Great deal on Lexar 1000X UDMA 7 Cards

[dcstep]

B&H has a great deal on the Lexar Professional 32GB 1000x UDMA 7 cards. They're normally $234 to $237.95 and now they're only $132.24. These are fantastic cards for those of you using the 1D-X and the 5D MkIII and the D800, among other cameras. I own this card already and ordered another when I saw this deal.

Look at the comparison tests. This is a fantastic card and this price is great:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...mory_Card.html

They're on backorder, but, if you can wait a little bit, this deal is too good to pass up.

[Chewy734]

I think your link is broken Dave...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Le.../N/0/kbid/3296

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

I think your link is broken Dave...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Le.../N/0/kbid/3296

Thanks. Fixed for now.

[UdubBadger]

now whats the consensus on writing speed needed for a 5Dmkii/iii or comparable?
I'm still on 60mb/s.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by UdubBadger

now whats the consensus on writing speed needed for a 5Dmkii/iii or comparable?
I'm still on 60mb/s.

Decide for yourself, based on your usage. I went all the way, and chose the Lexar 1000x UDMA 7. See:

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/cam...cid=6007-12452

[UdubBadger]

so its really just related to faster writing to enable burst photos.

I don't think my 3.9fps RAW needs more than 60mb/s.

[Chewy734]

Badger, try holding that down shutter down for a long time... you'll see the buffer gets filled quickly. So yeah, it's 3.9 fps for a while until the internal buffer fills. Then you have to wait for the buffer to clear (i.e., write to the card). A faster card can't hurt (except in the wallet), but I don't know how much it would improve the overall buffer situation.

For the newer cameras I think it would make a noticeable difference. Then again, I'm shooting with the 60 mb/s cards like you.

[UdubBadger]

Yeah I don't think it's warranted for the kind of work I'm doing now. Even motorsports events I'm not blowing up the buffer ever.

If I get more into sports I think I'd be willing to drop that kind of $ on a card that is 2x as fast (and big - I still shoot on a 16gb card).

[dcstep]

Also, keep in mind, if your camera does not support UDMA 7, then you're likely wasting money. The price is very good for now, so it might be worth buying now for someone considering upgrading bodies in the next few months. A year from now there'll be UDMA 8 cards and 7s will sell for 60-bucks for 32GB.

Cameras over a year old are unlikely to support the new cards, unless they've had a Firmware update.

For the 1DX, D800 and 5D MkIII, you'll want these cards if you ever shoot in multi-shot mode or do video.

Dave

[UdubBadger]

Good point

[MaximusJ]

I've been considering these for when my d800 would come in, but the charts you posted dave gives me second thoughts.

I got 2 X 95mbs SDHC cards which got some pretty good scores even on the d800. I cant justify ordering new cards for the difference in performance in writing between the two.

I'm pretty sure I could get a decent price for my cards in the used market tho. It would almost be worth it to change if so.

Not sure what to do.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by MaximusJ

I've been considering these for when my d800 would come in, but the charts you posted dave gives me second thoughts.

I got 2 X 95mbs SDHC cards which got some pretty good scores even on the d800. I cant justify ordering new cards for the difference in performance in writing between the two.

I'm pretty sure I could get a decent price for my cards in the used market tho. It would almost be worth it to change if so.

Not sure what to do.

Well, if you're never getting up against the buffer now, then it'd only be expensive insurance. I really think that only sports and wildlife photographers really need that much speed. I'll often shoot in repeated bursts of 3 or 4-shots each and my buffer would fill when using my old PhotoFast 533X cards, which I used to consider fast. With these Lexars, I haven't hit the buffer limit yet; however, I've only shot a few hours with the new card.

This weekend, I'll upload the firmware update to my 7D and give the card a test in a camera with smaller file size but much faster fps.

Dave

[MaximusJ]

In paintball, I pretty much max out my buffer at every breakout. Thats why i've switched to 95mbs sandisk extremes.

I've done it on hobby basis during practices so far, but next year, i'm not playing. So I will get a press pass to get on field access for the official events of the CXBL.

The deal is good until aug.31st so it'll give me time to test out my sandisk cards enough. If I can get $100 out of each of my other cards, might as well the extra speed of buffer clearing.

[MaximusJ]

(if I read myself back, what im pursuing is not clear at all lol). I must have been in a hurry.

My D7000 is using SD only so the sandisk extremes were the fastest available with 95mbs. But the D800 uses both SD and CF. So I will be ok to use the camera, but I will have to check if they're as fast on the D800 then on the D7000; probably not since the D800 files are bigger and the promised fps is lower.

So since the D7000 is 7fps (with the fastest SD card on the market) and the D800 is 4fps, I might need to get the fastest CF card available to reach the closest possible of that promised performance.

But i'll try my SD cards first. If I can save $300, my wallet would gladly thank me for it.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by MaximusJ

(if I read myself back, what im pursuing is not clear at all lol). I must have been in a hurry.

My D7000 is using SD only so the sandisk extremes were the fastest available with 95mbs. But the D800 uses both SD and CF. So I will be ok to use the camera, but I will have to check if they're as fast on the D800 then on the D7000; probably not since the D800 files are bigger and the promised fps is lower.

So since the D7000 is 7fps (with the fastest SD card on the market) and the D800 is 4fps, I might need to get the fastest CF card available to reach the closest possible of that promised performance.

But i'll try my SD cards first. If I can save $300, my wallet would gladly thank me for it.

Look at the link that I provided above and use the drop down menu to select the D800. You'll want at least one of these. The huge files of the D800 are one reason it only does 4-fps. Also, I'm sure that it fills its buffer fast.

Dave

[MaximusJ]

Yes I saw it. Very decent site. My cards are on the list, but in the middle of it. I would double my writing speed going with the lexar cards. CF being way faster then SD to start with and the d800 seem to be faster with CF cards; which totally makes sense.

Ill see soon enough how it translates in terms of buffer clearing with my SD's. Ill dispose of two weeks before the sale ends to make my mind.

[MaximusJ]

3 days left; I just saw the 2X32 package for $238.... mmmmust.....re....sist.....

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by MaximusJ

3 days left; I just saw the 2X32 package for $238.... mmmmust.....re....sist.....

Got mine in the mail yesterday. Great deal. You can get one 32GB for $132. There's no faster CF card for the latest generation of bodies.

[MaximusJ]

I always had multiple memory cards since i'm into digital (2000); it makes things easier when you dont have time to download between shoots. Thats why i'm considering two.

Its also failproof if anything happens to your main card.

And its the same shipping price for one or two; so...

I will keep thinking about it... Until I ultimately pull the trigger. lol

[dcstep]

Some of us already own several other CF cards and don't need them all to be as fast as this card. I've got two of these myself and I'll be giving an old card to one of my daughters. I'll have 3 32GB cards, two that are 1000X and several other lesser cards in size and speed.

[MaximusJ]

Well I decided to make the move. The price is too good to let it pass. What motivated my decision is that even if the writing speed of my SD cards is good, I find the playback speed on the lcd awful because of the size of the files. I saw a review that said this card really improved the browsing speed on the D800 and also that writing speed is substantially faster. They got me.

Another thing is that I couldnt use Eye-Fi anymore since the D800 only got one sd slot and its occupied with a memory card as of now. When I use it, I transfer jpg over Eye-Fi, but the camera also records in raw in the other slot. Not possible on the D800 when you got sd memory cards.

With my SD's, I was getting 15 shots under the 4fps continuous mode before buffer began to actually limit the fps. Which wasnt bad, but like I said the playback on the lcd is a pain. Cant wait to compare and see how much shots it takes before I fill the buffer with these ones and if the playback can be as instant as it is on my D7000.

I bought two since the second one was only $100 when you take the two pack. Lets just hope they will get back in stock soon. They say 3-7 days.

[dcstep]

Keep in mind that UMDA 7 cards are one of the latest technologies. If your camera is not brand new then you'll likely need to update the Firmware for you camera and some cameras will NOT be compatible with these cards. For example, the 7D needs the August Firmware update to take advantage of these cards.

For the latest generation of cameras the cards are fantastic and maximize performance of those cameras. On older cameras, like a classic 5D, the card's speed will be wasted and the card may not function correctly in the camera.

Don't buy a card rated faster than your camera is designed to operate.

Dave