The Sports Photo Guy

EP 266x, FileMate UDMA

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and that is true when it comes to CompactFlash cards.  Two “bargain” cards prove this old adage in the forms of the FileMate UDMA 16GB card and the EP Memory 266x 4GB card.

I get a fair number of questions from readers asking about this or that obscure, bargain CompactFlash card.  Fortunately, these cards are cheap and when I find some time (like Labor Day!) I can test them out just for the record.

The FileMate is a no-name card with the front side label upside down and no label at all on the back side.  Not surprisingly, it turned in dismal results, scoring just 57 (F) on the JPG test and an effective shooting speed of 2.7 fps and 8 MB/sec throughput on the RAW test.  Even at $50 for a 16GB card, save your money.

EP Memory’s offering falls in with many UDMA also-rans in the 233-266x range.  It flunked the JPG test with a score of 58, and did slightly better in RAW testing at 3.3 effective fps and 10 MB/sec throughput.  Again, not worth it at $24 for a 4GB card.