teesquare Loc: USA

I am over-thinking this...I think :lol: .....

But, I am going to buy some additional memory cards for my EM-5 Mk II, and specifically for a trip to Italy.

The EM-5 MkII is a 16 megapixel sensor camera

So, knowing that I shoot in RAW ( ORF is Oly raw) + highest quality JPEG, and the possibility of shooting 1080p video, or even 10 frames per second stills...

How can I know that I am buying SD cards that are "fast enough" - without wasting money? I see that Lexar now has 300mb per second ( 2000x) cards. Quite pricey...I am looking at the 150mb per second as the "sweet spot" of performance vs price currently.

Anyone that has a formula - for knowing what the max. write speed of SD card they need for a camera or similar sensor size and capabilities?
Thanks folks!

JD750 Loc: SoCal

If your planning on shooting HD video you need fast cards. Does the camera manual have a section on that?

Erik_H Loc: Denham Springs, Louisiana

Your write speed is determined more by the camera than the card. You can have a card that can record data at 3000mb/s, and if your camera only writes at 250mb/s, that's what you're going to writing at. Check your cameras documentation or manufacturers website to see the cameras write speed.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

I don't know about "over thinking" but it seems pretty simple to me. Buying class 10 cards will give you all the speed you need for 1080 video and as many stills as you want to take.

Violameister Loc: michigan

Suggestion: buy a small card of the desired speed. Try it. If it works get the biggest card of that speed you can afford. If it doesn't, try again with a small faster card.

I usually get the fastest card I can get in a size I can afford. Then, if needed, I have another (slower) card as backup in case I need it that day. I unload every night and have an empty card for the next day.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

The camera has limits on how fast it can read or write files.

Find out what your camera is capable of and buy accordingly. Google is your gateway to information.

Violameister Loc: michigan

It seems to me that there are class 10 cards that meet the spec, and class 10 cards that considerably exceed the spec. That said, I have never had any class 10 card not do the job.

teesquare Loc: USA

Outstanding advice from all - my thanks! - and some things I need to research!

I found this site: http://www.cameramemoryspeed.com/olympus-e-m5-ii/sd-card-comparison/

And there seems to be one clear conclusion ( which we all default to: "faster is better"...and there seems to be no end as to the speed and most one can choose to incur! :lol:

But - for practical purposes the Lexar 256GB Professional 1000x UHS-II U3 SDXC seems to be a choice that should not cause me consternation due to the camera locking me out while it catches up with writing to the card.

Traditionally - I don't "chimp" shots - nor do I set it up for continuous shutter. But - should I need/want to - it looks like this should be adequate for all but shooting full length motion pictures :-D

Am I overlooking something here? :wink:

sonic Loc: chesterfield UK

sandisk extreme or extreme pro is all I ever use

SwedeUSA2

Off the actual topic but anyway: Am I the only one on here that is tired of the teenagers' (and younger) use of texting language used on cell phones on this forum?

JPL

Any class 10 card will be fine. Olympus recommends class 6 or faster cards for video. I would focus on 2 things for your trip. First, buy enough cards, second by cards that are not overpriced.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

In all likelihood, you and the camera will rarely or never make full use of even a 1000X memory card.

Apparently with that camera you need to be more concerned that the cards are UHS-II, to get top writing speed. The camera is one of a few UHS-II enabled models and exceeds 80MB/s write speed with a UHS-II card, but will automatically slow to 40MB/s when a UHS-I card is used.

Next, cards may be rated by their "read" speed, rather than their actual "write" speed. When it comes to in-camera performance, the write speed is what's important. Read speed is more important when downloading, and to achieve peak speeds would need to be supported by a fully enabled card reader, as well as enough processor power, bandwidth and component speed throughout your computer system.

That link above shows four possible choices of UHS-II cards:

- Lexar Professional 2000x UHS-II 32GB, Amazon $59.95, writes at just over 83MB/s in that camera.

- Toshiba Exceria Pro UHS-II 32GB, Amazon $182.62, writes at just over 81MB/s in the Oly.

- SanDisk Extreme Pro 280MB/s UHS-II 32GB, Adorama $74.95, writes at slightly more than 75MB/s.

- Lexar Pro 1000x UHS-II 32GB, $26.95 at B&H Photo, writes at just shy of 72MB/s.

All the UHS-1 cards drop to under 40MB/s write speeds. Even older types of cards write much slower.

It's interesting the price differences above! The fastest card is one of the cheaper ones. How often does that happen?

I have bought memory from a lot of different places.... I usually watch for a sale and look for two-packs or four-packs for further discounts.

Honestly, you will likely rarely or never really notice any difference out in the field, between 40MB/s and 80MB/s. The main reason for buying cards faster than your camera can use or your shooting requires is for quicker downloads and possibly for "future-proofing", in the event that a few years from now you want to continue to use the same cards in an upgrade camera that's capable of even faster data recording.

teesquare Loc: USA

amphoto1 - thanks for the detailed input. I believe that because I will not be able to download each day - I may need to go to a higher capacity card than 32 gb. Money-wise the best bang for the buck seems to be the Lexar Pro 1000x UHS-II 128 gb @approx. 50 cents per gigabyte.
$ of those is roughly 1/2 Terabyte. THAT should be enough

theoldcougar

The easy answer is to read the manual, buy what they recommend. More complicated answer, speed test the memory, I found great variation between different brands of supposedly class 10 memory.

jackpi Loc: Southwest Ohio

Quality SD cards are expensive. Instead of buying more than two SD cards, consider dumping the SD cards to a laptop or mobile storage device (i.e., http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Wireless-Mobile-Storage-WDBK8Z0010BBK-NESN/dp/B00M9B3XZM/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1439253972&sr=1-4&keywords=TB+portable+digital+photo++storage ) at the end of each day. A cloud storage service is another alternative.