Question about the different compact flash speeds

[Crab_Cake]

Hey guys, I am new to the forum but this seems like a great place.

Here is my situation. I am a college student majoring in web development and graphic design. I am about to buy my first dslr (olympus e520) and had a question about compact flash.

How fast does the memory have to be? Can I get a regular kingston stick "example" or do I need to get the sansdisk ultra xtreme brutal III edition? :mrgreen:

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

When you are shooting, it's going to be the camera's buffer that determines how many consecutive shots you can take, not really the card. The write speed of the camera & card will determine how fast the buffer clears, as they are written to the card. So a faster card may allow you to shoot faster, for longer...but unless you use your camera like a machine gun, it's probably not an issue.
That's when shooting.
A slower card will likely be slower when it comes to reviewing the images on the camera and when uploading them to your computer.

So while there are some perks to faster cards, it's certainly not worth the extra cost to some people. Actually, unless you have both a fast and a slow card, you'd probably not even know the difference.

 

[Derrel]

Well, if you want to use the CF media for something taxing, like capturing long-ish video clips, the slow, cheap-o $15 4-gigabyte CF cards like you link to are not going to cut the mustard. Downloads to your computer will also be slow-ish as well. If you want to use the card for shooting large RAW files up to the depth of your camera's buffer, and expect fast buffering clearing times, the slow cards will not be up to the task either. Shooting extended, really deep buffer loads of JPEG files, like say 100 shots in a row at a hydroplane race...well, you get the idea...

Second, the speed of the camera's write system is a factor--there's no need to buy an uber-fast CF card if your camera writers files at consumer speed.

 

[icassell]

This might (or might not) be useful:

Rob Galbraith DPI: CF/SD Performance Database

 

[Crab_Cake]

This might (or might not) be useful:

Rob Galbraith DPI: CF/SD Performance Database

Well that went over my head, lol.

The camera I am getting does not do video so that is not a concern. It has a supposed picture rate of 3.5 per second.

Any recommendations?