I started in 2005 with the Ultra II series and have continually sold & upgraded as my needs dictated. I'm now using a Canon 5D Mark II which has HD video (I think we all know that by now), but the camera also creates a 30mb RAW file every time I snap the shutter. So, write speed is very important. I WAS using the Extreme IV series cards (45mb/sec), and even with the slower 4fps in the 5D2, the camera would hang after a few shots to write the data. Now with these new 16gb Extreme cards I get to hold down the shutter button and record WAY more images before the buffer starts to hold things up. What an improvement! This new series is worth every dollar. Remember, faster cards also give you longer battery life since the data writes faster, so that's another plus to these new Extreme cards. They are UDMA level 5 which is nice (the 5D2 handles up to 6). BTW, UDMA simply means that the card does a lot of the file processing, which gets you faster write speed. Non-UDMA cards make the camera do all the work when writing images to the card. If you have a UDMA-enabled camera, by all means get UDMA-enabled cards.
One last thing to help clear confusion on the card naming format: the 133X and 300X and all that simply means the speed that the card can write data. SanDisk doesn't use that prominently in their marketing, they tend to say "30mb/sec" or "60mb/sec", like that. Lexar uses the ###X format all the time. So when shopping around, keep this in mind:
SanDisk Ultra II: 15mb/sec (the original version) - Lexar calls it 100X (this older model is NON-UDMA)
SanDisk Ultra II: 20mb/sec (the updated version) - Lexar calls it 133X (this older model is NON-UDMA)
SanDisk Extreme III: 30mb/sec (the original version) - Lexar calls it 200X (this older model is NON-UDMA)
(Thanks Uri for the correction in Comments!)
SanDisk Extreme IV: 45mb/sec - Lexar calls it 300X (The SanDisk Ducati line is also 45mb/sec and UDMA enabled)
SanDisk's New Extreme: 60mb/sec - Lexar will call it 400X
SanDisk's New Extreme Pro: 90mb/sec - Lexar will call it 600X
Hope that helps understand all of this!
UPDATE (12-29-2009): I also wanted to mention that I've owned nearly 15 SanDisk CF cards since 2005 and I have never had ONE fail on me. I learned a trick from a pro: after you COPY (not MOVE) your images onto your PC, always format the card IN-CAMERA before you shoot again. Don't use Windows to delete your images off the card. The CF cards get grumpy for some reason (no matter what brand you use). I've shot 20,000 images on four different camera bodies, and never one card failure in four years.
UPDATE (3-30-2011): My two 16GB cards sre still my workhorse memory, use them almost daily, not one failure. This 60mb/sec line of cards is probably the best value for your buck, you get speed, reliability and storage room for not a lot of money (ha, you'd think I work for SanDisk, lol! Just a happy customer.) SanDisk 16GB 60MB/s Extreme Compact Flash Card SDCFX-016G-A61 (US Retail Package)
Okay, so when I recently purchased a new Camera (a Canon 7D, 18 mega-pixel stills + 1080p video camera) and I was convinced I needed the SanDisk Extreme Pro 90mb/s card to take full advantage of the 8 pictures per second burst rate this camera had to offer... then... I started looking at the prices for those cards. *wince*
So, after I'd picked my jaw off the floor, I came across this card. It's still UDMA (where the card does some of the processing, not just the camera, resulting in better speeds), still faster than any of the older Extreme (and Ultra) series cards including the Extreme IV's by a noticeable margin, and my money buys me much more storage space, at significantly lower cost. But... would it be fast 'enough'?
Well, I was still hesitant... but at almost 1/3 the cost (and since having no memory card makes my camera a little useless), I decided to pull the trigger. I dropped it in, fired it up, and put it to the test. I was expecting shutter lag... or the dreaded "busy" light flashing at me when I really let it fly on full speed. Much to my pleasant surprise, this never happened! I was able to rip away at full speed without any issues at all.
If you're thinking about buying a memory card for this camera (or another high-megapixel DSLR) and you want as much memory AND speed as your dollars can afford, with out sacrificing camera performance... this series of card is for you. I, personally, see no reason to require the MUCH more expensive Extreme Pro for use in this camera... well... unless you have money just burning a hole in your pocket. :)
I had been using SanDisk Extreme III (30 MB/s) in my Nikon digital SLR, and while they were reliable and so on, I was never able to get the full high speed frame rate Nikon promises. Instead of the 5-7 frames per second, I was getting more like 2-3.
Switching to the 60MB/s fixed that problem, and now I'm getting the full performance my camera is capable of...at least 5 fps under most conditions.
Interestingly, I also purchased a smaller card capable of 90MB/s, and saw no real difference, so I'm considering the 60MB/s version ideal - nice, since it's much less expensive than the faster cards.
Recommended if you need the best frame rate out of your camera.
Very fast card and Sandisk has always been reliable. This card is the fastest card that I have owned yet. I have had a regular card, an extreme II, and also an extreme III. I needed this card for the high speed burst shots from a 18 megapixel raw camera. Highly recommended. Just make sure you shop for the best deal as they range in price quite a bit and usually are the same thing.
No complaint for this high quality CF card. Very satisfied. In the past, I used Kingston 4GB 133X but I was unable to do full-HD video due to the speed (mycamera can process HD-video for only about 5 secs then stop due to the fact - it cannot write the data in buffer memory to the CF card). That's the reason for me to purchase this expensive and speedy CF Card.
Build quality of this card is high, very solid with strong & good feeling on hand. Transfer rate was exceptional if i transfer directly from camera to PCs via USB 2.0 cable (around 15-20Mb/sec). I don't have a "fast enough" CF card reader to work with this CF Card but i will try to find one(that's why currently i do direct transfer between camera & PCs. It will save you a lot of minutes). For 16Gb of data of image, it will take me approx 33 minutes for the old Kingston 133x CF Card to transfer to the PC - while this one takes about 3-4 minutes. - Canon Eos 7d - Sandisk - Udma Cf Card - 16gb'
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