derek.goggins Loc: centreville alabama

I have heard a lot of talk about different memory cards. What name brands do you think is the better card?

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Here are 2 recent discussions:

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-120831-1.html

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-119425-1.html

Gitzo Loc: Indiana

There's a lot more to memory cards than just brand names; although if you're interested in brands, No.1 is SanDisc, and for my money, Lexar is No.2

Memory cards (regardless of brand), are rated by "classes", with a class 4 being the lowest, and a class 10 being the highest; the higher the class, the higher the read-write speed. ( your memory card "reads" data created by the camerta's sensor, and it "writes" that data to your computer's HD.)

If you're taking all of your pictures 1 exposure at a time, using a class 4 card works fine; if you're shooting "bursts" of 8 (or more) frames per second, you're recording data with the camera's sensor, then moving it to the camera's memory card, much faster than a slow card can process and move it. You have doubtless already noticed that the faster cards are, the more they cost.

Also......different cameras have different "resolution"; a single frame from a 12 MP (megapixel) creates a file of X amount of data; a camera having a 36 MP sensor creates a file 3 times a large, so it requires a card having the capability to move data at least 3 times as fast; then, when you start taking exposures which create this much data, and you try to take them at say, 8 FPS........you need the fastest card you can buy ! ( which is just one of the many reasons I probably won't be buying a new 36 MP D-800 Nikon any time soon.)

The next consideration about "what card to buy"......
Assuming you DO have a 36 MP Nikon D-800; Lets say you have been taking pictures all day.......you now have, say, 150 images recorded on your memory card; every one of those images is a HUGE file, even if you have shot them all as jpegs; if you were shooting "raw", now they would each be many times bigger; and you still have 150 GIGANTIC files to move from your memory card, onto your computer's HD; again......you need the fastest card "out there", or you'll be all day and all night transferring them to your computer.

All of which points out........the next time you're thinking of buying a new D-SLR.........if you're thinking of buying a camera that creates files in the 20 to 36 MP range.........you better think seriously about first upgrading your computer to one having a VERY fast processor, a VERY fast buss speed, and a HUGE hard drive (or two).

So far in this example all you've done is created 150 really big files and mover them from your camera to you computer; what are you planning to do with them, now that you have them ? Most people do a fair bit of post-processing at this point; now you will be needing and using all of the capability your computer has, and possibly wishing you had even more!

Now you can see why they refer to it as "digital photography".........`

brado

I've never heard about card issues like this before, as I am just learning how to use a dslr ( I have a Canon T3i and 2 macro lenses and lenses filters and a tripod) but can understand its crucialness for time management and storage. I use alot of storage with files of many sizes due to my experimentation shots.....interesting!!

Digiphot2

Just get some small Gig chips...8 or 9 2 gig chips should do just fine! Unless you are with Sports Illustrated, you don't need more than a couple gigs at a time in your camera unless you have one of those 27mp XXX or YYY camera bodies...Then you will need a 32 gig chip....

If you have a 14-16 mp camera, then all the above, about San Disc 2gig chips apply, and besides that, you can mark them...Portraits, Flowers, landscapes, etc. and be able to change cards, just like I did film back in the 70's, to suit your shooting preferences at the drop of a megapixel. But this time, you are not relegated to 20 or 36 exposures! You have over 600 12mp shots with each chip, and besides that....If you trust your luck and wait to empty your chip after it is full...Then you are asking for disaster central to rain on your parade when that chip with 600+ shots fails!

I have been shooting for over 12 years with 64mb - 4 gig chips, and have never filled any! In all that time, I have only had one chip out of 12 fail, and because it only had 40-50 shots, I was able to reinstall a new chip and go back and retake the shots the next day! Think about it...With 339 12mp shots @ 2gigs, taken and multiplied to a 16gig chip, you when full will have taken5,224 shots and traveled how far, in how many days, and had once in life time shots too, only to have that gynormous chip fail!!!!!

That is why there are millions of ants in a nest! Detestable as it sounds, there is safety in numbers! Buy ten 2gig chips, and enjoy taking your 20 gigs of shots, without the Gremlin of Photoland come swooping in and kill your last fifteen trips stored on a 16 gig chip!

Digiphot2

Depends on if you are a snapshooter or a pro...Then read the more complex answers...If you are just a normal guy with a normal 10-16 mp camera, then buy ten 2gig SanDisk chips and enjoy!

I have seen all too many people fill a chip and have the chip fail! Don't set yourself up to fail! Read my earlier answer to this question.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Then again, if you use CF cards, none of this info is of much value.
DG, I've been using SanDisc for years, never had a problem with a card. Figure out what the maximum real world file transfer speed per second of your camera, NOT the makers rating. Unless you get a faster camera, faster than that is just a waste of money on a card. Cards are SO overrated. good luck

Gitzo Loc: Indiana

What I didn't mention, (and what both you and the previous poster didn't mention, is WHAT camera you use; My Nikon D-300s uses both an SD card, and a CF card; you can set it to use either card "first", or either card as the "primary card", and save the same files on both cards as you shoot; so you never need to worry about one of the cards failing; you always have a backup, (assuming you set it that way)

I also agree about having more cards; the only problem with that is, it takes a lot of thinking and care not to get them mixed up with other things; also, I almost never wait til a card fills up before I download the data to another device; I have files on my iPod, on my Kindle, on my iPad, and I also have a dedicated portable HD as a storage device. Actually, the saving and storage of image files is the easy part; keeping them organized in some kind of logical order is the hard part.

PhotoGator Loc: Florida

Class 10 are fast and recommended for still and video.
I have been using 2 32GB Transcend memory cards for over a year. They are of good quality and the less expensive.
It is recommended not to use large size cards because they hold huge amounts of image files. It is advisable to use 4 to 16GB not to risk large quantity of images files to be lost in one card failure.
Last Summer while vacationing in NY city and Niagara Falls one 32GB card filled with over 1,200 images. If the card would had failed there I would have lost all of our vacation memories.
SD cards come in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB

http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-Class-Flash-Memory-TS8GSDHC10E/dp/B003VNKNEG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1372421443&sr=8-3&keywords=sd+memory+card+class+10

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Gitzo, I in no way disagreed with you, I merely stated that you covered only SD, which he probably uses, or he would probably not be asking. CF's are only in better cameras.
I number my cards in numerical order and use them that way.
I still feel cards are completely overrated. On the rare occasion your buffer fills, simply give your trigger finger a two second break. I think it's very rarely a problem for non pros. Happy shooting Gitzo.

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

I always buy SanDisk ExtremePro cards. Nothing larger than 16Gb. I'm sure there are cards equally as good, but I have a track record with these that I feel good about. Never lost a photo due to the card.

Jesterman

I have actually had some pretty good luck with the 32 gig transcend cards. I am shooting a D800 and the card keeps up ok as long as I am not getting crazy. The camera only shoots 4 frames per second at that resolution. And I agreed move to USB 3 to speed upload will help for readers big hard drives and a fast processor with lots of ram is probably more important especially if you are dealing with bracketed images. You can always slow down your shooting and be more selective. Also I agree more smaller cards is probably better so photos are spread over multiple cards if one fails. I know some shoot using the second card slot as a backup of each shot since if you are shooting something like a wedding failure is not an option. Minimum card size is relative though I would probably stick with at least 16 gig for the d800 or the likes of the 5d mark 3

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

I shoot a lot. I use only 64 gB or 128 gB CF cards, the extreme variety. I have trouble outgunning the buffer, even when working on eagles in flight.

mdorn Loc: Portland, OR

It might be overkill for my gear, but I only use SanDisk Extreme Pro (16GB, 95MB/s) cards. Before these came out, I was using SanDisk Extreme (8GB, 30MB/s) cards. Never had a problem with the SanDisk brand. I like to keep the capacity low and spread my data over multiple cards. After spending thousands of dollars on camera equipment, I don't skimp on memory cards.

Underwaterant

For SD cards, look at Todhiba Exeria. eBay.
About $23 60mb/s write. 95mb/s read.
16Gb.
Pretty good value.