Buy The Right Sd Card For Your Camera

[cdnvic]

Buy the Right SD Card for Your Camera

By Derrick Story, Macworld

If a new digital camera is on your shopping list this season, you'll also need a memory card to store photos on. While some cameras come with a small starter card, most don't. In either case, you'll want to invest in a good card with lots of room for your pictures.

Prices for SDHC memory cards--the most popular type of camera media--can range from $5 to $95. But how can you tell which is the best memory card for you? Here are the important things to keep in mind when buying a new card (if you're in a hurry, just scroll down to the end for a summary).

Which flavor of SD?

For the most part, SDHC cards have replaced older SD memory cards. Both cards use the same form factor (24 by 32mm); however SDHC cards feature larger capacities and higher data-transfer speed (SDHC cards range from 4GB to 32GB, where older SD cards top out at 2GB). Nearly all SD-compatible cameras sold today accept both SD and SDHC cards, so either will work. Where this could become an issue is if you have an old camera that was manufactured before the SDHC standard was adopted.

Full article: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/184082/buy_the_right_sd_card_for_your_camera.html

[BangkokImages]

Good information. They left out one realy important thing though. Counterfeit cards. They're a huge problem, especially with the top names and top cards. People have been stung on Ebay as you'd expect, but also on Amazon and Buy.com and other big on-line shopping sites. Sandisc and Lexar both have several pages dedicated to how you can tell if a card is counterfeit which is helpful, but the only way you can tell for sure is to call them and run the numbers. I've personally been stung on Amazon three times, once with one of their associate sellers and twice with the "Amazon LCC." Amazon made good on the two cards but with the associate seller it had passed Amazon's protection period and I waited to check past that.

Now, I only buy my memory cards from the big name camera stores who value their name enough to stand behind their product.

For me it's not so much about getting a counterfeit.. but more about having a card fail during a shoot because it is counterfeit. A $100 card is nothing, a $5000 wedding screwed up can not only cost you the $5000, but also a huge hit on your reputation not to mention how much it sucks for the couple. Be very careful..

Edited June 2, 2012 by BangkokImages

[cdnvic]

One thing the article left out was video. Since many SLRs are used to shoot video these days it's even more important not to go too cheap on your cards. A cheap card that shoots JPEGs just fine will show it's limitations when shooting high definition video. Remember, even Sandisk, and Lexar make lower quality cards, so shopping by brand alone isn't a guarantee. Learn to read the specs and go by that, rather than the packaging which can be misleading, especially with off-brands. (I stick with Sandisk, Kingston, and Lexar)

[astral]

Remember, even Sandisk, and Lexar make lower quality cards,

I am not sure that is a correct statement

I do not believe they "make lower quality", just they filter out lower quality

in the quality control cycle.

Just as hard disk manufacturers do, which is why you can buy reputable

hard disks at knock down prices

[cdnvic]

I meant to say, that there are lower and higher quality cards within the product lines of those companies. That's why its important to learn to read the specs.

[FracturedRabbit]

Perhaps the important word is "speed" rather than "quality". Quality should be OK if you buy good brand, but every brand offers different write speeds and shooting video (especially HD) will require a fast card. A fast card can also help with stills photography by clearing the buffer more quickly than a slower card.

[BuddhistVirus]

Yeah, always go for both quality and speed. Class 10, if possible

[BangkokImages]

Perhaps the important word is "speed" rather than "quality". Quality should be OK if you buy good brand, but every brand offers different write speeds and shooting video (especially HD) will require a fast card. A fast card can also help with stills photography by clearing the buffer more quickly than a slower card.

You hit on an interesting area. You're right in that given 'like brands' speed becomes the issue to pay attention to rather than quality.

What makes this interesting is that memory cards have a manufacturer specific 'controller' on each card. The success of reliability on the cards comes down to two things. 1. The physical quality of the memory chips themselves. and 2. The quality of the controller which is a firmware based set of instructions.

These controllers are largely what determines the class of the card (assuming the physical memory chips are fast enough for that class) which determines the compatibility of the card in a specific device.

I've found the manufacturers desire to create top quality controllers varies. This is why I only recommend Sandisc and Lexar. I'm sure there are plenty of other great cards, but Sandisc and Lexar consistently puts out a level of controller which can best be described as a professional level.

Each manufacturer also puts out recovery software which can recover images from even a formatted card if it hasn't been written over. How well the recovery software works depends on how well the controller is implemented and how well the recovery software is written to mesh with the controller.

Each manufacturer puts out different lines geared towards a different level of consumer, so we shouldn't assume all Sandisc/Lexar/others are created the same. There is a stringent 'weeding out' process which results in the best physical chips from the same batch.. being designated to build the top quality cards. Chips from the same batch could find themselves in a manufacturers slowest/cheapest product, or their best top product (with the newest class, highest speed, best controllers, and best external casing) depending on how they test. Manufacturers don't make a batch of slow cards and then a batch of fast cards.. the expense is the same. They make their best batch, test it, and then segregate it based on the testing. And most manufacturers don't even make their own chips. There are only a few chip manufacturering plants for each type of memory.. and it's this manufacturer who does the testing and segregates the chips by result.. which are then matched to a manufacturers (Sandisc/Lexar/etc) buy specificiations. It's complicated. The Discovery Channel had a good special on the process not long ago.

They test the chips because as the process is, chips from one part of the batch will test for higher speeds than chips from other parts. Not all chips are born equal. The special goes into the "why."

So.. as consumers we should know the chips all come off the same dies and from the same company, but are tested for speed and then segregated. Manufacturers buy the chips tested to their specs for their specific product. The external casing can vary. The controllers are critical. Buy a card from a company who makes consistently good controllers and recovery software to match. Each device benefits from the latest "class" and "speed" it can handle. It's merely a matter of reading the specs of your device and matching it with the best memory cards available.

I wrote this short piece on memory cards which has some other useful information in response to a readers questions a while back.. the information is still current.

[Rsquared]

Some very useful information here, now that we have been in the world of digital cameras for some time now, I didn't realise how important the memory cards are.

I just thought they came in various sizes, but speed and quality and beware the counterfeits,

The main emphasis is to buy your cards from a reputable dealer, how do airport shops fare if you buy a camera at the airport, can one trust that a memory card bought there as well will be OK?

There is just so much good info on this forum.

[sunshine51]

Lexar, Sandisk & Transcend...16 or 32Gb...Class10.

Can't beat em for either SDHC or CF cards.

sip satang from a news photog....

[Rsquared]

Lexar, Sandisk & Transcend...16 or 32Gb...Class10.

Can't beat em for either SDHC or CF cards.

sip satang from a news photog....

Thanks for that Sunshine51

Cheers.

BTW luv your avatar. there is a caption that goes with it as well......I'm sure you've seen it.

edit....just added btw.

Edited August 2, 2012 by Rsquared

[David006]

and for the really geeky...interesting stuff though:

http://www.flashgenie.net/img/productmanualsdcardv2.2final.pdf

[BangkokImages]

Some very useful information here, now that we have been in the world of digital cameras for some time now, I didn't realise how important the memory cards are.

I just thought they came in various sizes, but speed and quality and beware the counterfeits,

The main emphasis is to buy your cards from a reputable dealer, how do airport shops fare if you buy a camera at the airport, can one trust that a memory card bought there as well will be OK?

There is just so much good info on this forum.

This is a good question. I suppose I'd look at the store, is it an independent or a chain. I can see it being a great opportunity for an independent to push counterfiets being an airport shop.. but a store from a reputable chain I doubt it.

I didn't want to leave people with the impression 100% of the cards for sale out ther are counterfiet. But a good number are. And Lexar and Sandisk both have sections on their site showing you how to tell a real from a counterfiet.

Another posted recommend Lexar, Sandisk and Transcend. I don't care for Transcend. I used to and because of this I found myself with 5-6 of them at one point.. and then they started breaking. Weird stuff too. Like the case halves separating because the glue gave.. or controllers letting you write by not read, or read but not write. and since I've been doing workshops I can't count the number of times a student had a problem with their camera and it turned out to be a Transcend card. With all that said, I'll still get them for non-critical devices if the price is really really good. But only Sandisk goes in my cameras or gear I depend on.. Lexar left a bad taste in the mouths of Canon uses a few years back but I haven't forgotten how they handled it.. so while I can't think of one 'real' reason I wouldn't buy Lexar or consider them in the top 3, I still have only used Sandisk for the last seven years.. and until they leave a bad taste I won't be moving from them.

[Rsquared]

Thanks for that BKKImages, good advice I shall heed next time I'm shopping for cameras and stuff.

Cheers.