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Nelson Chen Photography | all galleries >> Lenses, Cameras and Calibration > Compact Flash Card Write Speed Tests
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13-OCT-2005 ©Nelson Chen

Compact Flash Card Write Speed Tests

20D Test
Sandisk Ultra II 60X 2GB, 4.65MB/sec, 31.0X
Sandisk Ultra II 60X 4GB, 4.44MB/sec, 29.6X
Kingston Elite Pro 50X 2GB, 3.32MB/sec, 22.1X
Transcend 45X 512MB, 3.13MB/sec, 20.8X
Sandisk Basic 1GB, 2.29MB/sec, 15.2X
Viking 1GB, 1.42MB/sec, 9.5X
Kingston 1024MB, 1.41MB/sec, 9.4X

350D Test
Sandisk Ultra II 60X 2GB, 5.68MB/sec, 37.9X
Sandisk Ultra II 60X 4GB, 5.56MB/sec, 37.1X
Transcend 45X 512MB, 5.13MB/sec, 34.2X
Kingston Elite Pro 50X 2GB, 3.96MB/sec, 26.4X
Sandisk Basic 1GB, 2.53MB/sec, 16.9X
Viking 1GB, 1.51MB/sec, 10.1X
Kingston 1024MB, 1.50MB/sec, 10.0X

Test Setup:
24-70 f/2.8 @70mm, f/4, 1/80, ISO1600, manual exposure, manual focus
Quality set to RAW + Large JPEG (fine)
Shooting mode set to continuous
Camera placed on the tripod

Test Procedure
1. Start the stop watch. At the same time, press and hold the shutter until it stops.
2. Turn the camera off.
3. When the CF access light stops blinking, stop the watch.
4. Record the time.
5. Repeat at least two more times.
6. Upload the images to the computer from each card.
7. Derive the speed by dividing the total MB on the card by the total time.
8. Derive the X factor by dividing the speed by 150KB/sec.

Links to my previous test results:
March 22, 2005
October 03, 2004
May 18, 2004

Sony DSC-S40
1/40s f/3.5 at 7.6mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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