I just plunked down some money on a new 1GB Olympus xD card for my C8080. I have a trip coming up so wanted the extra storage. I was going to get the cheaper M-Type card but read that it was rather slow due to it's use fo data compression so I ended hunting around and finding a new H-type on eBay. Does anyone have any experience with these types of cards and have any first-hand experience to relate? Was it worth the extra money for a card that was a little faster? I appreciate the feedback, thanks.

Also, I have a 512MB CF card in my camera as well. Any thoughts about upgrading that? Compatibility issues? Brand reliability? Thanks again.

Hi,

What ya could do for storage is get something like a sony via pocket hdd and use it by plugging your camera into it as if you were going to download photos (using the usb cable that comes with the camera)!  Hope this makes scence! NOTE I have not tried this but have been tolda that it work!

Not a bad idea, but I'm looking in camera storage right now. ;]

Attached Link: CF/SD performance database

The sweet spot for CF cards seems to be the 2 GB size...yes, I know it sounds big but I just picked up a 2GB Sandisk Ultra II for less than I paid for a 512 exactly one year ago.  Don't know where you are but Costco up here had a good deal on them.

Don't think there is a huge difference in brands, but try to go with the higher speed versions as it will save on camera battery life and speed up on d/l time to your PC.

I've attached a link comparing CF/SD card performance/speeds for various cams (select your cam from the pull down menu)....enjoy!

Quote - Does anyone have any experience with these types of cards and have any first-hand experience to relate? Was it worth the extra money for a card that was a little faster?

I've only got two ordinary 256MB xDs, but... Can 8080 go any faster than those 1.6 fps for HQ JPEGs? If you had an E-500 with its ability to shoot until you fill up the card, I think it would be worth it. This way, I'm not certain. As to the CF, I've had two 1GB no-name (comparatively) cheapo CFs for a year and a half. Absolutely no problems with 5050, E-300, E-500 or E-330. I think that compatibility issues might start with the capacities above 2GB, because, IIRC, it was only with E-300 that Olympus introduced FAT32 and the ability to go above the 2GB limit. Also IIRC, some of the Lexar's Type III (?) and later high speed cards will definitely have problems.

Hey Kort, I have the same Cam, and I have been using the same card brand the camera came with, the 32mb xD and baught two 1gb xD's soon after, and I just baught a 1gb 100x CF card (off brand) at Fry's for $50.

I cant remember what the speed is on the Olympus brand XD cards,  but the CF I just got does seam to be a bit faster in reading and wrighting.

Thanks for the feedback guys. The Olympus site says that my cam should support SanDisk 2GBs with no problem. I worry though about saving money with an off brand then having it fail. Ack --don't want that!

I dont know about the xd cards as I have never used them.

Fof CF cards I use the integral i pro cards, 1GB is about £40 UKP, they are fast and rated at 100x the Sandisk/Lexar are almost double that with little difference in performance.

Yesterday I got another 2 GB Lexar at 133 write speed. I prefer the 2 GB ones for the fear of losing too many imahges if something went wrong.
For sure!!! the faster write speed is worth the bucks.
Not sure if you notice it much shooting jpg, but 15-16MB files in RAW really need it.
So if that is the case I am sure whatever extra you paid Kort is well spent.

Have no fear on the card failing. I for one have not heard of it happening.
Provided you format it correct.
The larger ones come with a recovery software too.
 So far I have good luck with the  SanDisk Extreme III and the Lexar Professionals.
I would not want to experiment with other cards though.

I have also got a couple of SanDisk Extreme III and Lexar 80x, to be honest I cant tell the difference between the Integral I pro 100x and the Extreme III shooting 8MB RAW.

The integral cards are used by one of the UK's top Wildlife Photographers, if it’s good enough for him its good enough for me.

I have never heard of a CF card failing, and are more likely to outlast the camera, I read an article a while ago where a remote camera was blown to pieces and the card was still in tact and all images recovered it even captured the last seconds of another camera that was blown to pieces.

COOL! Thanks for all the feedback gang!

I will shop around and probably get a 2GB CF card to go with the 1GB xD card I ordered. I have heard a couple of horror stories about no-name brands failing shortly after use so will stick with the more reputable ones. Though you all have said you never hear of cards failing (and I agree with you there), they do have a limited lifespan...though probably a longer one than that of your camera. Here is the relevant info from the article Gradient linked to: "Individual flash memory cells have a limited lifespan. That's the bad news. The good news is that their lifespan is usually measured in the hundreds of thousands or even millions of erase/write cycles, and that the better controller designs utilize an algorithm that's designed to balance the wear across the entire card's cells. CompactFlash and SD cards are designed to automatically and transparently map out memory cells that go bad, or in some cases when they reach a predefined limit, i.e. 300,000 erase/write cycles (note that this figure is just an example; manufacturers may use a different figure). Cards should continue to function long after a few cells have expired, since even the busiest photographer's flash memory card won't start turning off a significant number of memory cells until after many years of service."

Anyone heard about this CF card/manufacturer? Seems almost too good to be true, but has lots of good reviews. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820183164&ATT=20-183-164&CMP=OTC-d3alt1me

Yeh I have heard of and used Ritek optical media, I didn’t know they made flash memory.

There are very few flash mem manufacturers anyway, and they sell the memory to third parties and they in turn use the memory with their own controllers.

Understood, but have heard that some companies' controllers are not as reliable and have been know to fail after a period of initial use while others keep on chuggin. RiData makes the Ritek optical media, and it looks like they've expanded into the flash memory arena.

Hi Kort Idont use HD cards yet and have been looking at them as I plan to get a new Camera I read somewhere there was an issue with Olympus cards when using the Pano mode that it slowed them down but this was for an older model than your camera.. Looking at some of the specs here were the results...

Sandisk Ultra II C/F Card @ Write 9 mb/s & Read 10mb/s
Lexar 80X WA Pro C/F @ Write 12 mb/s & Read 16mb/s
Olympus xD Card @ Write 3mb/s & Read 5mb/s

Thanks Danny. I found this info online: "It appears that the 8080 writes with a maximum of 0.9 MByte/s (sustained) to CF cards. There is no advantage in using CF cards faster than 30x (actually the camera is write-limited to 6x, but we didn't test the write speed with slow CF cards)." "The maximum write speed to xD cards is 0.8 MByte/s (sustained) . Since xD cards are more expensive than CF cards, the only reason to use xD cards is if you want to use the 8080's inbuilt panorama function." So, the main reason to get a faster card would be only for faster file transfer to the computer. For my style of photography, blazing speed is not an issue. I guess that is a good thing considering my pokey camera! ;] I found those 2GB CF cards (with very good read/write speeds) on the Newegg website for under $60 w/shipping. That is probably the route I'll go until I can find confirmation that 4GB CF cards do work on the C-8080. That should since my cam supports FAT32 but I have yet to hear from anyone using that size yet, only in microdrives.

UPDATE! I got my Type H 1GB xD card in the mail today. I replaced my older 256MB card and took some test shots. IMPRESSIVE! I would have to estimate that images write to this card at least 3X faster than they did with the old one. I'm very happy with my purchase. :thumbupboth:

if you can use cf, I would suggest it and buy the professional version for being durable. the XD cards are so easy to drop and the havecontacts exposed. the xd are fast but the pro line of cf is just as good

Good point, but I download images direct from cam to computer 99% of the time so the xD card is there to stay unless I need to pop the other in to capture more photos. The CF card comes next. ;]

UPDATE! Speaking of CF cards, I just heard from someone on the yahoo Olmpus user group. He has been using a 4GB Kingston CF card in his Oly C-8080 for some time now is has been working just fine for him. Just in case any of you were interested. That is all.

I just think that using large capacity cards is not really the best idea, the largest I use is a 1GB on a shoot/trip that way if in the unlikely event a card does corrupt you don’t loose everything.

No one ever complained about only being able to shoot 36 exp on film, having a card that can hold 100’s of images is convenient but not essential, and they are easier to change than film anyway.

It’s just my way.

I hear ya. But film is a different animal, and something you don't want to have to wait until 100+ images to get devoloped. I never heard anyone complaining about 4GB hard drives years ago, but they sure wouldn't want to go back to that these days. For me, I like to put the card(s) in and forget about it. I use a USB cable to download from cam to computer so never touch the cards once they are in the camera. I rarely max out my cards, but it has happened and I'm going on a 4 day trip this week so was looking for options. That is just one option. 4 1GB cards, 2 2GB cards, or 1 4GB card. It all depends on the person. It is my belief that there is more chance of corrupting a card by removing it from the camera than from anything else. Still, I'm not gonna run right out and get one just yet...

As I said it’s just my way and my opinion, you should do what you prefer.

A 1GB card can store approx 130 RAW files on my camera, so for the sake of debate if I was using a Canon 5D I would probably move to a 2GB card to get approx the same capacity.