lindann

Is there such a thing as a faster card. Someone at best buy said to by this one card that is faster. I have never heard of this but I am new at it.

JimH Loc: Western South Jersey, USA

There is. However, unless your CAMERA can take advantage of it, there is no big benefit to buying one. Some memory cards, especially the larger-capacity ones (starting at about 8GB) offer a feature called UDMA, or "ultra direct memory access", which can make writing to and from the card faster.

Check your camera's manual or specs to see if it supports UDMA cards.

GTinSoCal Loc: Palmdale, CA

+1
JimH nailed it,.
Yes, there are faster cards, but yur camera may or may not be able to take advantage of the increased speed. Also you type of shooting may completely negate it. Even though I shoot action, I don't machine gun my subject.
I plan to try and catch the '"moment" not spray and pray!

I wouldn't worry about spending extra for the speed, if there is no cost difference it won't hurt either!

Gordon

bobmielke Loc: Portland, OR

The speed of SD memory cards is listed on the card as Class numbers. The higher the number, the faster the card. I use Class 10 cards because my camera can shoot 6 frames per second and I use that speed for action shots (airshows, dog shows, rodeos, etc). I pan as I compose and fire. I shoot in RAW only so after a certain number of frames at full speed the camera's memory buffer reaches it's limit and stops firing. This is all determined on the speed of your memory card. I believe Class 10 cards are the fastest available but I certainly could be wrong by now. There's always faster, bigger, better stuff coming out all the time.

arphot Loc: Massachusetts

Cards rated for SDHC (SD High Capacity) are 4 Gigs and above. The class is the speed as Bob mentioned. This is important for continuous shooting and video. Class 10 is the way to go. I got a 16 Gig Class 10 @ Best Buy for about 20+change.

photocat Loc: Atlanta, Ga

Too add to the above, Class 10 cards are used as well for those cameras that shoot video.

arphot Loc: Massachusetts

Note above: ;)

user2071 Loc: New England

I went and spent the bigger bucks for Sandisk's extreme super hyper omigod how fast ARE they 10 cards and didn't notice any difference in shooting speed from using a significantly less expensive level 4 Sandisk or Kingston card.

Now Transcend is a whole other matter and I don't use or buy them any more.

As for speed? I think level 4 and up, as of right NOW, there doesn't seem to be much difference when shooting stills. Nothing I can detect, anyhow.

I hear, however, that there IS a difference if you are shooting video, so maybe some of the video crew can check on on this issue!.

jwegge11 Loc: Stillwater, MN

LOVE the shot of the motorcycle--very sharp. Curious when you shoot action like that---do you use AI Servo or AI Focus (least that is what it's called on Canons)? I have been having a heck of a time with moving object that apparantely AI Servo mode is supposed to follow. Any suggestions would be awesome. Jeff

TTKBJR Loc: Kansas

I do shoot a lot of action shots and I do have to say I did notice the difference between cards. Again, my opinion and yes I think if you know the type of action whether it be sports or cars whatever, knowing where the subject will end up or how they will end up there is good to know in helping you plan your shot. That is key most times in getting the best action shot knowing where they will be heading in the action. I only use the high speed cards because they do write faster onto the card. I think it helps eliminate some lag time between continuous shots. They are rated as classes and if you watch for a sale they aren't that expensive to get. They are more money though but to me its worth it. If you are shooting non action photos, I wouldn't spend the money on a fast card.
As to the Al Servo question, I know I was not asked this but action shots are best shot in Al Servo. You can shoot in Al Focus too because once the subject starts moving your focus should adjust. But, I shoot in Al Servo for my sports action shots.

SnapHappy Loc: SW Florida

I have a Canon SX 30 that does video in 720p HD and you're right about the faster cards giving better performance and video quality. I can attest to that. It's really, really nice!