PCSTATS     
[X]   Directory of
Guides & Reviews

Beginners Guides
Motherboards by Brand
Weekly Newsletter
Archived Newsletters

CompactFlash Card Roundup: 1GB Models
CompactFlash Card Roundup: 1GB Models - PCSTATS
Buying the right CF card for your digital camera can be difficult, well mostly confusing since there are size, type and speed considerations to wrap your head around first.
Filed under: Memory Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: PCSTATS Dec 05 2005   C. Sun  
Home > Reviews > Memory > PCSTATS CompactFlash

Canon S500, FujiFilm S2 Pro Testing

Canon S500 JPG File Testing Source: PCStats

The Canon S500 is a consumer level 5-Megapixel digital camera. It supports type I CF cards and the JPG image format only. The camera was set to continuously shoot at a static target until its internal frame buffer was filled. We timed how long the writing indicator light was on and calculated the bandwidth of the CF media by the size of all the transferred pictures divided by the time it took to store the data.

The IBM microdrive was not tested as the Canon supports Type I CF media only.

Canon S500 - JPG

Manufacturer and model

Number of Pictures

Total File Size

CF Write Time

Bandwidth

Ranking

Actual Speed Rating

Centon C1GBCF

13

24273 KB

31.87s

761 KB/s

5x

Crucial CT1GBC1

13

24485 KB

32.62s

751 KB/s

5x

Kingston Elite Pro CF/1024-S

13

23511 KB

31.45s

748 KB/s

5x

IBM 1GB Microdrive

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Sandisk 1GB Extreme

13

24346 KB

31.17s

781 KB/s

5x

Corsair CMFCF80-1GB

13

25436 KB

31.22s

814 KB/s

5x

While the 1GB Centon and Crucial CompactFlash cards lacked any form of advertised write speed to go by, we found they were each capable of operating at 5x - which incidently seems to be the Canon S500's top writing speed. We were definitely surprised by these results... it indicates that some consumer level digital cameras will not benefit from high speed CompactFlash media! It should be stressed that all results are camera model specific.

FujiFilm S2 Pro JPG File Testing Source: PCStats

The FujiFilm S2 Pro is a digital SLR camera with a 6-Megapixel SuperCCD sensor that produces images that are effectively 12 megapixels.

The camera was set to continuously shoot at a static target until its internal frame buffer was filled. We timed how long the writing indicator light was on and calculated the bandwidth of the CF media by the size of all the transferred pictures divided by the time it took to store the data.

Fuji S2 Pro - JPG

Manufacturer and model

Number of Pictures

Total File Size

CF Write Time

Bandwidth

Ranking

Speed Rating

Centon C1GBCF

8

10189 KB

11.3s

902 KB/s

6x

Crucial CT1GBC1

8

10137 KB

10.94s

927 KB/s

6x

Kingston Elite Pro CF/1024-S

8

10133 KB

10.92s

927 KB/s

6x

IBM 1GB Microdrive

8

10114 KB

10.92s

926 KB/s

6x

Sandisk 1GB Extreme

8

10124 KB

10.52s

962 KB/s

6x

Corsair CMFCF80-1GB

8

10165 KB

10.46s

971 KB/s

6x

All the CompactFlash media cards performed within a few percentage points of each other here, so it's safe to say that the FujiFilm S2 Pro has a maximum write speed of approximately 6x when storing image file data in the JPG format. As you'll soon see, write speeds are very dependent on the image format used.

FujiFilm S2 Pro TIFF File Testing Source: PCStats

The TIFF format is often used by imaging professionals to preserve the full quality of an image when transferring it to digital media. It produces much larger sized files than JPG.

The camera was set to continuously shoot at a static target until its internal frame buffer was filled. We timed how long the writing indicator light was on and calculated the bandwidth of the CF media by the size of all the transferred pictures divided by the time it took to store the data.

Fuji S2 Pro - TIFF

Manufacturer and model

Number of Pictures

Total File Size

CF Write Time

Bandwidth

Ranking

Speed Rating

Centon C1GBCF

8

83456 KB

54.45s

1532 KB/s

10x

Crucial CT1GBC1

8

83456 KB

53.38s

1563 KB/s

10x

Kingston Elite Pro CF/1024-S

8

83456 KB

51.64s

1616 KB/s

11x

IBM 1GB Microdrive

8

83456 KB

52.93s

1577 KB/s

11x

Sandisk 1GB Extreme

8

83456 KB

52.03s

1604 KB/s

11x

Corsair CMFCF80-1GB

8

83456 KB

51.88s

1608 KB/s

11x

Again all CompactFlash cards performed almost identically, well within the margin of error. In this test, the FujiFilm S2 Pro has a maximum write speed of approximately 11x when storing image data in the TIFF format. It looks like even the high end FujiFilm S2 Pro has its storage speed limits! The high speed Corsair CMFCF80-1GB, Kingston Elite Pro and Sandisk Extreme CF cards performed the test quickest, along with the IBM Microdrive which was rather surprising.

FujiFilm S2 Pro RAW File Testing Source: PCStats

The RAW image format uses almost no compression, enabling photographers to preserve as much of the detail captured by a camera's CCD sensor as possible. It creates the largest file sizes of any image format used in these tests.

The camera was set to continuously shoot at a static target until its internal frame buffer was filled. We timed how long the writing indicator light was on and calculated the bandwidth of the CF media by the size of all the transferred pictures divided by the time it took to store the data.

Fuji S2 Pro - RAW

Manufacturer and model

Number of Pictures

Total File Size

CF Write Time

Bandwidth

Ranking

Speed Rating

Centon C1GBCF

7

90083 KB

57.81s

1558 KB/s

10x

Crucial CT1GBC1

7

90129 KB

48.99s

1839 KB/s

12x

Kingston Elite Pro CF/1024-S

7

90085 KB

51.23s

1758 KB/s

12x

IBM 1GB Microdrive

7

90099 KB

46.88s

1921 KB/s

13x

Sandisk 1GB Extreme

7

90087 KB

48.89s

1842 KB/s

12x

Corsair CMFCF80-1GB

7

90113 KB

45.23s

1992 KB/s

13x

The Corsair CMFCF80-1GB is surprisingly followed closely by the IBM 1GB Microdrive which performed fastest in the RAW picture tests. The Crucial, Kingston and Sandisk CF cards all take third place with a 12x speed. Write speeds for the RAW image format were 12x on average. The Centon 1GB CF card comes in last, which may indicate that it is technically capped at the 10x writing speed.

< Previous Page © 2023 PCSTATS.com Next Page >

 

Contents of Article: PCSTATS CompactFlash
 Pg 1.  CompactFlash Card Roundup: 1GB Models
 Pg 2.  — Canon S500, FujiFilm S2 Pro Testing
 Pg 3.  Nikon D70 Testing
 Pg 4.  SiSoft Sandra Testing
 Pg 5.  Fast CompactFlash or Slow?

 
Hardware Sections 


 
PCSTATS Network Features Information About Us Contact
FrostyTech
PCSTATS Newsletter
Tech Glossary
Technology WebSite Listings
News Archives
(Review RSS Feed)
Site Map
PCstats Wallpaper
About Us
Privacy Policy
Advertise on PCSTATS

How's Our Driving?
© Copyright 1999-2023 www.pcstats.com All rights reserved. Privacy policy and Terms of Use.