Canon EOS-5DBy: Dave EtchellsSlightly smaller and lighter upgrade brings greater speed and ease of use along with higher res and lower image noise. <<Camera Modes & Menus :(Previous) | (Next): Video, Power, Software>> Page 10:Image Storage & InterfaceReview First Posted: 04/02/2006 |
Image Storage and Interface
The EOS 5D utilizes CompactFlash (Type I and II) memory cards as its image storage medium, which should never be removed from the camera while in use. (Removing a card while the camera is still writing to it could cause permanent damage to the card.) The EOS 5D does not ship with a memory card, so you'll want to purchase a large capacity card right away. I'd recommend picking up at least a 1 GB card for starters, given the EOS 5D's large, 4,368 x 2,912-pixel maximum resolution. The table below shows card capacities and approximate compression ratios for the various file sizes and types, based on a 1GB memory card. The 5D is fully compatible with Hitachi MicroDrives and other Type II CompactFlash devices.
The EOS-5D supports the FAT32 directory structure. (FAT stands for File Allocation Table, and FAT32 indicates that these newer cards use a 32-bit File Allocation Table. In general, digital cameras made before 2003 supported only FAT 16.) The larger address space provided by FAT32 is necessary for managing high-capacity memory cards of 2GB or greater capacity. This wasn't an issue in the past, but CF cards with capacities greater than 2GB are quite common these days, and FAT32 is required to properly access them.
Resolution/Quality 1 GB Memory Card |
Fine | Normal | |||
| 4368 x 2912 | Images (Avg size) |
176 5.8 MB |
350 2.9 MB |
59 17.3 MB |
43 23.3 MB |
| Approx. Compression |
7:1 | 13:1 | 1.1:1 | - | |
| 3168 x 2112 | Images (Avg size) |
301 3.4 MB |
598 1.7 MB |
- | - |
| Approx. Compression |
6:1 | 12:1 | - | - | |
| 2496 x 1664 | Images (Avg size) |
424 2.4 MB |
845 1.2 MB |
- | - |
| Approx. Compression |
5:1 | 10:1 | - | - | |
The RAW mode listed above deserves some explanation. This is a format that records all the data from the sensor, exactly as it comes from the A/D conversion process. It is lossless compression, meaning that the file is reduced to a smaller size, but without losing any data in the process. It thus preserves all the original data from the sensor, but is nevertheless much more compact than an equivalent TIFF file.
Download Speed
The 5D has a USB 2.0 port for rapid file transfers to the host computer. Downloading files to my Sony desktop running Windows XP (Pentium IV, 2.4 GHz), I clocked it at 1216 KBytes/second, a respectable if not astonishing speed. (Cameras with slow USB interfaces run as low as 300 KB/s, cameras with fast v1.1 interfaces run as high as 600 KB/s. Cameras with USB v2.0 interfaces run as fast as several megabytes/second.)
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