I just did a quick little test and it turns out that Sandisk Ultra II’s are definitely up to the task of recording video from the Canon 5D Mark II. This is great news, because it opens up a huge list of cards that–based on speed tests–should be able to work with the 5DMkII’s video mode and it means we have more cost-effective storage solutions for such a task.
According to Rob Galbraith’s tests; the 5DMkII writes files to the Sandisk Ultra II at around 10MB/s. So, theoretically any card that writes faster than 10MB/s should be able to handle the data rate required by the 5DMkII’s video mode.
Because the Sandisk Ultra II sits around the halfway mark on the chart, that leaves us with plenty of options to consider, including (but not limited to):
- SanDisk Extreme Ducati 8GB, 4GB
- SanDisk Extreme IV 45MB/s Edition 16GB, 8GB
- SanDisk Extreme IV 8GB, 4GB, 2GB
- SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s Edition 32GB, 16GB, 8GB, 4GB
- SanDisk Extreme III 16GB, 12GB, 8GB, 4GB, 2GB, 1GB
- Lexar Professional 300X 16GB, 8GB, 4GB
- Lexar Professional 233X 8GB, 4GB
- Lexar Professional 133X 8GB, 4GB
- Lexar Prof. 80X (3rd ed.) 2GB, 1GB
- Transcend UDMA 300X 16GB, 8GB, 4GB
- Transcend 266X 8GB, 2GB
- Transcend 133X 32GB, 16GB
- Transcend 120X 32GB, 4GB
- Hoodman RAW 300X 8GB
- Hoodman PRO 150X-133X 4GB, 2GB
- Hoodman RAW 280X 8GB, 4GB, 2GB
- Kingston Ultimate 266X 8GB, 4GB, 2GB
- Kingston Ultimate 133X 8GB, 2GB
- PNY Optima PRO UDMA 266X 8GB, 4GB
- PNY Opt. PRO UDMA (2007) 8GB, 2GB
- ATP Pro Max 1GB
- ATP Pro Max II 300X 8GB
- A-Data Turbo 350X 16GB
- Dane-Elec 300Xs UDMA 8GB
- Ridata Pro 150X 8GB, 2GB
- Delkin PRO 305X 16GB, 4GB
- Maxell standard 2GB
Because you can only store a little over 3 minutes of 1080p video per GB, you really need to consider a card larger than 4GB though 8 & 16GB cards will probably give you the best GB-per-dollar value.
Looking around at some Australian online stores I found a few good deals:
- Transcend 133X 16GB – $63 (0.254GB/$)
- Transcend 133X 8GB – $39 (0.205GB/$)
- Transcend 133X 4GB – $26 (0.154GB/$)
It would seem Transcend 133X cards are the cheapest around that can manage the speeds required by the 5DMkII’s video mode.
If you’ve found a great deal on CompactFlash cards that would suit the 5DMkII, then feel free to leave a link in the comments.