Best CF Cards for 5D, 7D Movies
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 11:52PM I’ve been vocally recommending that people interested in shooting video with the Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 7D, and upcoming Canon 1D Mark IV, use UDMA, or “Extreme IV” Compact Flash (CF) cards. This was based on some hard-won personal experience — I had two nasty drop-outs (in the form of held frames) when I shot Chapter 12: After the Subway to Extreme III CF cards.
Since then I’ve gotten many replies and comments from people shooting with the far less-expensive Extreme III and 133x cards without incident.
Here’s one such response, from Will Backer, reprinted here with his permission:
Hey Stu,
First off, thanks so much for your continued support of the indie rebel community — I’m a big fan.
I wanted to just drop you a quick recommendation regarding the flash cards you use and recommend for shooting video on the 5Dmkii and the 7D.
I haven’t shot on the 7D, which I realize has a slightly higher data rate, but I have shot 8 commercials (about 20 hours of raw footage) on the 5D with the Kingston Elite Pro 32 GB 133x cards (about $75 each), and I have not had any issues whatsoever with speed or data security.
I see that you’re still recommending the 8GB Extreme IV’s, which are 1/4 the size and more expensive than the Kingston 133x 32GBs. I know you moved to these faster cards after losing data on the Extreme IIIs — which makes sense, but it seems the word around the net is the the Extreme III just didn’t play well with the 5Dmkii, and it isn’t necessarily a speed issue.
I bought 2 of the Kingston’s because I found people on cinema 5d successfully using them and I needed to shoot a lot in the field. I’ve since noticed that Phillip Bloom and others use and recommend these cards as well.
Obviously it’s better safe than sorry when it comes to quality media, but the price difference is so huge that you may wanna give slower cards a try. At least these Kingstons seem to work perfectly and offer a four-fold gain in storage capacity for your dollar.
Cheers,
-Will
Thanks Will. I’m cautiously changing my recommended cards on the 7D Cine store page and I’ll let you know if I have any issues with the Kingston card I just ordered!
Stu
This topic just doesn’t want to die. This came in from reader Sigismund S. Pikul. Conclusions? Some folks have great luck with the Kingstons, some not so much. One thing’s for sure—I’ve never had any problems with my UDMA cards.
Hey stu, i love your blog and have been following it for about a year now, I just wanted to point out my recent experiences with the Kingston 133x (32gb) card that you’ve put on the recommended list.
I picked it up a few weeks ago and already i’ve missed a few great shots due to the buffer filling and the card becoming busy. the most aggravating of which was this last weekend when I was in california shooting a concert film, with my card only about half full it got into a really nasty groove of only recording about half a second before the card would stall out, once it gets in that mood it usually takes a few MINUTES before the card starts acting normally again.
as a result, my camera angle missed a whole song, this wasn’t the first time its disappointed me, but it most certainly was the worst. it usually happens when I’ve been shooting for an extended period of time, which unfortunately is, well, how most of my shooting is.
i’m kicking myself in the pants for mis-placing my 8gb SanDisk 60mb/s UDMA card right now
keep up the great work!
Reader Comments (55)
I bought two Kingston Elite Pro 32 GB 133x cards for my Canon EOS 7D and i have no problems with them. So I recommend them too... :-)
I use the 16GB version of the Kingston card on my 7D without issues s far after about 200 clips and 2000 stills.
Decided to get a few 32's as well though as they fill so damn quick.
Have read positive comments for video recording, and bad one for RAW stills.
Would be very good to know more details and feedbacks about these bigger and more affordable cards!!
If you want to be sure, you'll not loose frames - format the card every time, when you start shooting a new "project". Try not do delete files from CF, while on shooting.
just to complicate things a bit:
there's an ongoing discussion over at cinema5d.com about the importance of UDMA, not just for speed.
since UDMA comunication supposedly takes some load of the processor, this might lead to less heating problems and maybe even increased quality of encoding!
Rumor has it that the processor will decrease encodingquality to keep up if pressed too hard. I would assume that this has to do with processorload only, not bufferload, but I'm unsure..
This might be complete overgeekifying of things, maybe the only concern is to keep the buffer happy, but then again I have experienced this with the SI-2K camera, wich decreased encodingquality if the processor is pressed too hard, the difference there was definetly significant...
cinema5d discussion:
http://www.cinema5d.com/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=5344&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=40
Hi Stu
I have a GH1 and it also have the dropped frames problem, but I found out that the problem only happens when the card is formatted on the PC and then used on the camera. If you format the card in the camera you get no drops.
I would like to know if the 7D also suffer from the same problem or if it's something else. I am planning to trade my camera in for the 7D.
Ivan
Just wanted to let you know that I'm also using the Kingston 133x CF cards (both 16GB and 32GB) with my 7D without any problems. But I'd like to know if the use of UDMA cards might increase image quality as maggaloo points out. Maybe someone with both cards shoots a side by side test?
I've been shooting on the Transcend 32GB 133x CF cards ($100) for almost a year now on my 5D2 with no problems. In addition to 1080p video, I also use them for long timelapses at full RAW.
I did have problems with cheap RIDATA cards. Watch out for them!
Been using Extreme IV-16Gig cards so far for both still (Raw-Jpg) and video on my 7D. No problems. As already posted I am always formating in-camera and with each new project.
I just bought the Sandisk Extreme (60MB/s UDMA) 16gb card. It's lightning fast and a bit overkill for video I know. But when shooting photos a fast card is very valuable to me. It's my primary card for photos and video but when I need more storage, I'll get cards that aren't as fast, but have higher capacity.
Hey guys, this post was perfect timing. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Ill be buying my cards from this blog's link.
I have 3 of the San Disk 8GB Extreme III cards that I've used with the 7D. I've filled each card up with video and so far have yet to have a single problem. There are however two flavors of the Extreme III.... one is UDMA compliant the other is not. My guess is that you were using the non-UDMA version. Food for thought.
Geez...
I just bought a Sandisk Extreme III 30MB/sec 32GB card to help with my Transcend 133x 32GB older card.
My 7D will arrive in a couple of days and will do some tests. The Sandisk is rated at 200x speed and listed as UDMA card on the Sandisk website.
Stu, there are several flavors of the Extreme IIIs did you get the ones that say 32GB and 30MB/sec? BTW I bought my extra 2 battery packs from your store :D
Hope I didn't make a mistake buying this card!
I was using a RiData 266x UDMA card (266x read, but only 133x write). On my 5D2, it will occasionally drop frames. Additionally, out of ten full CF cards, I had two corrupted video files twice. Speed may not be the only issue. On the other hand, I have never had trouble with my Red One 8GB CF cards (Lexar 300x) or my Sandisk Extreme IV UDMA cards.
The SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s CF Card is UDMA compliant.
The 20MB/s is not. Here is the SanDisk link:
http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/262/kw/extreme%20III%20udma/r_id/101834
Also I think the Extreme IV CF Cards are discontinued and hard to find. The Extreme 60MB/s are overkill for 5D MKII and 7D video and stupid expensive.
The big question what CF card field backup device is best?
• Hyperdrive?
• Nexto?
• 13" MacBook Pro (Because of the FireWire 800 port)?
If you are shooting video at an all day Event and only have 6 to 8 CF cards you will need to offload the cards and reuse them at the event.
This problem is much bigger when you are using two cameras.
Remember on the 5D MKII and 7D a CF card that is 8GB = 24 minutes of video.
The two issues are storage reliability and backup speed. (And yes the write verify must be enabled).
Any thoughts?
I'm using the Transcend 133X... They work great, and I've never had a problem, even with long clips.
It makes sense -- video is actually less demanding than stills. 8 FPS of RAW stills is something like 144 MB / sec being created and having to be written to disk. That's huge. 50 Mb/s video is only 6.25 MB / sec, which just about any CF card made since 2004 can handle in stride. "133X" means 133 * 150 kb, so theoretically these cards can write about 20 MB/sec (though I think that's optimistic).
Just another field report on these 32 GB Kingston 133x - I got two reading other 7D users with them. I too have had zero issues on video or stills including burst mode, video including long takes while running the 7D etc.
Hey, I've been using 2 of those 32GB Kingston cards on my Mark II and now on my 7D and have never had a single problem. I recommend them as well!
There was a video interview with a Canon Exec released by the Digital Cinema society at the beginning of the summer that reccomended 5DmkII video shooters always use fast UDMA cards because the camera was actually throttling the data rate and introducing artifacts as a result... it was an odd interview.
Looking for the link now.
Red 8GB cards worked fine with the 5D. Haven't tested the 16GB cards.
Same here. Using the kingston with the 7D shooting video and raw stills and never had an issue. I dont see the need in spending so much money on fancy spec cards when all they give you is faster transfer speed when backing up on a PC. just buy another kingston and use it while you're backing up the previous. And with the money you saved, get another decent glass.
Talking about glass, my favorite now is my nikon 50mm 1.4 with a cheapo adapter from kawa. works wonders in low light!
FOr the 7D i would recommernd chaingthat expensive 16-35mm lens for the astoundishing Tokina 11-16mm f2.8. It´s so much wider and probably amont the best wide zoom lenses ever built.
I have personally NEVER seen a buffer indicator nor experienced any dropped frames on my 7D, and I've tested some pretty jurassic CF cards even without UDMA. Using both 1080/24p and 720/50p. Those with dropped frames with 133x or faster cards must have had malfunctioning cards...
Cost of media isn't and shouldn't be the issue. If this is your business then quality and reliability should be foremost! The same reason we use SxS cards and not the cheaper adapter w/SD cards. We can't be on location and suddenly tell the client, "Whoops, the card hiccuped and we lost the last hour of footage. Sorry." (At least now Sony has some supported options that are less costly.) That all being said, we've been using the four Kingston 16GB 133x CF cards for our 5Dmk2's and have had nary a problem. Sure I want to save a buck wherever we can but not at the risk of our reputation! Thanks Stu for your continued support and shared knowledge!
Whew... I've been using 8GB SanDisk ULTRA IIs... they're like 15mb/s read and 10mb/s write. Needless to say, I've been on the market for some 16 or 32gig cards, but didn't want to splurge for the Extreme IIIs (nevermind IVs), so this post is music to my ears.
I'm also very interested to see if faster cards actually improve image quality as per Eric Ferguson's comment above... Shouldn't the Buffer Indicator come on before the camera would try throttling datarate/quality?
-Mike
p.s. STU, have you heard if Canon is trying to bring the 1DmkIV's IMPROVED ROLLING SHUTTER PERFORMANCE TO THE 7D via firmware? Both use Dual DigicIVs, so I'd like to think that it wouldn't be difficult to implement in the 7D.
<offtopic>
see how easily glass recommendations come out in these comment sections? and they are usually quite good, as many of you are experienced and knowledgeable users (in fact, I already picked one lens out of this comment sections and some further web research)
my point is: it might be a good idea for Stu to post a small entry about cheap, good glass, and encourage the readers to post more recommendations in the comments section.
</offtopic>
I got lot of Problems with the Kingston - 16GB - Elite Pro !!!!!!! PROBLEM!!!!!!
in 720p50 (YES i am a Europe) sometimes the cam stops recording after exactly 3 seconds.
I guess Transcend 16GB 133x is bottom of the food chain. It was half the price of San Disks or the same as their 8GB. Flawless so far. My smaller cards are now on the original 5D. I'm sure I'll buy more of these Transcend cards when there's a need.
/Jonne
I have been using the Ridata Lightning 233x cards (8GB and 32GB cards) with no issues on my 5D Mark II. They are cheap and so far so good (Since January 2009).
imho,
my extreme III work very well in video and photo mode ! one time my extreme III skip and bug I take it back to the shop and they changed it without right away.
I buy the kingston 133x, for price they work well in video but sometime i see the white buffer indicator after 1 or 2 min of recording. In raw photo they don't follow very well.
F
I have been using the 32GB SanDisk EXTREME III cards for several months with my Canon 5Dmk2 and I have not had any problems.
I switched to SanDisk from the 32GB Kingston 133x Elite cards because one of the Kingston cards bent a pin in my 5dmk2. I assumed it was a defect in the CF card since the card was brand new out of the package. This scared me enough to sell the other two 32GB Kingston cards and use what was recommended to me by professional photogs in Boston, the SanDisk cards.
Good luck! And be sure to buy real cards, there are a ton of counterfeit cards on the market shipping on eBay.
Hi All,
Stu I still have to say for the video side...to stick with only the UDMA versions...even if you can get the slower cards to work...my friends at Canon say that the camera's compression will be increased to allow it to use them.
So for saving a few bucks you make your video more compressed with worse color etc...
So my recommendation would be to at least go with Extreme UDMA-5 60 m/sec or the ExtremePro UDMA-6 90 m/sec. Then you'll help the camera give you the best image quality you can get from it...it also helps when shooting RAW stills.
Please note that at least for SanDisk all other Extreme CF (III, IV, etc...) will be discontinued
Just my 2 cents...and is also recommended by Canon. .
Cheers,
Ray Adams
Just a quck warning...On Amazon.com...there are some scammers selling used and new third party equipment...be warned they ask you to email them...then try to scam you with false emails from amazon...(they've been targeting the Canon and DSLR equipment)
At this time with the issues going on...I recommend not to buy anything used or from third parties from Amazon.com until they clean house...
Do not purchase anything via emails...even if the seller has been recommended or has a good track record...only purchase via the website directly!
Good Luck to all ! And be Safe!
Cheers,
Ray Adams
Hello,
I bought a brand new Canon eos 5D Mark II camera 2 weeks ago and worked fine. Now, I bought a new 32GB Sandisk card and I can't download the pictures, but neither from the other card anymore. I tried with card reader and with the Canon Eos Utility software, but my computer doesn't recognize the camera or can't read the cards.
The pins in my camera and in my card reader are fine, don't broken or something like this, so I don't think so, that this is a pin-problem.
I tried to reinstall and back the software, and nothing. When I plug in the card reader with USB cable in my computer, the led light up shortly, but then nothing happen.
Anyone know maybe what is the problem?
It can be that the new card disordered my system?
Thanks for your responses in advance!
Thanks much for the info on the Kingston card. I just purchased a Canon 7D and a PhotoFast "GMONSTER" 533X, 32 GB card to accommodate all those big RAW and movie files. It's a UDMA card, got some solid reviews, costs $150, and looks to be available only through Dynation. Dvnation rates the 533X at 80MG/S read, 40MB/S write. The 533x PLUS runs $250 and claims speeds of 90MB/S read, 80MB/S write, and are available through Amazon or Dynation. Have only used the camera/card once since they arrived, but so far everything's ok. If anyone wants an update on how the GMONSTER (the name matches the tacky card graphic), drop me a line.
I have two 8 gig Sandisk Extreme III (the 30MBs which are UDMA) and one Transcend 133x, which is also UDMA. I have had no problems at all on any of them, using a Canon 7D.
Have had trouble with a Kingston Elite Pro 16 GB CF card, so threw it in a drawer. Retried it recently, and vola, it seems to work just fine, but, I am still wary as some of my 8 GB cards produced unwelcome "CHA" warnings in my camera too.
Your link to Extreme IV CF cards appears to reveal that it is the same OEM as Delkin CF 16 GB Pro cards as I recently had to reformat in the computer, which reads it as a SanDisk. Had no problems with my 8 GB Delkin card, but, a 16 GB (UDMA) Pro CF card did have problems, but the retailer graciously exchanged it for one that works just great. Regardless of the name on the card, the real OEM is not always so clear.
WAIT - When I first bought my 5D MkII, I purchased a SanDisk Extreme III 8 Gig card. It's rated at 30 megs per second. The camera froze, burped, spit-up and pretty much choked at random times every time I wrote data - still or motion - to this card. I went on line and did discover a great many photographers were having the same problem with this card.
Well, looking in my camera bag, I found an old SanDisk Ultra II, 4 gig, 15 meg/sec card. I popped it in and it worked beautifully. It has for months. Video and Stills.
So, now, reading this, am I to understand that I can record movies with less - visually noticeable (or only by scope and numbers) compression if I use a more expensive, faster card?
If that's the case, how much better? Do I move from 8 to 4 or to 2 pixels of compression?
I don't know about anyone else, but if Canon offered a $800, $1600 or close upgrade price for a hardware assisted compressor hardware upgrade, I'd pay it in a second - if it took me out of h264 and back into something closer to RAW for the still files. The day I can run my video through Photoshop's Raw interface the same way I do stills - oh it will be a happy day indeed!
-G
I would really love for someone to demonstrate this faster card, less compression thing. I hear it from time to time but to my knowledge no one has ever shown it to be true.
I use the Sandisk Extreme PRO series in order to ensure that I do not get any drop frames when shooting. Plus it gets 90mb/sec which gives me confidences that all my data will be able to transfer to Premiere Pro with no problems I have had issues of my CF cards getting jammed up when downloading to my editing platform.
Hi all,
i dont want to complicate things. but i have this experience with the Kingston Elite Pro 133X 32GB cards. i bought three, opened two, and using them first with the 5Dmk2 they gave me problems. the white indicator bar would apear during live street interviews and i would hold my breath hoping it wouldn't top out. about half the time i would lose the clip. totally not OK. this happens with both the 2 cards i opened. i havnt opened the 3rd cause i plan to return it.
Then i got a 7D and the cards still have the white indicator apear, it doesnt kill the clip as often but it still does.
i have two sandisk extreme III cards 8 & 16 GBs , neither have ever given the white indicator of doom.
whats up with that!?
I'm reading about problems with the new 16Gb CF cards not formating properly on the 5D. Do we need a firmware update? Any info available?
I haven't purchased any of the CFs yet but was about to.
cartucho r4i
I have the extreme III 30 mb/s 8g cards and Have had No Issues at all. I always Back up to a western Digital Passport on my New ASUS g series with the New intel i7 processor (super Fast) and also on my HP notebook without any issues. Images and Mostly Video is Awsome. Format the Card on the Camera and you are good to GO... .. I love the 7d....
(mikePosted this)
p.s. STU, have you heard if Canon is trying to bring the 1DmkIV's IMPROVED ROLLING SHUTTER PERFORMANCE TO THE 7D via firmware? Both use Dual DigicIVs, so I'd like to think that it wouldn't be difficult to implement in the 7D.
I am Also Interested in this ? Would be Awsome
I'll put a vote AGAINST the Kingston elite pro 32GB 133X. Used it on a shoot and had a lot of times when the buffer filled. Today the card won't mount, all the RAW stills I snapped during video recording won't import, though the Lightroom import box can see them. It crashes the EOS utility. Had to import the video with iPhoto!
This was a borrowed card that had supposedly been successfully used with 5Ds. I will not buy one of these cards.
I do NOT recommend Kingston Elite Pro x133 16GB. I have one and I was not able to record movies on my Canon 7D. Buffer overruns after just 30 seconds of recording.
On the other hand Sandisk Extreme III 16GB performs very well under the same conditions (ISO settings etc.).
hi, can someone just say which is the best CF card for doing HD Vidieo on a 5D MK11 as there are so many conflicting reports that it is just mind boggling.
Sorry, can you also say just how long you get to film on a 16gb CF Card?
Here is my quick and dirty test of UDMA vs. slower CF cards:
Well, just for the record: I have suspected held frames on a 16 GB Extreme IV UDMA CF in a 5D2 - very fresh equipment, still testing - and only today I have actually nailed a 3-frame-freeze frame.
I have not formatted the CF in the camera yet (even the formatting is factory new). I'll do that, of course. But if even the Extreme IVs /can/ fail, it might indicate that held frames are indeed no speed issue.
Thanks, Stu!
UG, common wisdom is that you should always format a new card in the camera before shooting to it. I wonder if that could be part of your problem.