Customer Reviews

SanDisk 8GB Extreme IV - Compact Flash memory card (Retail Packaging)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

First of all, make sure that if you order this, you get the one that clearly says "45mb/s" and "UDMA" on the card. If not, it's one of the old ones and you should send it back and get a new one somewhere else.

I got mine directly from Amazon and it was as described.

I tested it by taking 30 shots in continuous shooting mode on my new 5D. Compared to the Extreme III card it's only very slightly faster, and even then, only after the first 8 or 10 shots. So unless you plan to take more than 8 shots in one continuous burst (maybe if you're a pro sports photographer?) I would save your money and get the Extreme III.

Update: I should have mentioned those shots wer in RAW. Perhaps the result would have been different if I shot JPGS.

For those who takes a lot of high resolution and action shots this card is a must - was able to take 100 action photos with out having my Rebel XTi suffer a momentary stoppage - In the older Ultra II 8 gig card this action would have force me to break off my shots when its memery buffer couldn't handle the data transfer and storage. Great card - I just purchase my second card for my 2 week trip to Arizona.

Upgraded to this card from my Extreme III 4GB card as I started shooting with a new Canon body. The extra capacity and speed is valuable if you shoot a lot of RAW at high resolution and high speed, like sports. There's a noticeable difference between when I run out of buffer space with this card and its smaller/slower cousins.

On older cameras, make sure they can handle an 8GB card. Also, if you have a slow camera, it may not be able to take advantage of the extra speed, and an Extreme III for a lower price will perform just the same.

Of course, when you have such a large and fast card, make sure you have a reader that can keep up with it, or it will be a long wait at that end. I use the Extreme CF Firewire Reader and it downloads at 25MB/s once I figured out all the right connections (see my review for that product).

I shoot kids sports and other school activities and I shoot lots of images very quickly. My D200 never slows down for a second. I also have a SanDisk Extreme III 16gb card. I can't tell much difference in write speed between it and the Extreme IV - but when speed is a factor, the IV is the one I choose.

As all the SanDisk cards, this one functioned perfectly out of the box. I have quite a collection of SanDisk cards, most being Extreme III cards. But my Nikon D700 can shoot at a higher rate for a longer time with this card, while the Extreme III can't keep up once the camera buffer fills.

So far, I've never had any SanDisk card fail. It appears that technology moves along fast enough that I simply stop using the older cards before they have enough use to wear down. Flash memory does wear down, and cheap cards tend to wear the first few bit the most, while the last bit go almost unused. But SanDisk (and other high quality cards) uses what is known as "wear leveling" to remap the starting point, resulting in a more even wear pattern. I guess it works, since I use my cards a lot and have never seen a worn card. And I shoot about 20,000 pictures a year. And they have survived a trip or two through the washing machine (woops!)

If you need the speed, the Extreme IV delivers. If not, consider the lower cost Extreme III.

It is a good CF Card. But very expensive. I'm waiting for it to get cheaper to get two more. I take RAW+FINE_JPG at the sametime. Then It stores around 260 frames. And it is fast. NO issue with continuous shooting (9frms/sec up to 100 frms)

Best Regards,

Burak Imir

I have been waiting to buy this card as I am upgrading to a larger resolution camera. I now have the capacity to not have to stop and along with the firewire reader I can download much faster.

We used the SanDisk 8 GB Extreme IV CompactFlash Card for all of the hundreds of underwater pictures that we took in Bonaire in August. The card was fast! I was able to take continuous action shots with my Sony F828 that I would have missed with my Memory Stick Pro.

Also, with 8 GB, we were able to fit two weeks of pictures on one card! We never had to worry about having enough room to fit that last great shot. We highly recommend this product.

The card writes and reads super fast, so the cpu in the digital camera doesn't have to wait and keep storing the buffer while the card completes the write. When you're taking bunch of high speed continous shots of fast moving subjects, you'll appreciate this card. I would hate to have missed a great shot cause I had to change the memory.

Hands down the most durable CF card out there, but certainly more $ than other brands and models. If you are an (extreme) shooter, this card will likely survive impacts that your camera won't, but if you're a more sullen photographer, save your $ and get an Ultra series card instead.