If you regularly download 1 GB+, you may benefit from the higher speed cards and readers. For most of us, the difference is a few minutes that we can spend doing something else while the photos download.

[Mark Elberson]

Thanks for the clarification George. I was speaking to the Roman Numerals on SanDisk CF cards as they relate to speed. They are correlated right? I was confusing it with the type though

[George Slusher]

Thanks for the clarification George. I was speaking to the Roman Numerals on SanDisk CF cards as they relate to speed. They are correlated right? I was confusing it with the type though
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Yes, they are related to speed: IV is usually faster than III, III than II. (THere is no "I," as far as I know.) They're even more strongly correlated with price. For example, using B&amp;H's basic prices, without counting rebates:

• 4 GB Ultra II: $24.95
• 4 GB Extreme III: $33.95
• 4 GB Extreme IV: $64.95

There is a rebate program in effect now (seems to be one much of the time), so the net prices (not counting shipping) for one card would be $19.95, $23.95, and $44.95. The rebates are higher per card if you buy more than one. If you bought three identical cards, the Ultra II would be $14.95 each, the Extreme III $13.95, the Extreme IV $34.95. At that price, it would be silly to get the Ultra II cards.


Be careful, though. Whomever managed an earlier series of SanDisk rebates on SDHC cards refused my application, saying that it was past the end date. They went by date the receipt was emailed, not the date I actually bought the cards, which was shown on the email invoice. When I inquired, they didn't even answer. It cost me $60. On the other hand, last October, I got three 8 GB Extreme III CF cards for a net cost of $12.20 [] from Adorama. The cards were $56.95 each. By getting three, I received a $160 rebate. The "bad" part was that it was in the form of a Visa gift card. I couldn't use that plus another form of payment for an online order, but I was able to put together an order for $158.65. (I may have been able to use two forms of payment by making a phone order, but the "loss" was only $1.35--figured into the net cost above.)