Memory cards and the 5D Mark 3

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Ok, I'm getting a little confused here.

Just looking at investing in some CF memory cards for my 5D Mark 3.

Now I understand that it has a duel CF and SD slot and that should I use them both then write speed is slowed to that of the SD card.

Now if I use CF only, does the speed of my card affect the burst performance or not? or does it just limit how fast it can clear the buffer, meaning I can run a shorter burst as it fills up to quickly?

Secondly, Just been looking at the difference between UDMA and UDMA 7, apparently 133mb/s against 167mb/s, so if the card is rated at 90mb/s does it really matter which UDMA it is?

Thirdly, looking at the transcend specs for their cards and the write performance increases with the size of the card,

Read 90 MByte/s, Write 60 MByte/s (64GB);
Read 90 MByte/s, Write 45 MByte/s (32GB);
Read 60 MByte/s, Write 30 MByte/s (8~16GB)

is this the same as sandisk as i cant seem to see in their specs.

I also read somewhere that using less that 16 gig uses one controller where as 32 and above uses 2 controllers, is this correct?

Also recommendations on cards are welcomed

Thanks
 
Don't know if this is what you're looking for?

These are all Sandisk CF cards

60MB/S Max RAW 13. Frames before FPS slowed 17. Time to clear buffer to Max RAW of 13 again 5.5 secs.
90MB/S Max RAW 13. Frames before FPS slowed 21. Time to clear buffer to max RAW of 13 again 4.0 secs.
160MB/S Max RAW 13. Frames before FPS slowed 25. Time to clear buffer to max RAW of 13 again 3.25 secs. This is a UDMA 7 card.

So the benefits of a faster card are there if you're prepared to pay the money.
 
Is there anyone out there that can explain why the 160mbs card is not at least twice the speed of the 60mbs card?
 
redsnappa said:
Is there anyone out there that can explain why the 160mbs card is not at least twice the speed of the 60mbs card?
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The bottleneck is probably the camera and not the card, unless the card can't reach its claimed speed.
 
SLRUser said:
The bottleneck is probably the camera and not the card, unless the card can't reach its claimed speed.
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This is correct.

Just to remind Canon 5D MkII/III owners.... The 5D MkIII will only reach the faster speeds if there is no SD card installed. Canon's SD card slot is gimped to around 20MB/sec and if you have a SD card in, no matter how fast it is, your CF card write speeds will be around 20MB/sec too.

Why they've done this is a mystery, as running with back up means running slow.
 
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5D3 can write at a sustained 167mb/s, so faster card the better as outlined in Gary's test.
 
convexferret said:
Installation doesn't matter. Things only slow down if the SD card is in use.
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Well.. quite... but you wouldn't put one in if you're not going to use it :) I didn't think I needed to say that LOL
 
Pookeyhead said:
but you wouldn't put one in if you're not going to use it :)
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Erm, sorry to burst your bubble but there are mind-numbingly stupid people who install SD cards but never use 'em....me for one.

I put an SD card in when I bought my camera 18+ months ago and haven't used it yet; but it's better stored in the camera where it may be needed rather than buried in my bag somewhere.

However, your assumption probably holds true for most normal people and I'll happily be the exception to prove the rule. :) :) :)
 
Oh well... but you didn't lose your SD card.. that's something :)
 
TonyHall said:
Erm, sorry to burst your bubble but there are mind-numbingly stupid people who install SD cards but never use 'em....me for one.

I put an SD card in when I bought my camera 18+ months ago and haven't used it yet; but it's better stored in the camera where it may be needed rather than buried in my bag somewhere.

However, your assumption probably holds true for most normal people and I'll happily be the exception to prove the rule. :) :) :)
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Everyone is different. Not everyone uses the dual card slot as instantaneous back up. Some only back up to SD after shooting while some just use it as extra capacity and don't back up in camera.
 
Pookeyhead said:
Well.. quite... but you wouldn't put one in if you're not going to use it :) I didn't think I needed to say that LOL
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It's not that you left something out, what you said was simply wrong. I always have an SD card in the camera, both as a backup in case of problems with the CF and to carry my magic lantern installation. But as I only write to the CF card I can do so at full speed.
 
convexferret said:
It's not that you left something out, what you said was simply wrong. I always have an SD card in the camera, both as a backup in case of problems with the CF and to carry my magic lantern installation. But as I only write to the CF card I can do so at full speed.
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But if you're not writing the files you shoot to it, it's not back up is it. If the CF goes foobar, and you've not been also writing the files to the SD card, how is that back up?
 
To max out the buffer on a 5DIII you have to be seriously caning it. I use one for sport and the only time I have ever clogged the buffer was shooting horse racing for a very specific purpose.

To fill it up you have to be shooting continuously for almost 2½ seconds - that's a hell of a lot!
 
DemiLion said:
To max out the buffer on a 5DIII you have to be seriously caning it. I use one for sport and the only time I have ever clogged the buffer was shooting horse racing for a very specific purpose.

To fill it up you have to be shooting continuously for almost 2½ seconds - that's a hell of a lot!
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With a fast card like the 160MB/S Sandisk you get a fraction over 4 seconds at full rate. I dont use it very often but Im quite happy to pay a bit extra to have the option.

Next is to see what the 1DX can do with a fast card in it. Its got a 35 RAW buffer but it would be interesting to see what it will do before FPS slowdown with the 160 in it.
 
Gaz J said:
Firstly your camera has to be capable of utilising the UDMA7 cards, which the 5D3 is.
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Only on the CF slot. The SD slot isn't.
 
mrjames said:
no it doesn't matter
at all

do you even shoot continuous burst? nothing on your website even suggests you shoot anything that moves
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It seem's a shame not to be able to make use of the cameras capability though.

So Ideally I need a UDMA7 card with a bigger size and not use a SD card at the same time.
 
Blasted said:
It seem's a shame not to be able to make use of the cameras capability though.

So Ideally I need a UDMA7 card with a bigger size and not use a SD card at the same time.
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the way I do it is I always use 2 cards in the camera for redundancy, a 400x CF card and a 600x SD card (mainly for the read speed to the computer as I know the camera doesn't take advantage of it)- the SD card is my primary card that gets all the rating data etc, it goes straight in my laptop to download the pictures, in case I ever forget my CF reader

I actually tried out a 1000x CF card and found it was maybe only 1-2 seconds quicker to import 16gb of pictures, way too expensive for that small gain in performance, but it was noticeably faster to clear the buffer when shooting 6fps- although I mainly shoot on 3fps quiet shutter mode and if I ever found I was hitting the buffer (and to this date I never have) i'd pull out the SD and just shoot to the CF, but for my needs (action, but not sports) the SD card is quick enough

besides, I can't actually think quick enough to shoot in a way to fill the camera's buffer, my brain's buffer gets filled quicker than that and I need to slow down and take a rest...


the astrominical cost of CF cards compared to SD was enough to put me off...
 
Pookeyhead said:
But if you're not writing the files you shoot to it, it's not back up is it. If the CF goes foobar, and you've not been also writing the files to the SD card, how is that back up?
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You seem to have ignored the part about Magic Lantern. And in the case of backup, not in the sense that my main card dies, but rather that I forget to put my CF card back in the camera before venturing out.
 
Gaz J said:
With a fast card like the 160MB/S Sandisk you get a fraction over 4 seconds at full rate. I dont use it very often but Im quite happy to pay a bit extra to have the option.

Next is to see what the 1DX can do with a fast card in it. Its got a 35 RAW buffer but it would be interesting to see what it will do before FPS slowdown with the 160 in it.
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I'm talking about RAW to a CF and L Jpeg to the SD. You won't get four seconds of shooting that way!
 
DemiLion said:
I'm talking about RAW to a CF and L Jpeg to the SD. You won't get four seconds of shooting that way!
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Dont know as Ive not tried it. Never use the SD slot. Spoils a good camera and just creates missed opportunities for my photography.
 
get the 1000x Lexar for the 5d3 works like the champ it clears the memory so fast that the buffer on mine goes upto about 24 images before the camera cry off.. then 4 seconds later it is fully cleared

using my other slower cards the buffer is reduced tremendously - like others say the SD slot is crippled for some reason so I only use that for landscapes and stuff at work where speed is not a factor
 
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