Excellent pro testing of fastest CF card speeds
 

Rob Galbraith DPI: SanDisk, Transcend and PhotoFast roll out speedy cards up to 64GB

He's a still shooter, above all else, but it is useful real-world testing -- doing extended bursts of 21 megapixel RAW images at nearly 4 per second is far more demanding than compressed video from a DigiSLR.
And good critique of fast ExpressCard CF card readers in the above article, too -- the Sonnet Pro Dual CompactFlash Adapter ExpressCard/34 really does seem like a great option, except: "Note: The driver for the Sonnet Pro Dual CompactFlash Adapter ExpressCard/34 is currently incompatible with Mac OS X 10.6.x. An updated driver is expected in November."

I wonder how the normal usage reliability of the cheap/super-fast PhotoFast cards are (about 30MB/s in a 5DmkII, 64GB UDMA for $299).
I will probably buy one after I get my 7D and and report back on that one someday after some good testing/using time.

Wow, two people in the same forum with the same name. Spooky.

Are you shooting with the 7D Shaun? I've been looking at getting the 5D, but hearing good things about the 7D.

Yes, that is odd :) ... Are you a video pro down there? I'm primarily a pro daily newspaper photojournalist but am getting into video again. Early this month I got to be the D camera on a small documentary on the San Francisco Bay Bridge section swap out -- very cool and fun and essentially my first real pro video gig.

I hope I get my 7D in the next week or two. It makes even more sense for me since it's a very fast shooting and autofocusing, well designed/ very full-featured, and fairly tough still camera, but I think if you don't need extremely shallow depth of field AND don't want or need to get pricey, fast wide primes (24 1.4L/ 35 1.4L, etc.) for cleaner truly-low light work, the 7D is a better choice for video than the 5DmkII. And for the price difference, you can get a really sweet, sharp, stabilized Canon 17-55 2.8 IS USM lens with the 7D!

Shaun & Shaun,

reading your exchanges is freaking me out! :-) wow...
its like watching someone talking to a mirror but the reflection talks back! hehe sorry for the OT can't resist.

Ted

Just don't do what I did and beFriend 3 other Shaun Walkers on FaceBook -- now THAT was annoying. I very soon had to kill them off.

Hi Shaun, yes I run a TV production business near Sydney. Been in the biz for 16 years. Shooting with an EX-1 right now, but have just returned from a shoot in Fiji where I was editing footage shot on a 5D. Images were incredible but the 30p is an issue. I have been hearing about the 7D and am interested to see how it compares with the 5D, but I am leaning towards sticking with my EX-1 and getting a DOF adaptor instead.

I occasionally google my name (c'mon, who doesn't) and have found many other Shaun Walkers, including the head of a neo-Nazi white supremist group. Are you the Shaun Walker who shoots a lot of environmental and nature stuff in California?

Yes, that's me with Julia Butterfly ancient redwood tree-sit photos from a while back, when I shoulda gotten a PD150 or GL2 for that amazing experience, and I should get OtterMedia.com up and running again soon.