SanDisk 16GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card

Comments about Sandisk 16GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card:

It's a CF card, writes very fast, durable, versatile, and I can't think of many more adjectives to describe this card. I just wish there were the 32Gb Extreme III cards available, but this is more than enough for most things anyway.

Comments about Sandisk 16GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card:

Two quick solutions for the lame EOS 5D CF card formattingproblem that converts your 16 GB CF card into a card with 8GB accessible memory and an unusable 8 GB partition.(1) Don't format the card in the 5D in the first place. Justuse it.(2) If you've already formatted the card, download andinstall the HP USB Disk Storage Tool (Google this name toget it), and reformat the card with this utility. The full16 GB will be accessible again. The utility only works witha USB card reader; it won't work if you plug the CF carddirectly into a slot in your computer. This solution wasgiven to me by the SanDisk technical support group. Theyactually answer the phone at 10 PM on Saturday night!Don't contact Canon about this expecting help. They sent aform letter reply blaming the card and said they have noimmediate plans to issue a 5D firmware update

Comments about Sandisk 16GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card:

These cards seem to work beautifully. Friends haveexpressed their concerns about putting so many shots on asingle card, but so far I've been quite pleased with theperformance of both my 16GB cards, and I've LOVED barelyever needing to swap the cards out.

Expertise: Professional

Problems Encountered: I got two of these 16GB cards to use in my Canon 5D. Reformatting the cards in the 5D turned them into 8GB cards,which baffled me until I learned that the 5D only supportsCF cards up to 8GB. The 5D does let me fill the 16GBcards up with images it just won't reformat the cards to16GB for me. So the problem I've had with this card is really a problemwith Canon. I've been waiting for a number of months nowfor a 5D firmware update that would fix this problem, andI'm increasingly convinced Canon may NEVER release such anupdate. Canon told me, however, that the Rebel XTi CAN in facthandle 16GB CF cards, so I stuck my cards into a friend'sXTi and reformatted them there. Sure enough, 16GB again. For now, I'm using this [somewhat ridiculous] workaround inorder to get maximum use out of the cards.

Previous Equivalent Item Owned: 1GB, 2GB, 4GB cards

Comments about Sandisk 16GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card:

Works flawlessly with my D200. Reads and write quickly. Gets about 5.6k shots in the default normal, size optimized JPEG mode, about twice as many in basic and half as many in fine. In image optimized normal mode the number of shots drops to around 3.5k, again with twice as many in basic and half that in fine. With RAW + JPEG the number drops down somewhere in the 600+ range. You almost don't need a second card except for emergencies.

Expertise: Advanced amateur

Problems Encountered: None to date

Comments about Sandisk 16GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card:

I don't really know what much to say about it except itwrites really fast, stores a lot, and is the ideal card toget for all photographic needs. The card is amazing!

Expertise: Enthusiast, semi-pro.

Problems Encountered: No problems at all, whatsoever.

Previous Equivalent Item Owned: Sony 4Gb CFII microdrive

Comments about Sandisk 16GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card:

I am a wedding photographer who shoots with a Nikon D2X. My 4GB cards only held about 200 shots in RAW which meant that I would have to bring at least three cards often requiring a swap at rather inconvient times. Thanks to the 16GB capacity those days are gone and now I never worry about missing a shot. The D2X had no problem recognizing all 16 GB either.

Expertise: Pro

Problems Encountered: None!

Previous Equivalent Item Owned: Lexar 4GB 80X professional CF

Comments about Sandisk 16GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card:

If you're shooting with a Canon 5D or 30D, the camera willonly format and recognize 8GB of this card. That's true for5D firmware 1.1.0 and 30D firmware 1.0.4. I formatted thecard from my computer to 16GB but when I put it in thecameras, they both errored out.My own fault, SanDisk posts a compatibility chart forcameras on their website and surprise, surprise, 5D and 30Dare not listed.I was a little more than disappointed when I discoveredthis, but I'm confident Canon will release firmware updatesfor both bodies.Otherwise, the 8GBs that are available work very well. I'mlooking forward to unlocking the other 8GBs on the card andusing the full 16GB potential.If the card did work for my cameras, definitely a 5/5 acrossthe board. At least I bought the card while the rebate wasrunning.

Problems Encountered: Currently not compatible with Canon 5D or 30D. I've readnot compatible with XTi either.

Previous Equivalent Items Owned: 8GB CF, 4GB CF

Items I Recommend: SanDisk ImageMate 12 in 1

Comments about Sandisk 16GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card:

I'm a wedding photographer shooting with the 1DS markII in the RAW format so the 16GB are fantastic! I have had absolutely no problems with these cards or any of my Sandisk cards. I would highly recommend these to anybody and right now they have a huge rebate.

Problems Encountered: Had to update the firmware on my camera to support the high capacity but the cards have worked perfectly!