SanDisk Ultra CF
SanDisk’s new three-tier lineup (Extreme Pro, Extreme, and Ultra) among CompactFlash cards produced some surprises, with the mid-level Extreme getting placed on The Crap List. Now the new bottom-of-the-line Ultra, claiming 30 MB/sec (200x) speeds, turns in a very good performance.
The new SanDisk Ultra (no Roman numeral) turns in a performance comparable to the old Extreme III 30 MB/sec card; indeed, I see no reason to suspect the “new” card is anything but a re-badged version of the older one. In JPG shooting, the Ultra turned in a very good ‘B’ rating (87), and in the RAW test came through with an effective 5 fps frame rate and 23 MB/sec effective throughput.
At prices of $24, $36, and $65 for 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB respectively, this card is quite a bargain as well. Legendary SanDisk reliability, decent UDMA speed, and a good price. With Transcend 400x cards often out of stock, I’d recommend this card equally well for the price-conscious user without the need for top-of-the-line speed.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Neil // Jul 29, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Totally agree – a steal of a deal for a pretty fast card. . .HUGE upgrade on my D3 from the sleeper Kingston 133X’s I was using (what 8MB/s write, so slow!)
2 Rick // Jul 31, 2010 at 10:03 am
I was glad to find your site, thanks for the great resource.
I just moved up to a D300s and am setting it up with cards. I’m planning on the SanDisk 16gb Ultra for now.
Any recommendations for the second card for the SD slot? SanDisk 16gb there too?
It’s for pretty basic general photography, lots of outdoors, lighthouses. And now some occasional video.
3 qwerasdf // Aug 10, 2010 at 2:31 am
No offense, these test results aren’t really that valid. You realize the camera is the limitation. The D300 isn’t even that fast. If you did testing on say a Canon 1D4 or a 7D or a D300s, that would at least push the card to the limits.
Measuring FPS is not even a good way. Even the slowest 133x card will allow my 7D to shoot 8fps. The question is how many pictures can you shoot off because the buffer needs to clear in 5 seconds? On a slow card you might get 23. A faster card might hit 27-28.
Then the next test is how long it takes to finish writing after 5 seconds of holding the shutter. A slow card may take 40 seconds. A fast card does it in 12 seconds.
That is the true difference. Comparing 31 MB/sec to 28 MB/sec of a 400x vs 600x card won’t reveal anything. That’s way behind the theoretical max. I bet you both cards will beat 50 MB/sec any day on a good card reader. The 600x would probably break 75 MB/sec easily.
You need to translate that to camera performance by maxing it out with a 7D/1D4 and not measuring fps but measuring the time it takes to clear the buffer. That’s the true measure.
4 qwerasdf // Aug 10, 2010 at 2:32 am
Also, you’re telling everyone to do Sandisk Extreme III 30 MB/sec.
Look at Lexar’s own video comparing their SLC 30MB/sec card (300x) which compares favorably to this Sandisk compared to their new 600x card. It’s night and day difference. The 600x blows everything away.
What you’ve illustrated here is your camera is the bottleneck. I bet I could plug this into my 7D and show my 400x card winning by a bit. There is a difference but your benchmark is limited.
5 The Sports Photo Guy // Aug 10, 2010 at 3:53 am
No offense taken. I agree with everything you say – except that the results are invalid. After all, my primary purpose is to determine the Best CF Cards for the Nikon D300, not the best theoretical limit of CF cards or the best CF card for any given camera. If you read thoroughly, you’ll see I address nearly all of these issues and make some camera-based recommendations for other models as well. I also recommend users check out Rob Galbraith’s database for another take on CF card speed – and from what he has found, only the 5D Mk II shows any ability to take full advantage of the new range of 600x cards.
Yes, the camera is the bottleneck – and that’s kind of the point. In the real world, it makes no sense to pay twice or three times as much for a 600x card if you’re not going to be able to get any better performance out of it than a 300x card. Unless you’re using your cards in a laboratory environment and not in a camera.
6 Al // Nov 1, 2010 at 7:43 pm
I’m on my third 8gb ultra card in a months time (purchase from Staples)
I have ultra IIs(from 256mb to 2gb)that I have been using for years, extreme III and IV not as many years never a problem and this new line ultra 30mbs is the only card giving me grief. BTW I only use Sandisk
Leave a Comment