I’m in the market for a 256 MB Secure Digital card for use in a 4MP Pentax Optio S4 digital camera. I’ve seen that some of them are advertised as “Ultra” cards, with faster read/write rates. Does this truly make a noticeable difference in performance, or is it a marketing gimmick?
Example product: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2971582465
Thanks in advance for opinions/advice.
In principle, it make sense because one of the complaints about digital cameras in general is that they are slower and one of the main factors that slow them down are the read/write times to the flash card. But, whether the read/write is significantly faster or not–I don’t know. The other question of course is how often are you in a situation where you need to take rapid-fire photos. So far, I’ve not found the slowness of my digital camera to be an issue.
Dale
It really depends what sort of camera you are using and how quickly you are shooting. I take casual shots with a Canon Digital Elph and the camera is so slow (though takes great pictures), that it doesn’t matter how fast my flash memory is.
However, my brother shoots professionally on a Canon D60 digital SLR. The image sizes are huge and he shoots burst shots at 4 frames per second. He needs the image to be processed immediately if not sooner. For him, having a fast flash card is very, very important.
It’s important to remember, however, that the camera can only be as fast as the flash and the flash can only be as fast as the camera. Usually the camera is the slow component.
Chris
I’ve got a fast card in my elph and it made a huge difference after I turned off the preview option, it also takes longer video clips than with a slower card.
Hmm… interesting information. I actually have a super fast 512 meg flash card in that camera (48x I think). I guess I was wrong.
Chris
We’re in the market for a digital camera for Hanukah this year, but I’m lost when it comes to all the different features and can use some advice.
I don’t know much about the technology, all we want is a simple, point and shoot camera that is easy to use. From what I’ve read on Consumer Reports I’ve narrowed it down to an Olympus Camedia C-4000 or a Nikon Coolpix 4300. Both are 4 megapixels and cost around $300 internet price. The one outstanding difference is that the Nikon uses a compact flash and the Olympus uses an smart media memory device. For around $400 I can get either with a 256 MB memory device, case, etc.
According to the local Wolf Camera the compact flash is the better way to go since they can process it right off the little card thingy. They said that the smart media is good as well, but that it is a product that is going away soon. The fellow there let me take some pictures with both cameras and to my untrained eye there is no difference.
Can anyone shed some light on this? I don’t know enough about it to make a technical decision, but the Nikon seems like a simpler device to work.