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I purchased a new DSLR, an upgrade from my trusted Nikon D50: the D90.
I wanted to get the fastest and most suited 8GB card to accompany my shoots and needed something that would keep up with the Nikon's 30MB/s capability.
After wandering the web for the best card I found the following information: "the cards offer a 50 percent speed boost from 20MB/s cards, and the Nikon D90 is the industry's first dSLR to take advantage of the speed.
That means that with the 30MB/s Extreme III, the D90 can record 39 6MB JPEG images at 4.5 frames per second in continuous shooting mode. Getting them off is almost as fast, too, when used with SanDisk's new ImageMate Multi-Card USB 2.0 reader/writer."
Note that some reviewers on here gave the card a bad rating because of lack of speed. However, it is his own equipment that is the bottle neck so that is not the best of sources to judge on.
This card is fast fast fast in my D90 and I have since purchased a spare one.
In short:
PROS
- LEADING EDGE IN SPEED
- PERFECTLY COUPLED WITH NIKON D90
CONS
- EXPENSIVE
CONCLUSION:
For the serious prosumer this is a must have for your D90 or other capable camera. Sandisk 8GB Extreme SDHC Card-Class 10 (SDSDX3-008G-A31)
I had an "older" version that was not 30mb speed and i was sceptical about the claim of extra speed, but wow a big difference.
when shooting camera is ready for next shot and the big deal is when you upload to your computer, now there is where i really noticed the speed and cost difference. uploads like a snap.
good card for the price on amazon and of course very fast delivery with amazon.
DO NOT ORDER, this is mis-advertised on the Amazon site. I just received this card, and even though Amazon advertises it as the Extreme III card in the description, it is actually an earlier version Extreme card from SanDisk. I put the card in my Canon Vixia HF200 video camera, and the camera claims the card can only write at a max of 12 mb/s, despite the claim on Amazon and on the SanDisk packaging that it can read at 30 mb/s!!! I have a 4 GB Extreme III card, which the Canon can write to at 24 mb/s, so I know the problem is with the card, not the camera.
My old card was an 8GB class 6 card. I am using a Nikon D90. I bought this card so that I could shoot at 4.5fps for longer. It does make a difference, but not that much of one. Once the buffer on my camera fills up, my high speed shooting is over until the buffer can empty. Obviously this card helps the buffer empty faster, but it won't let me start shooting again until it is too late. If you are shooting at high speed because if you don't then you will lose your shot, then you will lose your shot your buffer fills up, even with this card.
Most of this would probably change from camera to camera. The card is good, but I haven't done any benchmarks to see if it really lives up to what it claims.
I bought this card to go with my new Canon Rebel and am 'extreme'ly pleased with it. I don't have the technical equipment to check actual write speeds but honestly, does it matter to most of us? Not really. It has a super fast write speed, I can shoot in continuous without skipping a beat. I have had no problems with it at all.
Be careful when purchasing cheaper SD cards for a Digital SLR. Having purchased the new Canon Rebel T1 to replace my XT, I thought I could get away with a Transend card. However, the size of the image files when taking a burst of photos would bog the camera down preventing me from taking other shots. The Write Speed was just way too slow... enter the Sandisk Extreme III. All I can say is wow, the card is fast, very fast and I was able to shoot over 170 pictures of may daughter golfing yesterday with 0 delays.
SanDisk Extreme series cards have been the best since they came to the market. These are the only cards I will rely on. 16/8/4 GB 30mb/s cards you can be confident in. I carry 2 8GB cards and 2 2GB 20mb/s cards as a backup. If something were to happen these cards come with recovery software that works. I've actually used the software on a Transcend card I occasionally use when I'm too lazy to empty these to my computer. I've never had to use recovery on the SanDisk itself though.
This card easily keeps up with a D90 w/o battery grip. You may notice a slight pause after 12-13 shots equal to maybe 1 full missed frame while shooting in fine jpeg. You will probably miss a frame about every 6-8 shots if shooting in RAW. If you're shooting RAW+JPEG you don't care about speed anyway :p
I posted my inital review for the right product under a different supplier. My bad sorry, but I did purcase this card as you can see with the verified purchaser tag.
I have an Nikon D90. I purchased the 8G San Disc Extreme III card 30MB/S and a Transcend 16G class 6 card at the same time. The San Disc Extreme 3 card is incredibly fast. I get 100 pictures (4.5 frames per second) at fine resolution before the camera stops to buffer in 24 seconds. The Transcend card gets 17 photos on the same settings then pauses to buffer. If you have the camera that can take full advantage of this write speed this fast card is worth the investment. No more cringing while I wait for my camera to clear its buffer so I can take more pictures.
I like to shoot at 4.5 frames. It gives me a lot to pick through when I edit, but a lot can happen in a fraction of a second that can make a photo good or bad. Having the capability to hold down the shutter release and rattle off large bursts of photos is important to me.
I have found that 8G is a good size for SLR Photography. In my opinion bigger cards are putting a lot of eggs in one basket.
I posted a video test demonstrating this products incredible write speed. You can find it by clicking on my name and searching for this product. I'd repost it here but I deleted from my computer.
I have been using the card for several months. I have about 10 different cards that I use and I can honestly say that this is my favorite. In addition to writing fast it emptys a lot faster which comes in handy when I'm in a hurry to leave the house with my fastest card and it's full of pictures. I have not had any write/read errors. I'd get another one, but I know the price on this model will continue to fall. - Sandisk - Photography - 8gb - Memory Cards'
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