Customer Reviews

SanDisk 2 GB Extreme IV CompactFlash Card ( SDCFX4-2048-901 )

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

PRO: Very Fast, Allows more continuous shots without filling buffer
CON: Expensive

The SanDisk 2 GB Extreme IV CompactFlash Card is so fast, when I held down my shutter release (with Rebel XT set to Raw) for 3 fps continuous shooting, 30 seconds later it was still firing (it may have gone longer, but I just gave up and took my finger off the button). The Rebel XT is only rated for 5 or 6 Raw frames at 3 fps. Apparently, this 40 MB/s card clears the buffer faster than the pictures can fill it up. I also feel very confident that I can take multiple shots in succession even while the camera is set to both Raw and Large/Fine JPEG (at the same time) without worry that the camera will be busy writing to the card. On one outing, I took 101 JPEG pictures (approx. 3.3 MB each) and uploaded them to my PC via the Sandisk Firewire card reader in less than 30 sec (est.). Note that you probably will need the Firewire reader to get the full 40 MB/s upload speed (from your card to your PC). This card costs a bit more than the Extreme III, but it gives a very comforting level of performance overhead.

CONCLUSION: Best memory card available for DSLRs. Worth the money. Get the Firewire card reader if your PC has one of the two provided Firewire plug types. The Firewire connection on the front of my PC was not compatible, but the back one was.

Added this Extreme IV card to my collection of Extreme III cards used in my photography. Works without a glitch. I set my camera (Canon 20D) on continous shooting, full RAW, aimed it at a visually busy scene, and held the trigger down. It stopped to complete writing somewhere around 8 frames. I'm pleased with that.

This product was purchased along with a Canon 40D DSLR. This combination has proven to be extremely fast. I notice no delays when shooting with this card. This by itself is probably of little relevance though as the camera is likely the slower of the two pieces of hardware (Canon doesn't spec it's transfer rates). It does make a huge difference however when uploading to the computer for backup/editing purposes. This memory flies when used with the SanDisk Firewire card reader!!!

Cons: Very expensive considering even the cost of the last generation of SanDisk.

This card is excellent. Great purchase if you're a beginner and buying a new D-SLR.

It is what it is, very fast and no problems with my new Canon EOS 30D

Worked fine for less than 2 months in a Nikon D300.

Nikon started displaying CHA errors, which are compact flash read/write errors. I could force an error by doing a 6FPS burst of RAWs. It takes longer to fail with jpegs.

Replaced the card as a test w/ sandisk ultra II, which works fine. Problem follows the card. The extreme IV won't format in Windows at all any longer -- windows utility actually locks up after saying "format did not succeed"-type message.

Sandisk has yet to issue an RMA, despite it being about a month into the process.

Wow, this is fast. I shot a bike race yesterday and this was just great. Filed the almost the entire card and never a hiccup. A lot of rapid shooting (3fps) and there was never a slow down in writing to the card, even in RAW. The download to the computer was much faster than anything I've used in the past. Just a few minutes to download 2GB!

I've been using this for about a month now and couldn't be happier. Not a single hiccup, burp or fart. Be aware that there is no arrow showing which side is the top, unlike most CF cards. So, if it's not going in, don't force it cuz it's likely upside down.

A newly formatted card holds 200 RAW images on my Rebel XTi and 442 hi-res JPEGs. Make sure you get a fast card reader--it will make a big difference.

I already had the Extreme III - 2GB. I wanted another one for my Canon XTi. I went ahead and got this Extreme IV. Have not been disappointed. Transfers from card to DEsktop is also very fast.

For a photo-enthusiast this card gets the job done. Writes very fast from my Canon 20D and I've never had to wait to shoot a photo while in continuous mode. It is far more than what the amateur or enthusiast needs. As for professionals, I can't speak on that! Maybe in a few years!! :)
I highly recommend this product!

I didn't think I'd be able to notice a difference, but this card was faster than the Ultra II version.

I have a DSLR camera (so I can take a bunch of pictures in a row), so speed can be important when I want to take a sequence of shots.

The difference was slight for taking pictures, but considerable for downloading them to the computer.