to be in love with a memory card? So I picked up my sandisk extreme IIIs today and I was totaly blown away at the performance of the card. Shooting in RAW with my E500 I am only supposed to be able to shot 4 pictures on burst mode before it needs to stop and buff, not the case with the EIIIs just kept on shooting. May not seem like much to some people but to a guy who lovs to shoot snakes it the next best thing to....well you know. 

Also I will be heading to DC this weekend for a week I wont have a chance to get out and do any shooting much before 1900hrs so whata are the must shoot places I can get some really night shots at?

It is not wrong, just don't try to consumate anything... ;'P Glad to hear they are working so well for ya! It has been many many years since I've been to DC and don't know if they frown on photographers at night around the monuments, but that would be my suggestion.

yeah, that's one thing people can over look is memory card speed..It's really important if you do action shots

Attached Link: Olympus E500 write speeds

Also for your info, with the higher speed cards now available...the limit for most cams is no longer the card itself....but the cams ability to write.  Most DSLR's only have the ability to write from the buffer to the card at 8 to 10MB/sec...the newer cards could accept faster write speeds...if the cam could keep up.

In other words....you would likely see no improvement in going to the Extreme IV in your case.

Other than emptying your buffer quicker, these high speed cards offer two other benefits;

1. Less time writing to your card preserves battery life
2. High speed cards allow you to download your images to your PC much faster.

Thanks for the replys.

@Gradient, Thanks for the Oly info and the link for the write speeds. Glad I never invested in more that one xD card they are just way to slow. I only use the one I have to transfer between durring down time.

Cool that your card can keep up with your shooting now, huh? Really good buy there.

From the Iwo Jima Memorial (as in "Flags of Our Fathers"?) you can see a great view of the city.

The Korean War memorial can be quite eerie or spectacular depending on the conditions.

The Vietnam Wall might still be a bit touchy. It was pretty much forbidden to take pictures of when they first put it up (too much sentiment at the time) but I think they've relaxed a bit on that - just be mindful of those around you as it still touches home.

Sounds silly, but the Capital Building is actually something really to photograph when the sun is setting. 7pm (the 1900hrs you mentioned) is a good time where there is still light from the fading sun - mixed with all the streetlamps and light coming from the building is really nice.

Something to keep in mind in general, just be sure NOT to have a tripod. You'll actually be stopped by a cop for not having a "tripod permit" - I really wish I was kidding on this one ("That's right - I've got a Nikon and it's LOADED baby!")!

Have fun and good luck!
-Lew ;-)

Still thinking of nice places/things to shoot - dunno if the Cherry Blossoms are still blooming, but they're beautiful.

Georgetown has some nice places to shoot - shops and homes.

Sorry - all that's coming to mind are Monuments and typical "touristy" stuff to name.
-Lew

@thundering1, thanks for the tips, and the info about tripod permits I would have deployed outside for sure and not even thought twice about it. I will have to make plans to get the permit one night and set up for shooting the next. I am hoping the the cherry blossems will still be in bloom as I would love to get some pictures.

I don't know about everywhere else, but if you want to shoot (pictures!) the Capital building, you'll need to get FOUR permits. There's someone (4 different people) who will sign for each of the four quadrants of the lawn - how's that for red tape, huh? Luckily they're all in the Capital building so you don't have to wander all over town - just go to some form of main office and tell them what you want to do and someone will take you downstairs.

...bring a book. ;-)

The permit(s) is(are) good for 1 week last time I checked.
Have fun and good luck-

-Lew ;-)