New SanDisk Extreme III 12 GB and 16 GB Compact Flash

[Dïscfärm]

Some excellent newly-released Compact Flash for the filthy rich photographer:


SanDisk Extreme® III CompactFlash®

http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Catalog(1024)-SanDisk_Extreme_III_CompactFlash.aspx

 

[LunarMist]

I'll wait for the Extreme IVs before going to 12 or 16GB. Not that I'd risk more than 8GB in a 16.7 megapixel body, and no new bodies in sight...

 

[Tannin]

Yup. I fully expected to see a 1D IIn replacement announced this week. People say that Canon plan to unify the 1Ds and 1D lines, and that this next release will do that. Maybe, though I can't really see it. Either way, I'll have to wait a bit longer before deciding if I'm going to go that way, or else see if they do something nice in a 1.6 crop body for the sport and birding people.

Just as well, really, I don't have the money anyway.

Back to flash cards: I'm using a 4GB, two 2GB, and a couple of smaller spares. That seems to be ample for the moment. I'd not feel too comfortable with anything bigger than the 4GB card though. Prefer to have a handful of 2 & 4GB than a single monster.

 

[iGary]

Like most of you, I have several "smaller" compact flash cards -- a 2 GB SanDisk Ultra II, 3-each 1 GB SanDisk Ultra II, a 512 MB Ultra II, a couple of no-name 512 MB "Toshiba" compact flash (not anywhere close to being as fast as the SanDisk cards), and a couple of freebie 256 MB compact flash cards from long ago. I use all of them regularly -- even the old 256 MB ones occasionally -- in both my Nikon D-100 and my trusty old Oly C-2500 (the Olympus uses both CF and SmartMedia).

As for going to 4 GB or larger compact flash card: I don't particularly need to jump to 4 GB, though I had one occasion where it would have been nice to have had more than a 2 GB compact flash card in my Nikon, since I suddenly found myself out of picture storage space on my 2 GB compact flash card and fumbling through my camera bag for one of my 1 GB or 512 MB compact flash cards.

I suspect it would be quite nice to have a big ol' 8, 12, or 16 GB compact flash card in my Nikon for a weekend's worth of shooting, but I really don't need that much picture storage space -- unless I decided to start shooting TIFF files. But for some photographers out there, 8 GB of storage (or more) is required.

There are situations that you can run into that require you to keep shooting or to not open the camera to insert fresh storage, such as shooting in dusty or wet conditions, doing underwater photography, or unattended photography using an intervalometer. There are also tape-less video cameras that use compact flash storage.

 

[LunarMist]

I have 38GB left of CF cards. The oldest/smallest is a 2GB 45x. The others are 2 or 4GB Ultra IIs and Extreme IIIs, except for one 8GB Ridata 150x used on rainy days.

Usually I start out with one 4GB Extreme III in each 1Ds MK II and a 2GB Extreme III in the 30D. Sometimes I only use two bodies. The capacity is about 240 frames in each case, a reasonable compromise between capacity and acceptable risk.

 

[iGary]

... a reasonable compromise between capacity and acceptable risk.

And, then there are those trigger-happy photogs at tennis matches -- the ones that you used to see years ago with 250-exposure bulk film backs attached to their 35mm Nikon F2/F3 or Canon F1. Those are the photogs queuing up to buy these new 16 GB flash cards.

 

[LunarMist]

Yup. I fully expected to see a 1D IIn replacement announced this week. People say that Canon plan to unify the 1Ds and 1D lines, and that this next release will do that. Maybe, though I can't really see it.

That is what most people were expecting two years ago after the 1Ds MK II was announced. However, PK 2006 looks to be dead for Nikon and Canon and other manufacturers are now quite competitive in the cheaper body dept.

 

[Pradeep]

Yeah, looks like Canon and Nikon aren't really engaging in any quality wars at the top end. Need to go to the 35MPixel scanning backs for a significant step up. I liked the look of the 6*17 160 Mpixel (scanning back) camera.

http://www.roundshot.ch/xml_1/internet/de/application/d438/d925/f934.cfm

Plus, with the gigantic size, you could use it as a metal club in difficult situations.