Review of the SanDisk Extreme III Compact Flash Photo Memory Card

The SanDisk Extreme III isn't the fastest card on the market (that’s a title held by the SanDisk Extreme IV), but for the amateur or even the professional photographer it holds a very high bang for the buck value. The SanDisk Extreme III starts at only $29.99 for a 2gig card to $279.99 for a very substantial 32gig card. I personally keep a 4gig card ($49.99) in my Olympus E-volt E-420 camera and my 4gig card holds more than 1600 jpg files in normal quality. Because it's so affordable, I would never buy a normal memory card for my camera again.

The SanDisk Extreme III has a read/write speed of 30mb/s minimum meaning it takes less than a second for you to click the shutter of your camera and the photo be already saved to your card. This is a very important feature particularly if you're doing anything that requires multiple photographs in a short period of time (I take photos at RC and other race events). Previously I had a normal memory card in my camera and would have to wait for a file to save before I could take another shot. I normally would only get to take one photograph a lap at the short track I shoot with. With the SanDisk Extreme III I never miss an important shot because even if I had just clicked off a shot, my camera is immediately ready for the next photo.

The SanDisk Extreme III is a very easy card to find. Most all stores with an electronics department and memory cards for sale will have a few sitting on the shelf. It’s a very popular card for good reason. The Extreme III will work in good, bad, and ugly weather conditions. If your camera will work, your card will always work. I've taken shots in the rain, in the cold, and in hot weather and my card never failed to save a shot. I don’t suggest it but I've dropped my card in mud puddles, I've stepped on it once or twice, I would almost believe you could set this card on fire and it would still work.

 In short I believe the SanDisk Extreme III memory card is a must have for anyone with a camera. Weather a hobbyist, amateur, or even a professional photographer, you should have a SanDisk Extreme III memory card in your camera to save or even to store your priceless photos. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to anyone with a camera that the SanDisk Extreme III memory card is the card that they should buy for their camera.