Memory Card

[Chuck Jensen 0]

I purchased my D70s and didnt realize it didnt come with a memory card of some sort until I received it. Are any better than others and it is worth my while to get a 2 Gig in lieu of the 1 Gig?

Cheers,

Chuck

[davephdv 0]

You can get a 4 gb card for under 200$ if you look for a deal. Get the biggest card you can afford. This means you have to open your housing less often. Significantly lowers the chance of a flood.

 

Most people start the day (of diving) by carefully setting up their housing and testing it in the rinse tank. As the day goes on and one has to open the housing to change film or card people tend to slack off on careful assembly of the housing. Especially if there is a whale shark in the water.

 

I'm not too sold on the speed of the card being all that important. Seldom do you need to write that fast to your card in UW photography. So I would get a less expensive 4 or 6 gb card with a lower reading time. Open your housing fewer times and you are much less likely to cause a flood. Very cheap insurance for the price.

[TimG 62]

Yeah, I agree with Dave: size is everything and the bigger the better. 2GB is good; 4GB probably better. I've only got as far as 2GB yet which, on my D100, gives me 206 RAW pics. I normally find this is good for 3-4 dives (once the duff ones are weeded out) which means I only open the housing once when the dive day is over to change battery and download the card. Like Dave I reckon the fewer housing openings the better.

 

I'm not so sure about write speed though. I'm no techie but it seems to me that the quicker the buffer is written to the card, the more pictures you can take in rapid succession. And I can think of occasions where I have shot 3-4 pics quickly and the camera/card kept up. My 2GB card is a Lexar Pro x80 and it seems to cope pretty well.

[Paul Kay 46]

Whilst I agree that the bigger the better .......... CF cards can (and do) fail! I'd suggest 2 x 2GB are a good option rather than one larger card as they give you a back up should the worst happen. And sorry to be dogmatic, but carelessness in resealing any underwater camera is a function of the operator, not the number of times it is opened and shut!!!

 

Speed is governed by the camera's writing speed not the card - check out www.robgalbraith.com where there are extensive details about cameras/cards. 80x seems pretty standard these days and you won't pay much of a premium over a 40x card.

[tdpriest 115]

Hmmmmn....

 

I think that I disagree with Tim from Macclesfield, and see more sense in what Paul has added: big card, infrequent downloads and one failure = lots of lost work.

 

I use cards matched to my system: a fast 1Gb Sandisk Ultra11, that takes 160 shots from a D70 in RAW mode. On a spectacular dive I eke out the shots after 100 frames by switching to FINE jpeg mode. After every dive I download the card, back up and format. I check the housing o-ring every dive, and clean the o-ring, the flat and the track at least once a day, and after every dive in silty water.

 

As for speed: I switched from a compact Nikon Coolpix 5000 (see the Pic O' the Week!) because the buffer cleared slowly: the shark put its nose on the dome, but the buffer was full. I really value the size of the D70 buffer, but even more the speed with which it empties using a high-specification card.

 

Tim (Solihull)

 

B)

[Chuck Jensen 0]

Thanks for all the info. Is any brand better than another or do I need to just be concerned with the size and write speed? Im thinking of the Lexar...

Thanks

Chuck

[Rocha 0]

Lexar is a good brand, and so is Sandisk. Keep in mind that even cards marketed with the same speed can vary. Take a look at the link below for a nice comparison between cards:

 

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007

[james 0]

Hi Chuck,

 

Take a look at the Galbraith database, then write down the top performing cards. Then go shopping.

 

You'll be surprised that some of the fastest cards can be much less expensive than others.

 

I recently purchased 2 2gig Sandisk Ultra II cards for my Canon - they cost $130 each at the time.

 

Compared to the very first memory card I bought a - a 160MEGABYTE lexar card for $300, I though I did pretty well...:-)

 

Cheers

James

[Viz'art 24]

Had a talk with my sales staff and concurred that the Sandisk is the brand we have the less problem with. this info compiled from all the card of 512mb and 1gb sold in the last 6 months which is -/+ 3500 units. This being said I have both Lexar and Sandisk and must say I never had a card failure in 5 years, come to think of it I actually screwed up a lot films before digital (scratches, bad processing, lost rolls, back door opening) and so far never had a card related mishap, just format a lot that will keep you out of trouble.

 

Footnotes: I have seen card go trough a washing machine then the dryer and aside from smelling like freshly washed panties , where none for the worst, I droped one in fresh water last year and still use it.

 

Cheers

[Paul Kay 46]

I had a Lexar 1GB 40x totally die on me earlier this year - no reason, it simply stopped working and could not even be recognised by a variety of computers. I was unable to retrieve the images off it. Not that Lexar are bad cards - I have 6 others which are fine - but failure can and does happen. If you have all your eggs in one basket ......

[Viz'art 24]

I agree with the egg principle, but still use 2gb for underwater, since anyway i can't swap card and using the 12mp raw files I get -/+ 150 shots in one dive. I do always change card after every dives, and dowload at the hotel/room (dry place) later.

 

Top side is a different story, I have half a dozen card of 256mb and use them a lot in studio and location since I can rotate download and shooting time faster this way.

 

Travelling photography & documentary is a 512mb and 1gb affair, I hate running out of card space while there is something happening.

[Paul Kay 46]

Last comment:

 

Anything over 2Gb means you needs loads of gas to deco on!

[gregarius 0]

I agree that you shouldn't put all your eggs in one card. But I still don't like the smaller cards.

 

Not that long ago most of the "don't put all your eggs in one basket people" were saying and buying 500mb cards and 1gb cards. And that would be find if you're not going to upgrade the camera. Personally, I think at the moment the smallest I'd get would be a 2gb if you're in the DSLR world.

 

I'm happy I used this approach as now I suspect I'll be going from the 10D to the 5D and the 2gb card that holds about 300 something RAW on the 10D which is reallly nice will hold about 150 on the 5D. I guess the 1gb card will hold like 75 and that's not really enough for the way I like to shoot and open the housing less.

 

I'm curious just how many shots people take per dive. Do the people coming from film stay disciplined and shoot fewer shots or do they go nuts with their new freedom? What about people who started out with digital. Just how many shots to people take on average of a "good dive"?

 

As for card failures, I've had three over the last five years--two Viking and one Sandisk. They were well cared for cards, too. I was lucky that they didnt completely fail. They corrupted a few images and that was it, very luckily, as I was on my honeymoon in Belize. Both companies sent me replacment cards promptly.

 

Recenly I got an Epson P2000 and ever since I've really only used a single Lexar 2gb (80x) card most of the time...although I carry a couple of other cards with me as backups.

[Lionfish43 0]

I think 2 GB is the best size for your D70. I currently use a couple of 1 GB cards and have been on a few dives where I filled my card - it can be frustrating trying to cull during a dive when the action is good. I aggree with Jean and can tell you I ruined many a roll of film and so far, knock on wood, I've had zero failures with compact flash.

 

As a kind of testamonial to todays flash memory technology I recently made a 100ft ocean dive with a USB jump drive in the pocket of my swim trunks. I didn't discover it until I was showering off after the dive. I opened the case, rinsed it with fresh and set it in the sun to dry. I didn't lose any of the images stored on it and it still works fine today.

[stucotts 0]

>>I think 2 GB is the best size for your D70. I currently use a couple of 1 GB cards and have been on a few dives where I filled my card

 

Maybe a silly question, but how well do your strobes hold up on such a dive. I have dual SB105's and will be heading off on a live aboard this fall, to be honest, I dont know or think I can get 150 shots out of one set of batteries (have recently moved from Nik5, so have never pushed it) let alone 4-5 dives in a day. How many sets of batteries should I think about for my strobes for a live aboard?

[stucotts 0]

Just realized I dont have much info in my profile so have added that now

Stuart

[Lionfish43 0]

>>I think 2 GB is the best size for your D70. I currently use a couple of 1 GB cards and have been on a few dives where I filled my card

 

Maybe a silly question, but how well do your strobes hold up on such a dive. I have dual SB105's and will be heading off on a live aboard this fall, to be honest, I dont know or think I can get 150 shots out of one set of batteries (have recently moved from Nik5, so have never pushed it) let alone 4-5 dives in a day. How many sets of batteries should I think about for my strobes for a live aboard?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I use a pair of SB105's and can get a full day of shooting out of one set of batteries. I use the PowerX 2000 mAh ones and I bring two sets: sixteen batteries just for the strobes. That way I can change to a fully charged set at the end of the day and I also have a spare set available all the time.

[Rocha 0]

I can get a full day with my Ikelites too, remember that you will shoot 1/2 and 1/4 power more often than full.

[stucotts 0]

>>remember that you will shoot 1/2 and 1/4 power more often than full.

 

 

Thanks for the replys,

 

You are correct, thanks!

 

Stuart