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What I'm trying to figure out, is which card I need to be able to get the 6.5fps in Full RAW mode for the maximum amount of time possible.

Sandisk Extreme III or Extreme IV (Since the 40D doesn't support UDMA transfer) are the two cards I think might do the job.

Could anyone with a 40D here perhaps give me a little insight into this situation?

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Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
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I have a Sandisk Extreme III and it doesn't seem to hold my 40D back. I haven't seen any comments anywhere to suggest that an Extreme IV would make much difference to the time it takes before the camera's buffer is full or how long it takes to transfer a full buffer to the card but I guess it's possible that it might be a bit quicker.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

As long as the buffer doesn't take to long to empty then its not much of a problem.

I'm not expecting 1D MkIII Speeds here with Lexar 300x cards lol, and anything is a step up from the 2.5fps of my 350D.

If I may ask, do you know how long it takes the buffer to empty on yours?

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Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

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Wow, that was a bit of a shocker. I was doing some burst tests (haven't shot in this mode for a while) and the camera was slowing down from 6.5 fps after around 8 to 10 shots whether I was in RAW + Large Fine JPEG or even just Medium Fine JPEG.

Did a little research on the Net and it turns out that while I was adjusting settings some time ago I must have enabled "High ISO Noise Reduction" which, as documented in the 40D manual, significantly affects the burst depth even, as it turns out, when shooting at ISO 100.

Turned that back off (I hardly ever use high ISO numbers anyway) and ran some tests. The longest continuous burst I got (at a nominal 6.5 fps) before the shooting rate dropped was in Large Fine JPEG (didn't try lower resolution JPEGs) and ran to 190 shots which is significantly more than the nominal 75 shot capacity of the buffer.

It took the camera over thirty seconds to write that little lot out from the buffer but, of course, you wouldn't need to wait that long before taking more shots if you needed to. With my normal default of RAW + Large Fine JPEG the buffer filled after about 18 shots but the time to empty the buffer was only around 16 seconds.

To finally answer your original question, I did see a post on the Net which claimed that the Extreme IV is around 20% faster at emptying the 40D's buffer so if that is important to you then maybe the extra cost is worthwhile.

The more I learn about the 40D the more awesome it seems.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Did you manage to get 17 continuous shots in RAW mode?

(and how many in 14 bit mode? rofl, ah that was quite funny ^^)

[been doing a bit of searching on the net too and apparently thats the figure you should get with the faster CF cards]

Although I imagine if you can shoot 6.5fps in RAW, the 17 shots can fit into the buffer, or by the time you've hit 17 anyway.

I'll be investing in a 4Gb card, but 20% faster doesn't seem like much for the money, so Extreme III is looking like the more likely choice now.


This is why I want a job in a camera shop, I'd maybe be able to test some of the stuff before I buy it. (Or at least buy it at a reduced cost!) To bad Jessops aren't hiring.

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Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

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Hi Daniel, like Bob I use Sandisk Extreme III cards (4Gb) and they don't seem to hold my 40D up either, when taking photos of trains I shoot in RAW only and normally around a 10 to 20 burst and thats @ 6.5fps

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Roy
EOS 350D, 40D + BG-E2N, EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM, 430 EX Speedlite




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Ah that's a good thing to hear!

The 40D has been deyaled to next Friday at the very latest so I'll have plenty time to get the card, instead of it comming tomorrow like it was supposed to.

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Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

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For a good price on CF cards have a look at http://www.play.com they will deff be cheaper than Jessops and be with you in 2-3 days.

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Roy
EOS 350D, 40D + BG-E2N, EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM, 430 EX Speedlite




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£19 for a 4Gb Extreme III...thats cheap!

Thanks Defiance, I'll try and order one or two today

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Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

By the way, how big (in MB) is the internal buffer of the 40D ?

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Canon EOS 40D - Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM - Canon EF 50/1,8 II - Canon EF 70-200/4L IS USM - Speedlite 430 EX - Lowerpro Nova 4 AW
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I have both a 4gb Extreme IV and an Extreme III (30mb sec). On the 40d they are marginally different as the Extreme IV is made for a camera such as the MKIII that can handle the 40mb read/write speed.

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