When each of these SD cards is use in the 1DMkII camera, and the buffer
is allowed to fill up with a full 20 RAW shots, the Standard SanDisk card
will have the buffer emptied out in 31 second, and the Ultra II SanDisk
card will have the buffer emptied out in 28 seconds.
And so numbers wise, the Ultra II card is about 10% faster than the Standard
card.
But in the most practical of terms, a difference of 0.15 seconds to write each shot
really isn't that noticable. And if you think it is, try starting and stopping a stopwatch
within 0.15 seconds and then you'll experience first hand just how much of a blink
of an eye that really is.
So we all of us seemingly really get bent out of shape when we're talking about the
difference in speed between different cards, but mostly we're just making a mountain
of some that ain't even a mole hill.
If a photographer is serious about making sure he has enough memory speed to
get the shot that's needed, the real solution isn't to be buying memory cards
which are seemingly faster, but rather to buy a camera which has a greater
buffer depth.
For almost all of us, the difference between these card speeds is insignificant
because the real weakest link in the chain is how quickly our cameras
themselves can process the information.
So think twice before spending your money on the supposed faster memory
cards because if you run this test for yourself and your own camera, you're
just as likely to find you're paying a premium difference for a speed difference
that's miniscule.
Now between these two cards, for example, in as much the Ultra II is about
10% faster than the Standard card, if the Ultra II costs 10% more, that's a
reasonable price to pay. But if it turns out to be more than that, you're really
not getting value for your money.
And all the more so because without a stopwatch to compare the two, you
really ain't going to notice the difference between the two of them when you
get right down to the practicality of day to day shooting.
Now excuse me while I go back to eating my popcorn. And I know it has
to be healthy for me because right on the package it's called "Smart Food".
So that name tells me it's got to be good for me.... right?
