Transcend 600x
Now that they’re back in stock, I thought I’d highlight the Transcend 600x CompactFlash cards that quietly slipped into the RAW and JPG shooting tests a few weeks ago.
The 8GB card I tested did quite nicely, with its scores of “A” (98) in the JPG test and 6.7 fps and 29 MB/sec in the RAW test putting it in the elite company of Sandisk’s Extreme IV/Ducati cards. I’d say you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference in practical situations, and indeed, on my D300 at 8 fps I never missed a beat at a recent soccer match.
Admittedly, it took them 4 tries to come out with a card that truly equals the SanDisk Extreme IV series, but Transcend is finally there.
Transcend 600x 8GB Compact Flash (CF)Flash Card
Transcend 600x 16GB Compact Flash (CF)Flash Card
8 responses so far ↓
1 Thai // Sep 24, 2009 at 9:08 pm
How did you test it? What program?
2 The Sports Photo Guy // Sep 24, 2009 at 10:01 pm
What program do you shoot with?
I don’t shoot with a piece of software either; so I test the cards in-camera, without so-called testing software. Not much point in using a program designed to benchmark hard drives on a computer to see what a card will do when shooting photos. That’s one of the problems I have with a number of so-called “test” sites.
3 Photodom // Oct 1, 2009 at 8:42 am
How many frames do you manage get in a burst before the buffer fills up on the D300?
I can only get 13-15 frames before it freeze. This is about the same as my D700. In crop mode on my D2X I can get between 24-26 frames before if stops, but I’ve never been happy with the loss in quality doing this. I shoot Raw and Small Jpeg. The reason I want a reasonable burst is that I use Proshow Gold for wedding proofs and add a little chapter called Movie Extras (confeti, b&g walking, dancing etc.) This goes down well but you need at least 24 frames to make it look reasonable. FYI each photo is on screen for only0.20 seconds with 0.00 transition time between each frame. Also, I have heard various stories about Transcend reliability. Do you have any info on that. I use a mix if Sandisk, Lexar and I-Pro 4gb cards and have had no reliability issues so far. The only thing I have ever had fail on me was a Microdrive – just after I’d finished downloading the pics. I know you haven’t tested the 16gb card, but would you expect any difference in wright times?
Regards
4 The Sports Photo Guy // Oct 1, 2009 at 7:10 pm
There are any number of settings that will reduce your buffer depth, and at 6-8 fps, you will eventually fill your buffer (shooting raw). If you’re using Active D-Lighting, ISO Auto Sensitivity Control, either form of noise reduction, ISO above 3200, or Image Authentication, you’re going to reduce buffer depth.
See the chart in the manual on p. 402, and especially the notes on p. 403, for details.
5 AP // Apr 24, 2010 at 7:05 pm
Well how do you ppl know that the Cameras can actually write that much data in the first place.
Has Nikon stated it somewhere or not ?
I need read speed for video workflow .. most cards are fast enough for the write part for me.
6 The Sports Photo Guy // Apr 26, 2010 at 7:20 pm
No ‘people’ – just one ‘guy.’
And I know the camera can write the data that fast because…well, that’s what I’m using to write the data. 
7 Igor Levicki // May 1, 2010 at 10:36 am
Have you by any chance tested Apacer 600x cards from the Photo Steno IV series?
8 The Sports Photo Guy // May 1, 2010 at 10:47 am
Haven’t been able to find any yet…
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