# Canon Loves Thunderbolt!



## Canon Rumors Guy (Mar 11, 2011)

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<p><strong>I/O Love</strong>

Canon is apparently “excited” about the possibilities of Thunderbolt. We should be excited that they’re excited. Transferring all <a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/2011/03/mpeg2-based-codec-for-5d-mark-iii/" target="_blank">those 50mbit HD files</a> from your 5D Mark III will take some time with the status quo.</p>
<p>Canon continues “it will bring new levels of performance and simplicity to the video creation market”.</p>
<p>For the moment, there’s no official announcement or a hint as to what product(s) may see the technology first.</p>
<p>source: <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/10/canon-excited-about-intel-thunderbolt-i-o-makes-no-promise-to/#" target="_blank">engadget</a></p>
<p><em>thanks Otto & Elliott</em></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>
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## WarStreet (Mar 11, 2011)

Canon managed to turn the 5DII into a hot item for video users, and if they want to keep the lead Canon for sure will improve video based on the multitude of feedback received. So I can see the 5DIII as the main candidate for thunderbolt, and I don't think this feature will be delayed for the 5DIV, it will be too late.


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## DetlevCM (Mar 11, 2011)

While I really hope that Tunderbold gets rid of the horrible USB setup (50% bandwidth loss for the protocol???, Ethernet only needs about 15% for that) my current worry would be adoption.

-> There really is little point to updating many of today's computers, even with newer larger files, hence a move to Thunderbolt might encounter issues with respect to the connector.

And if you need a USB to Thunderbold adapter then any advantage is lost...

-> Not everybody has eSATA either.


While I think that it's a technology that is very nice to see, it will most likely have to clear quite a few hurdles before becoming prevalent as USB is today.


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## foxikk (Mar 11, 2011)

Ok thunderbolt is fast but tell me how this will help transferring files faster when CF card are slow?


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## DetlevCM (Mar 11, 2011)

foxikk said:


> Ok thunderbolt is fast but tell me how this will help transferring files faster when CF card are slow?



Buy better CF cards?
-> CF cards exceed 30MB/s, that's where the 5D MK II tops out.

The most expensive ones are rated around 90MB/s if I am not mistaken - the issue is not really the CD card (yet?) but the CF card writer in the camera which isn't quite fast enough.

And older, but still very valid test:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/camera_multi_page.asp?cid=6007-9784


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## foxikk (Mar 11, 2011)

ok faster cards are 90MB/s at max but you'll never get that. 75 maybe. So do you really need thunderbolt for that? usb 3.0 is good enough.
Canon loves the idea of Thunderbolt but makes no promise to use it so...


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## DetlevCM (Mar 11, 2011)

foxikk said:


> ok faster cards are 90MB/s at max but you'll never get that. 75 maybe. So do you really need thunderbolt for that? usb 3.0 is good enough.
> Canon loves the idea of Thunderbolt but makes no promise to use it so...



-> CF cards have space to grow and USB is a wasteful protocol.
50% loss of overhead? USB is a bad joke with respect to efficiency - it's ONLY advantage is, that it is everywhere.


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## mws (Mar 11, 2011)

What about the posibiliites for capturing video to an extranal drive? Seems like it would be good for that.


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## DetlevCM (Mar 11, 2011)

mws said:


> What about the posibiliites for capturing video to an extranal drive? Seems like it would be good for that.



That would work.
-> Question is, would it be worth the effort? -> 1GBit/s Ethernet might be a better shortterm solution.


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## olav (Mar 12, 2011)

They shouldn't have switched away from firewire!


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## DetlevCM (Mar 12, 2011)

olav said:


> They shouldn't have switched away from firewire!



? Are you so sure about it? It's a virtually dead connection that survives as a niche product in the audio segment. The only iteration you find on laptops is 400MBit/s Firewire to. (Except on the fruit stuff)


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## Macadameane (Mar 13, 2011)

DetlevCM said:


> olav said:
> 
> 
> > They shouldn't have switched away from firewire!
> ...



Firewire overall is better than USB 2.0, but USB 3.0 is on the horizon and it's pretty impressive.


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## DetlevCM (Mar 13, 2011)

Macadameane said:


> DetlevCM said:
> 
> 
> > olav said:
> ...



It's still a dead connection.
Have you ever seen a firewire device in your life? I haven't.

I have heard it's used on audio - and I believe the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex has a firewire option.


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## Admin US West (Mar 13, 2011)

DetlevCM said:


> It's still a dead connection.
> Have you ever seen a firewire device in your life? I haven't.
> 
> I have heard it's used on audio - and I believe the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex has a firewire option.



I have and use firewire 800 card readers for my CF cards, one is Sandisk, the other is a Lexar. They are much faster than USB2.

However, its true that firewire is on its way out, I think Sandisk and Lexar both have now discontinued the readers, they did not sell, and required that you add a firewire 800 card to your computer to get the firewire 800 speed.

Right now, PCIE readers are the fastest, and, btw, Thunderbolt is PCIE.


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