new firmwear update

[Tim Dolan (Longwatcher)]

Just found out Canon finally released the firmwear update for the 1 series to allow for larger capacity cards.

a bit late, but...

Thank You Canon

Here is the source of info, with links to respective cameras.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0612/06122001canonsdhcfirmware.asp

 

[John Craig]

Anyone know whether the new firmware will work with non-"SDHC" cards? eg.. was looking at some Ridata or Transcend 4gb SD cards (150x) -- which are not labelled as "SDHC".. although the Sandisk SDHC cards of similar capacity and speed (eg. Ultra IIs) cost about 50% more $125 vs. $80?

Likewise.. the Sandisk SDHC cards seemed to be always bundled with card readers for sdhc cards.. does this imply that older card readers won't work with these cards?

 

[Kunio Owaki]

I happen to own a Transcend 4GB SD 150X (non-SDHC). I tested it after the firmware update, and found it worked perfectly.

 

[John Craig]

I happen to own a Transcend 4GB SD 150X (non-SDHC). I tested it after the firmware update, and found it worked perfectly.

So the camera can recognize and format such a card now with the new firmware (not needing to format the cards via PC)? That's good news.. the Transcends are a lot cheaper than UltraII (which appear to be around $130 or so vs. the $80-90 for the Transcends..

How come there aren't any Extreme III or Lexar Pro versions of SDHC cards yet.. you'd think these companies would be the leaders of the pack?

 

[Kunio Owaki]

I should have been clear. Yes, Transcend 4GB non-SDHC SD can now be formatted in camera as tested with my 1DsII. If you are going SDHC route, there are a couple of 8GB cards at Newegg...

 

[John Craig]

My worries are as follows.. perhaps you'd be so kind as to address.. I think these SDHC cards are probably incompatible with my Epson P2000 storage/viewer.. also, I'm unclear whether I'll have a problem using these cards in my current card reader, and/or in the built-in SD slot I have on one of my laptops.

 

[Tim Dolan (Longwatcher)]

Having completed some early research, it is appearing that SDHC cards are slower then I thought they would be. I could not find anything indicating this, but is there a class 10 or class 20 SDHC card as class 6 (the fastest I could find as a class) is slower then an Ultra II if going with the minimum speed required to satisfy class 6 requirements (6MB/s for class 6, 10MB/s for Ultra II; 1DsMkII goes at around 8MB/s) So that limits the choices considerable. because I hate hitting the buffer, which I occasionally do with Ultra II /Extreme III cards and frequently with my Lexar 40X (I think equivilant to class 4 SDHC card)

But nice to know at least some of the larger cards have been tested and work.

Specifically I am aiming for an 4 or 8GB SD card that runs at at least 10MB/s for my 1DsMkII. I am waiting on new CF cards until March.

 

[Nill Toulme]

I should have been clear. Yes, Transcend 4GB non-SDHC SD can now be formatted in camera as tested with my 1DsII. If you are going SDHC route, there are a couple of 8GB cards at Newegg...

Wow, that's good news indeed.

To the other question, it is my understanding that SDHC cards are NOT compatible with older non-SDHC readers.

Tim, in light of all this, maybe better just to go with an old-style 4GB Ridata 150x SD card? I've been using those happily in my 1DMkII's for several months.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

 

[Asher Kelman]

So, has anyone tested any 8GB cards yet?

Asher

 

[Tim Dolan (Longwatcher)]

Tim, in light of all this, maybe better just to go with an old-style 4GB Ridata 150x SD card? I've been using those happily in my 1DMkII's for several months.

Nill

Maybe I should procrastinate a bit more, but the Ridata 150x does meet my needs so definately on my list. And the 2GB version got a good speed rating from R.G.'s CF database, so good chance the 4GB will be close.

Thanks,

 

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Maybe I should procrastinate a bit more, but the Ridata 150x does meet my needs so definately on my list. And the 2GB version got a good speed rating from R.G.'s CF database, so good chance the 4GB will be close.

Just a small word of caution. Besides the obvious risk of losing a lot of data if (!) a card fails, I've read some (credible) high capacity flashcard user feedback that indicated that as the cards fill-up, writing speed drops exponentially. I can only assume that, since flash memory has a limited (500-1000x) write capability, it possibly uses a hashing type of writing strategy (in order to more evenly spread the number of writes to any physical memory location). That would mean it takes longer to allocate a not-recently-written-to physical space as the card fills-up.

Not a real deal-breaker in most cases, but it might be in fast shooting/writing/buffer-clearing time limited situations. Just something to be aware of before it hits the user. Smaller capacity cards write faster, until you need to switch cards ...

Bart

 

[Tim Dolan (Longwatcher)]

There are a few reasons I am looking at 4 or 8GB SD cards and 8GB CF cards.

I would like enough SD capacity to cover a realistic maximum photo-journalism situation. My experience to date has me filling up 1 or 2 2GB CF cards for news worthy events I have had an opportunity to shoot. My SD card is my emergency backup for this purpose. I only use an SD card now as the last card of a model shoot to finish me off in the studio and just to make sure it is still working. I otherwise never use the SD card unless I see something after I have filled up my CF cards. (I have this mental picture of the female photo journalist in "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" "I only have one picture left". I don't want to have to delete something to get something else.

The 8GB CF cards I am looking at are because I am going to be taking a 30+ day cruise with my mother (who is paying for it and no I don't live with her) and want enough capacity between cards and portable drives to cover the trip and any side trips. I don't want to have to carry spare cards I may lose on the side trips and I can't see me taking more then 8GB of images (even with my 1DsMkII) in a day of being a tourist.

Another reason are special events like say 4th of July, for which I never seem to make the fireworks without changing out the card at least once at the wrong time. I would get a 4GB card for this, but I supect I would just use it up faster and miss the finale again.

And the last thing is although I may get 1 SD card, I also get two of whatever is my primary card, so I will be getting 2x 8GB CF cards. in the case of the SD card if it fails I am not going to have the opportunity to swap it anyway if I used it in a critical situation so no point in having a spare one.

Thanks for letting me ramble