16 GB Sandisk card in a Nikon D200

[Warren_L]

Ok... not to maintain the hijacking of the OP, but does the 150x card actually make that much of a difference? (not that the $50 price doesn't just close the deal for me) Does it change the max amount of buffered shots on continuous shooting??

I have a few of these as well, and I generally don't shoot fast enough for it to make much of a difference. I don't think I've ever completely filled the buffer up, though at times I still see the write indicator on for a few seconds after I've stopped shooting.

 

[Warren_L]

I can get about 400 shots shooting RAW+JPG basic on the D200, maybe more, but I have several batteries, and switch them out when they get down to about 20%.

The D200 actually is not much harder on batteries then the D70. Look at Phil's tests, the D70 did 2000 shots in jpg basic no flash mode, the D200 did 1800 shots in the same mode. The D200 does use more power, but it's also a lot faster with a larger sensor.

One reason the D70 appears to last forever is that the meter is inaccurate. Like many rechargeable batteries, it put's out full voltage until the very end, and then dies quickly fooling most charge metering systems. The EN-EL3e batter introduces a chip that uses more then just voltage to monitor the charge, and reports a more accurate reading as the battery discharges.

I didn't realize the D70 meter was inaccurate - but despite that, I still was able to go for what seemed like forever before needing a recharge. I remember going on a non-diving trip for a week and not even taking my charger for the D70, just a spare charged battery. Never even got off the first battery. When I got my D200 I had to charge that thing up every couple of days.

The test results are interesting, but shooting basic .jpg and no flash are not a realistic comparison for me. Considering that I do use the flash quite a bit (out of the water, that is) and shoot primarily in RAW mode, there's going to be more power used by the D200 than the D70 in that the RAW files are going to be quite a bit bigger on the D200 so there's going to be longer write times, as well as that large honkin LCD screen on the D200 must consume a fair bit more power than the D70's screen. I wonder what the numbers might be like shooting RAW with flash use?

 

[danishDiver]

Hi again.

Thanks for all the tips, i guess i'll just stick to my Extreme III 4 GB card for now, and maybe order a 8 GB just for the fun of it

Thanks for reminding me of the battery issue, i need to add an extra battery to my order for the house + flash + lense + port.

I do actually nearly always bring my laptop, but under water doing 4 daives a day ( liveaboard ), i guess the battery is a bigger issue than the card size.

Another reason for getting a huge card, was for when i am on short trips without bringing the laptop. But i guess 2 * 8GB is better.

Would i gain anything by gettin an Extreme IV instead of an Extreme III ?
The tests i have seen shows only a minor difference.

 

[Warren_L]

Personally, if you can save a bit of money by getting the III, then I'd do that. There's a big enough buffer on the D200 that you'd likely not fill it up before write speed to the card becomes the limiting factor. However, there is an advantage with the faster card in terms of off loading onto a laptop or portable storage system. Just have to find that balance.

 

[dbh]

On a liveaborad, i download my card at lunch, dinner & after the night dive. If you start your download, eat a meal and tell lies....err I mean stories with the other divers, it is ready to go by the time you are done. I put fresh batteries in my camera & strobe and am ready to go. My D200 says that the 8 GB card will hold 488 RAW images. I have never come close so I can't tell you for sure.

Dave

 

[RonFrank]

Hi again.

Thanks for all the tips, i guess i'll just stick to my Extreme III 4 GB card for now, and maybe order a 8 GB just for the fun of it

Thanks for reminding me of the battery issue, i need to add an extra battery to my order for the house + flash + lense + port.

I do actually nearly always bring my laptop, but under water doing 4 daives a day ( liveaboard ), i guess the battery is a bigger issue than the card size.

Another reason for getting a huge card, was for when i am on short trips without bringing the laptop. But i guess 2 * 8GB is better.

Would i gain anything by gettin an Extreme IV instead of an Extreme III ?
The tests i have seen shows only a minor difference.

I generally can get 4 dives out of one battery, and a 4GB Card. Changing out the battery or card at lunch is not such an issue however.

My problem is my strobe. I have only one battery for that, and I just recently got the smart charger, but it still can take up to three hours to charge a battery for my SS200. I'm planning on a DS125 in the near future, so I have not wanted to spring for another battery for that strobe as I'm not sure I'll keep it.

I was generally able to get three 1/2 dives out of the strobe. But was often running out of juice by the fourth dive. You will either need to charge the DS125 batteries at lunch on a four dive day, or get two batteries. This is one area where the DS51 is nice, it runs on AA batteries. Inon strobes do so as well.

If you get the NiMH battery, you can do partial charges at lunch, and that would be a good thing. Unfortunately with the NICAD battery it's not a great idea to do a partial charge as the battery has memory, and if you don't do a full charge it can loose capacity.

 

[HowardE]

I generally can get 4 dives out of one battery, and a 4GB Card. Changing out the battery or card at lunch is not such an issue however.

Me too