CompactFlash Differences???

We are getting an Olympus C-5060. That decision was hard enough. Now, we
want to get a 1 gb memory card. Because the camera uses both xD and
CompactFlash cards, this seems like an easy choice. The xD cards are about
double the price of the CompactFlash, and they don't even come in 1 gb
configurations. Deciding which CompactFlash card to use is what is making
me nuts. I notice that lots of the memory makers produce two or more
different versions, with one supposedly faster than the other. For example,
both Kingston and Sandisk make a "regular" and a "fast" card. But what does
it mean? How will this speed difference manifest itself? Will the camera
work better/faster with a faster memory card?

Also, which brands/makes/models of CompactFlash cards really do work better
or faster? And is the Olympus C-5060 actually capable of taking advantage
of the faster card? I have read a lot of stuff, some of which calls the
claims of faster cards into question. Price-wise, it means the difference
between spending maybe $120 for a 1 gb Kingston or Sandisk card to $150 for
a faster version from one of these manufacturers to more than $200 for one
of the other brands of "fast" CompactFlash cards. And some claim to be 4x,
while others 40x. Since there are no actual standards, what does this mean?

Anyone who can enlighten me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Paul Green

"Paul Green" pgreen @ comcast.net wrote in message ...
We are getting an Olympus C-5060. That decision was hard enough. Now, we
want to get a 1 gb memory card. Because the camera uses both xD and
CompactFlash cards, this seems like an easy choice. The xD cards are about
double the price of the CompactFlash, and they don't even come in 1 gb
configurations. Deciding which CompactFlash card to use is what is making
me nuts. I notice that lots of the memory makers produce two or more
different versions, with one supposedly faster than the other. For example,
both Kingston and Sandisk make a "regular" and a "fast" card. But what does
it mean? How will this speed difference manifest itself? Will the camera
work better/faster with a faster memory card?

Also, which brands/makes/models of CompactFlash cards really do work better
or faster? And is the Olympus C-5060 actually capable of taking advantage
of the faster card? I have read a lot of stuff, some of which calls the
claims of faster cards into question. Price-wise, it means the difference
between spending maybe $120 for a 1 gb Kingston or Sandisk card to $150 for
a faster version from one of these manufacturers to more than $200 for one
of the other brands of "fast" CompactFlash cards. And some claim to be 4x,
while others 40x. Since there are no actual standards, what does this mean?

Anyone who can enlighten me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

The x number refers to the speed of a floppy disk drive.
1x = 150KB/second. An 8X card can transfer at a
maximum rate of 1.2MB/second. A 40X card at a
maximum rate of 6MB/second, and so on.

How much difference in performance you'll see depends
on the individual camera, and the size of its internal buffer.
Some cameras benefit more from fast CF cards than others.
I don't have any specific experience with the C-5060, but
all of the five cameras I own do benefit from faster memory
in one way or another, whether it's in the time delay between
shots, or in reviewing speed, transfer speed to a PC, etc.
In most cases you're better off buying the fastest memory
you can afford.

One caviat about Lexar: their performance ratings are a
bit misleading. They use an acceleration scheme which only
works on certain cameras. If yours is not one of them,
don't waste your money -- get Sandisk or another brand.
We've had great luck with Sandisk's Ultra II. Blazing fast.

Rick

I have no idea whether the C-5060 will take advantage of a faster CF card,
but here is an interesting comparison of different cards in a Nikon D70:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/mul...?cid=6007-6816

"Paul Green" pgreen @ comcast.net wrote in message
...
We are getting an Olympus C-5060. That decision was hard enough. Now, we
want to get a 1 gb memory card. Because the camera uses both xD and
CompactFlash cards, this seems like an easy choice. The xD cards are
about
double the price of the CompactFlash, and they don't even come in 1 gb
configurations. Deciding which CompactFlash card to use is what is making
me nuts. I notice that lots of the memory makers produce two or more
different versions, with one supposedly faster than the other. For
example,
both Kingston and Sandisk make a "regular" and a "fast" card. But what
does
it mean? How will this speed difference manifest itself? Will the camera
work better/faster with a faster memory card?

Also, which brands/makes/models of CompactFlash cards really do work
better
or faster? And is the Olympus C-5060 actually capable of taking advantage
of the faster card? I have read a lot of stuff, some of which calls the
claims of faster cards into question. Price-wise, it means the difference
between spending maybe $120 for a 1 gb Kingston or Sandisk card to $150
for
a faster version from one of these manufacturers to more than $200 for one
of the other brands of "fast" CompactFlash cards. And some claim to be
4x,
while others 40x. Since there are no actual standards, what does this
mean?

Anyone who can enlighten me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Paul Green

I have no idea whether the C-5060 will take advantage of a faster CF card,
but here is an interesting comparison of different cards in a Nikon D70:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/mul...?cid=6007-6816

"Paul Green" pgreen @ comcast.net wrote in message
...
We are getting an Olympus C-5060. That decision was hard enough. Now, we
want to get a 1 gb memory card. Because the camera uses both xD and
CompactFlash cards, this seems like an easy choice. The xD cards are
about
double the price of the CompactFlash, and they don't even come in 1 gb
configurations. Deciding which CompactFlash card to use is what is making
me nuts. I notice that lots of the memory makers produce two or more
different versions, with one supposedly faster than the other. For
example,
both Kingston and Sandisk make a "regular" and a "fast" card. But what
does
it mean? How will this speed difference manifest itself? Will the camera
work better/faster with a faster memory card?

Also, which brands/makes/models of CompactFlash cards really do work
better
or faster? And is the Olympus C-5060 actually capable of taking advantage
of the faster card? I have read a lot of stuff, some of which calls the
claims of faster cards into question. Price-wise, it means the difference
between spending maybe $120 for a 1 gb Kingston or Sandisk card to $150
for
a faster version from one of these manufacturers to more than $200 for one
of the other brands of "fast" CompactFlash cards. And some claim to be
4x,
while others 40x. Since there are no actual standards, what does this
mean?

Anyone who can enlighten me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Paul Green

snip

The x number refers to the speed of a floppy disk drive.
1x = 150KB/second. An 8X card can transfer at a
maximum rate of 1.2MB/second. A 40X card at a
maximum rate of 6MB/second, and so on.

nitpick

Your calculations are correct, but I think 1x refers to the speed of an audio CD
player or an 1x CD-Rom drive (doh!).
As far as I can remember floppy disk drives are quite slower than that, infact
you couldn't play a stream of cd-quality PCM audio from a floppy disk without
experiencing sound breakups.

/nitpick

Greetings

FDKS

snip

The x number refers to the speed of a floppy disk drive.
1x = 150KB/second. An 8X card can transfer at a
maximum rate of 1.2MB/second. A 40X card at a
maximum rate of 6MB/second, and so on.

nitpick

Your calculations are correct, but I think 1x refers to the speed of an audio CD
player or an 1x CD-Rom drive (doh!).
As far as I can remember floppy disk drives are quite slower than that, infact
you couldn't play a stream of cd-quality PCM audio from a floppy disk without
experiencing sound breakups.

/nitpick

Greetings

FDKS

In article , Paul Green @ wrote:
Also, which brands/makes/models of CompactFlash cards really do work better
or faster? And is the Olympus C-5060 actually capable of taking advantage
of the faster card? I have read a lot of stuff, some of which calls the
claims of faster cards into question. Price-wise, it means the difference
between spending maybe $120 for a 1 gb Kingston or Sandisk card to $150 for
a faster version from one of these manufacturers to more than $200 for one
of the other brands of "fast" CompactFlash cards. And some claim to be 4x,
while others 40x. Since there are no actual standards, what does this mean?

Anyone who can enlighten me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Paul Green

Hi Paul,
Here is a page that compares card speeds specifically for the C-50X0
cameras:
http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/c5050/c5050-card.html
Check out the other articles available he
http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/c5050/c5050-card.html
hth,
NB

In article , Paul Green @ wrote:
Also, which brands/makes/models of CompactFlash cards really do work better
or faster? And is the Olympus C-5060 actually capable of taking advantage
of the faster card? I have read a lot of stuff, some of which calls the
claims of faster cards into question. Price-wise, it means the difference
between spending maybe $120 for a 1 gb Kingston or Sandisk card to $150 for
a faster version from one of these manufacturers to more than $200 for one
of the other brands of "fast" CompactFlash cards. And some claim to be 4x,
while others 40x. Since there are no actual standards, what does this mean?

Anyone who can enlighten me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Paul Green

Hi Paul,
Here is a page that compares card speeds specifically for the C-50X0
cameras:
http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/c5050/c5050-card.html
Check out the other articles available he
http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/c5050/c5050-card.html
hth,
NB

Hi Paul,
Here is a page that compares card speeds specifically for the C-50X0
cameras:
http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/c5050/c5050-card.html
Check out the other articles available he
http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/c5050/c5050-card.html
hth,
NB
OOOPS! That second link should be
http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/c5050/index.html
NB

Hi Paul,
Here is a page that compares card speeds specifically for the C-50X0
cameras:
http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/c5050/c5050-card.html
Check out the other articles available he
http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/c5050/c5050-card.html
hth,
NB
OOOPS! That second link should be
http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/c5050/index.html
NB