Compact Flash speeds?

[dougan]

I see CF cards all have different read and write speeds, 266X, 300X etc.
I have the Canon 7D, if I buy a 266X card, would it slow down the fps rate?
If so, what would be the minimum speed I would need?

 

[plamen_gb]

Explanation what the X speed means:
http://protogtech.com/storage/what-does-the-x-speed-mean/

In other words the more the marrier and if you plan to shoot high fps and

Specs from dpreview:
Burst buffer * Approx. 8 fps (speed maintained for up to 126 JPEGs (with UDMA card), 15 images (RAW))

 

[kokakaste2]

would it slow down the fps rate?

No, with slow card you will still be able to shoot at max fps rate, however when your buffer gets full it will take considerably longer to clear it (write the images to card).

 

[hollis_f]

Burst buffer * Approx. 8 fps (speed maintained for up to 126 JPEGs (with UDMA card), 15 images (RAW))

Or, since firmware v2, around 23 raw images.

 

[hollis_f]

No, with slow card you will still be able to shoot at max fps rate, however when your buffer gets full it will take considerably longer to clear it (write the images to card).

Too true. My tests gave the following times to clear a full buffer -

Sandisk 60 MB/s = 10s
Sandisk 45 MB/s = 11s
Unknown 1.5 MB/s = 260s (yup, ovewr 4 minutes).

 

[kokakaste2]

Yep, quite bad with knock off cards. Also should add video does not require a very fast card, think Canon said in the manual that minimum should be 8mb/s.