any reason NOT to use 1GB CF cards?

I am in the process of getting CF cards for my CP5000, and am trying to determine what capacity to get. I see the following prices from amazon (using this to guage $/mb)...

128mb sandisk - $45....$0.35/mb

128mb sandisk ultra - $63....$0.49/mb

256mb sandisk - $90....$0.35/mb

256mb sandisk ultra - $80..$0.31/mb

512mb sandisk - $125....$0.24/mb

512mb sandisk ultra - $150...$0.29/mb

1gb sandisk - $225.....$0.22/mb

In raw mode I could get around 134 images in 1gb, or ~430 in Fine JPG. Dropping to 512 gets me half that.

If my battery lasted two dives (cold, Puget Sound dives) then using the 1gb I wouldn't have to open the housing between dives, even in raw mode.

Any reason NOT to get the 1GB card?

Also, are most folks downloading/offloading the CF cards to laptops or portable hard-drives or carrying multiple CF cards?

Thanks!

--Jason

Good question!

In my opinion, you should get the biggest card you can. But you also need to consider that the card should have a fast write speed. If the card has a slow write speed, you will have to wait longer while the camera transfers the shot from its buffer to the CF card.

There is a comparison of cards on dpreview.com but it is not up to date.

If you can go two dives without opening the housing, you are doing well. You will probably find that you need to change the battery though...Maybe maybe not.

HTH

James

Here's the comparison:

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/mediacompare/

It looks like it's been updated. Good.

The IBM Microdrive appears to have the fastest write speed of any of them! Sort the results by write speed:

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/mediacomp...=fwwrite#fwperf

Cheers

James

One thing I've read on the write performance is that the hardware (ie the camera) must be tweaked to take advantage of the faster performance cards.

Obviously the high-end DSLRs do this....what about the CP5000 (which is what I have). Has anyone noticed whether this camera can take advantage of the higher speed potential of those cards?

I haven't dove with with rig yet...guessing on the camera battery time based on the battery performance test from dpreview...2.5 hours. Obviously the battery test regimine was a bit different that what is experienced while on a dive. My cold water dives usually average about 45 - 50 minutes.

I wouldn't count on two dives with one battery............even the higher capacity batteries that I use won't make two dives...............I use a Viking 512CF and get approximately 4-6 second record times in Fine and 22 seconds in RAW................I shoot Fine for that reason

I would be very interested in faster RAW times if anyone is doing better with another brand card

I ditched my Sandisk cards for a Lexar 12x 192 MB. It was about twice as fast, so yes, you definately can take advantage of faster cards.

That being said, I don't think you can go much beyond that as the consumer type cameras aren't that fast themselves. Note that for the 995 the spread was between 2x and 4x.

The ratings on DPreview show that for SLRs, the fast cards just get faster and faster (25x?!?). I guess you do get something for the big bucks SLRs cost.

I believe that the Cameras are the limiting factor and not the cards. Viking 512 is the fastest card I found for my 5000. But all the cards, including the microdrive are fast enough in my D100 that I don't even think about it.

You really have to stretch it to get 2 dives out of the battery in a CP5000. I just have learned to suck it up and change the battery after every dive. I cut out part of the base plate that the camera attaches to so I can change batteries without unscrewing the camera from the base plate.

Hi,

i use two 512 CF-cards instead of a 1 GB card and i change the card after each dive. In case of flooding i have saved up to 50% of my pictures.

chironex

But don't you increase your risk of flooding by opening your housing after every dive?

Catch 22!!! :-)

Cheers

James

my batery when using 1 GB never last for 2 dives.... does water temperature play any role?

BTW CF card can go through the wash cycle and come out clean, AND WORKING! It happend to a friend (really, it wasn't me). With salt water you might not be as fortunate.

I read somewhere that the micro drives eat through the batteries faster. Can anyone confirm?

Anyone know the fastest write speed on the CP5000?

yeah, my microdrive dived in saltwater. I was able to retrieve the images, but died after a few days...

Confirmed, IBM MD eats your battery faster compared to 128MB SUNdisk card (lasted for two 50-mins dive).

What is the best place you guys have found to buy cards from? Since I shoot in JPEG I dont really need a big card. 256 to 512 should do. That will give me at least 100 shots per dive on my cp5000. I cant really shoot more than that anyway.

From time to time Amazon has killer deals on Viking cards. Here's a link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...ronics&n=507846

HTH

James

i browsed a lot of e-shops and bought a lexar 256Mb 24x cf card from www.techonweb.com, since they had a great price and everything worked out fine. and i'm more than happy with the card, it's very fast to write and to browse the images.

you won't get two dives from a CP5000 on a single battery. you just better plan on changing the battery, or only using it on one dive at a time. I dove mine in Cayman and got about 70 minutes out of it before it shut down. Here in the Puget Sound and up in BC it will shut down in 10-15 minutes. The anemic 800ma battery this camera uses is terrible and no one has come out with a higher capacity battery for it yet. and the external battery packs don't fit in the housing.

that said, I have found that even once the camera shuts down, if you push the shutter button it will continue to power up for about another 30 minutes before it's totally lifeless. after the first time the camera shuts down, it shuts down after every exposure. The best I've gotten up here is 45 minutes in 46 degree water using this method. if you want to shoot this camrea up here, you've really got to change the way you shoot to plan on taking your time on every shot. Catching images of speeding sea life swimming by is difficult, but not impossible.

Given all this, I'll still shoot the CP5000 before I shoot my Nikonos for a while :-)

WOW, the battery shuts down that fast in the colder water. I can live with the 45 minutes. We head to BC in August so that interests me. What setting are you running the auto shut-off in?

I was able to squeeze two dives out of the battery in Roatan but was at shutdown by the end and that was shooting about 60-70 frames.

I've tried 5 minutes and 1 minute auto off. also switched between continuous auto focus on and off. I'm also using a 1GB microdrive which some say sucks battery power, but I'm skeptical. I've seen little difference in changing any of these settings wrt to extending battery life. I do like shooting w/continuous focus on, it really helps reduce shutter lag. If this weekend clears out I'm going to try it w/256MB CF to see if there's any difference in time to shutdown. I'm shooting mine in a Light & Motion Tetra 5000 housing w dual Ikelite DS125s. I've only had it since Christmas so I'm still experimenting with settings for cold water.

I'm heading up to BC next week for a 4 day boat trip and this is the only camera I'm taking - but with 3 batteries B)

I also want to try using a 2CR5 lithium battery instead of the NiMH rechargables to see which performs better in the cold. I think the 2CR5 will, but am not sure.

Anyone have experience with batteries in a cold environment that would know for sure?

Marty

I would be curious to hear your results when you return.

Did you say you were using NIMH in the camera? I have only used the standard battery.

wow, that's a short battery lifespan! does anyone know if the extended battery will fit into the ike housing? most of my diving will be here in the puget sound and waters north....