Memory Card and Dot Com Purchasing

[conchnclyde]

I have been doing my homework for the last two weeks, trying to make sure that I was prepared for best prices, and proper equipment/accessories for U/W Photography.

I decided to purchase my camera (OLY 5050 w/ 512 CF Card for storage, and 128 XD Card for pic taking). The order for the Housing (PT-015) went smoothly, because there were no accessories to sell me, however the Camera Purchase was a night mare. They actually ended up declining to sell the camera to me after the cards that I wanted (above), were not what they thought that I should have for the camera. Then after deciding that perhaps I needed more time to decide on what cards were actually recommended or best to use (as I had already read a study that the "high-speed" cards were not necessarily all that high speed over the standard card), and that I would purchase the camera/case, all of a sudden the camera is on back order and I need to call them back on Friday. What a game, they declined to sell me the Camera/512 Card/128 Card/and a case, just because they wanted me to use the "recommended high-speed cards". Still blows me away just a bit.

I have never purchased "Electronics" off of the internet, but a good lesson learned as to the game that has to be played to get a sucessful purchase.

So, my question is this: "Do I need "high-speed cards" over the standard type for the Oly 5050"? Perhaps some of you in the know may be able to help me here. I am willing to go that route, if it is necessary at this time, as I am just getting started in U/W Photography.

My thinking is this: I use the 128 XD card for taking the pics, use the 512 CF card to store (download from 128 card).

Am I thinking too far outside the box (too much too quick), or is this a good plan for starting?

Can I get some suggestions for a good "grow into", set-up, considering the card selection(s), manufacturers, speeds, etc...

I thought I had a firm grip on the Memory Cards, but maybe the sales person was correct, maybe I do need the "high speed " cards.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Still standing beside myself on the "attempt" to purchase these items.

Clyde
=-)

 

[Dee]

I can't help you and the camera particulars as I have a C-4040 that isn't nearly so complicated! ut: But I can suggest you call B&H photo. You may pay a few bucks more for your camera but you'll get a new camera with a US warranty, with no sales pressure, no lies.

 

[chippy]

In this day and age with the amount of competition about you would have thought they'd have been falling over themselves to sell it.



I'd tell 'em to stick it and go elsewhere. (your bang on the money about the difference between card speeds - there's not much in it really, certainly no obvious difference (unless you want to time it with a stopwatch).....in the real world the difference is unnoticable....your more likely to be waiting for the strobe to recharge after a shot than be waiting for the card to be written too.

I'm not too sure why your intent on using 2 cards though? I just use one 1GB CF card.

There are some really good dealers on the net, so don't be too discouraged

 

[Clutchcargo]

That's the game that alot of these intenet dealers play. They offer the camera at an unbelievable price and crank up the prices of the accessories: $49 for a crappy case, $300 for 512MB of memory, $99 for a card reader and $40 to ship. This totals about $120-$140 at any legitimate dealer. When you tell them you only want the camera it becomes available only with the kit. I've had good customer service with BH, Adorama, and Newegg. It's a couple of bucks more for the camera but the end result is that they don't screw you for the accessories and shipping only costs about $11 and they get it out the door by then next day if not the same day.
Cjh

 

[pdoege]

No sense playing UL/DL games.

Get the fastest/biggest one that fits your budget.

For a review of various card's performance, see http://www.dpreview.com/articles/mediacompare/page2.asp?sort=eos1draw

Peter Doege

 

[Finesse]

I agree

Thats a bunch of crap ...Plain and simple !!!!! this is your set up not theirs !!!!!

You have the right idea of card set up ..... I might go with a larger xD card however. Plus there was a theory that the xD was the fastest to write to .... turns out there is a CF card thats faster.... pny???? I think.... Transcend is another one

Do you need to write fast ... NO
Is it nice to write fast ..... sure.... but you most likely would not be able to tell the difference anyway

The xD is a better choice over smart media as you can get larger cards in xD (unless you have SM laying around) ..... plus if you ever do any panoramas you'll need an SM or xD card ....the CF card cannot do it .....

Definitely go elsewhere to buy ..... I wouldn’t give some one like that the time of day after such an interaction ......

I've had great luck with B&H ..... they many not be the absolute lowest priced on the internet ....BUT at least you can trust them....and they are authorized to sell Olympus cameras .....VERY Important if you need warranty work done…..I can get stuff from them in 24 hours (depends where you live)

Chippy .... two cards for redundant back up. I personally would not want to keep all my pictures on one large card ….. lose that card and you're done. I've on two occasions had cards give me trouble with corrupt files (both on SM in the 3040 and on the CF in the 5050) and fixed with reformatting. Bacchus ..a member here almost lost an entire 128 mb card full of pictures....but was able to recover all but a few pictures with special software. why not utilize the two card feature especially while its in a housing .....

 

[khel]

Finesse once bubbled...

Do you need to write fast ... NO
Is it nice to write fast ..... sure.... but you most likely would not be able to tell the difference anyway

The xD is a better choice over smart media as you can get larger cards in xD (unless you have SM laying around) ..... plus if you ever do any panoramas you'll need an SM or xD card ....the CF card cannot do it .....

Well, to the best of my knowledge, writing faster IS better and you CAN see the difference, especially with high resolution pictures. And why "CF card cannot take panoramas" ???

CF, SM etc. doesn't matter - it just stores the info (files) and btw, on my canon, I can do panoramas without problems :mean: on CF card...

And the last, again, to the best of my knowledge, CF cards are faster than any others and cost less (though they are a bit bigger)

khel

 

[wetbehindtheear]

Faster is better, yes. But faster and cheaper is even better.

Get a reasonable xD card for taking panoramas, and then a huge CF for regular pics and storage of your panoramas.

CF is cheap, industry standard, and fast. A good Lexar 40x is only $128 for a 512mb, and the 2GB ones are pretty reasonable too. You can also "trade up" your CF - there is a ready market for used cards.

Do not buy your memory with the camera. You can almost always get a better deal on the memory alone.

 

[conchnclyde]

Thanks ladies/gents for your replies as they are most helpful. My original thought was to go with the dual card set up for efficiency purposes, but the added comfort of having a spare if one goes bad just backs my idea up completely. I have decided on the 512MB CF and a 128 or 256 XD high speed pana for the pics.

I also did some more price comparisons and figured out that you can order the cards with the camera purchase for the higher priced camera supplier, and beat the cost for the lower priced camera suppliers + same cards. Cant seem to get them to sell me just the camera alone. I feel like I am buying a used car, instead of a camera!

Some of these companies are slick as glass, as I have been finding out the hard way. They will play every trick in the book, no matter how educated you come across, or how deaf they suddenly become to you, and worm their way right out of selling the camera to you. For others just getting started and looking for your first purchases (has to be some item they can play the game with, ie digi camera), dont waste your time with these guys, just tell them up front that you are only interested in the camera, otherwise you are going to pay a few dollars more and buy from their competitors. I have never in my life seen a business "not want to sell a product, and negotiate to cancel the order instead of secure it"???????

Enough of that.

I do have a couple of "rookie" questions:

1) Do any of you use a filter on your camera for U/W pics? or is it even necessary for digi?

2) What depth can I expect to start loosing color under my "in camera strobe/flash" no external strobe?

3) Do any of you have experience with not having a tray/arm, using the PT-015 solo for a while? Is it easier to handle the camera with a tray/arm from the beginning (not able to get ext. strobe right away)?

If these questions are redundant to past threads, my apologizes.

Clyde=-)

 

[pdoege]

I always use pricewatch to price these things.

Looks like 1gig cards are running around $200. Not too shabby. 512 XD cards seem to run about as much as 1gig CF cards.

CF has always worked fine for panoramas and movies for me.


I personally wouldn't do the 2 card thing, but whatever floats your boat.

Don't use a filter, although I see no reason not too. I just post process.

Red starts to disappear immediately. Very noticeable under 30'

I use an HID light for fill, no external strobe. I imagine that I'll get a strobe and arms after a while.

Peter

PS. www.pricewatch.com