I have a multitude of CF cards collected over the years and usually purchased at times when they were on sale. They range from rather slow cards which are both name-brand and generic along with four, fast 4GB Lexar 300x UDMA cards. I have noticed a great difference in write times between the slower and non-UDMA cards and the fast Lexar UDMA 300x cards...
I never noticed great differences in the time the red "write light" was shining between the slower cards and the fastest cards when shooting with my 30D and 40D cameras. I attribute this to the fact that the file sizes are smaller on the 30D and 40D and that those cameras do not have the capability to take advantage of the fastest CF technology such as UDMA...
I use my burst shooting most often when acquiring images for HDR imagery and I shoot in three shot bursts. The 7D writes the images to the UDMA Lexar cards quite quickly but, the red light is on for an extended time when using slower cards. I realize that the camera buffer will allow me to continue to shoot, even when the red light is on and I also realize that I need the high speed cards mostly for still imagery and that a bit slower card will work O.K. for video...
I would like to get 16-32GB more CF memory and have been researching the different cards available. The least expensive cards are usually made by Kingston. However, I have been recently burned with my last two Kingston CF cards which were purchased from Frys Electronics (a U.S. electronics chain) and were defective. I also found some Patriot 8GB 266x non-UDMA cards advertised at Frys at a great price but, have read reports that the Patriot Cards were 266x "read" cards and operated at a slower 133x when "writing". I guess that you get what you pay for. The Lexar 4GB 300x UDMA cards run $65 (USD) while I can get Patriot 16GB cards for $23 (USD) after rebate. These Patriot cards are advertised at 266x but are supposed to be 133x write speed cards...
For those of you who have 7D cameras' what cards do you use for still imagery and for video? If anyone knows of sales or rebates on fast Lexar or equivalent UDMA cards in the USA, please let me know about the good buys. I purchased a very capable camera and don't want to reduce its capability to save a bit of money on CF cards. However, I don't really want to pay a LOT MORE than I have to for my next 32GB or so of memory.
Apparently, Lexar is not producing the 300X UDMA CF cards any longer. They are offering 400x cards which read/write at 60MB/sec and 600x UDMA cards. I am thinking that the 400x UDMA cards will be quite sufficient for my uses. I can get two Lexar 16GB Professional 400x UDMA compatible CompactFlash Cards from B&H Photo in New York City for $120 (USD) with free shipping and no California Sales Tax. What do you think of this selection? These Lexar cards are quite a bit less expensive than the SanDisk Cards of equivalent speed and capacity from B&H. The SanDisk 16GB 400x Extreme CF cards run $100 (USD) EACH!
Thank you...