Memory Card Question

bp4life71

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Yet more questions! Sorry guys/gals....im new and trying to learn as much as possible before my purchase this weekend.

Memory cards, aside from the obvious capability of holding more pictures etc, is there really a difference between the memory cards?

I noticed one 8gb might be 100.00 and the next 40.00. I see a speed rating on the card, but how much does that come into play with cameras? Again, thanks for all your responses over the last few days...great group of KNOWLEDGABLE people. I'll be on these forums alot!
 
Speed and durability, the main reasons I continue to choose Sandisk Extreme III cards (for SD anyway).
 
Typically, the biggest difference between cards (besides capacity) is the read & write speed. Cards like Sandisk's Extreme IV are very fast...and super fast to upload if you pair it with the special card Reader.

So how does that affect your shooting?....well, that depends on your camera and how you shoot. When you take a photo, the information is put into the camera's buffer until it can be written to the card. The bigger the buffer, the more consecutive shots that you can take. Modern cameras are pretty good and you can take plenty of shots without slowing down. The file type also affects this. The better cameras will allow you to shoot JPEG files at full speed until the card is full.
Now, a faster card will help to clear the buffer faster...which is a good thing if you are doing a lot of rapid fire (machine gun) type shooting....but most people don't shoot that way...at least not for extended periods of time.

So for many people the really fast, expensive cards are just overkill.

That being said, faster cards do upload faster and they can also bring up the images faster when you are reviewing them on the camera's LCD. That's the one thing that I notice most when I switch between a fast card and a slower card.
 
Speed and Durability.

I don't buy into the durability thing, I have never had a memory card fail so I dont see any particular brand worthy of paying more. But the speed part......I'd like more insight on that portion. I do see where there is a speed grade. Can you give me an example where the speed of the memory card would matter while taking photographs. Again, im seriously new to all of this, and what is apparent to you...definitly is not to me. Thanks for all your responses!
 
Typically, the biggest difference between cards (besides capacity) is the read & write speed. Cards like Sandisk's Extreme IV are very fast...and super fast to upload if you pair it with the special card Reader.

So how does that affect your shooting?....well, that depends on your camera and how you shoot. When you take a photo, the information is put into the camera's buffer until it can be written to the card. The bigger the buffer, the more consecutive shots that you can take. Modern cameras are pretty good and you can take plenty of shots without slowing down. The file type also affects this. The better cameras will allow you to shoot JPEG files at full speed until the card is full.
Now, a faster card will help to clear the buffer faster...which is a good thing if you are doing a lot of rapid fire (machine gun) type shooting....but most people don't shoot that way...at least not for extended periods of time.

So for many people the really fast, expensive cards are just overkill.

That being said, faster cards do upload faster and they can also bring up the images faster when you are reviewing them on the camera's LCD. That's the one thing that I notice most when I switch between a fast card and a slower card.

Very informative. So in my case, I dont think I'll need one of the expensive high speed cards. I have a current 8gb rated at speed 2. I think i'll stay with that one then.

Great people here....thanks again for giving me more information on a hobby I am just getting into. Only a few more days with my Kodak m340 (good little p/s by the way). Still havent totally decided between the Canon XS or Nikon D60 yet.....but I am leaning towards one.
 
I have had 3 cheapies fail over a 2 year period, believe what you want. Perhaps 'reliability' is a better word for it, but regardless - I put some stake in it.

As far as speed goes:

Read:
Allows data transfer to be faster from the card to the computer.

Write:
Allows your camera to write data faster to the card, decreasing the amount of time your camera may be waiting to continue shooting.
 
I purchased two 8GB SanDisk III SD cards when I purchased my D90 and when my D90 approached 150,000 clicks I also started getting random shots on the cards would just be flat gray. maybe out of 500 shots 5 or so would get corrupted. I'm pretty sure it was the cards since I've replaced them and haven't seen the issue. I purchased 2 Lexar CF and 2 Lexar SD cards for my D300s. So far so good.

Typically though any class6 card will do fine. Even though class6 does encompass 8 different speed ratings. I use Transcend SD cards as well. class6 8gb for $15. Never had an issue with them.
 
I purchased two 8GB SanDisk III SD cards when I purchased my D90 and when my D90 approached 150,000 clicks I also started getting random shots on the cards would just be flat gray. maybe out of 500 shots 5 or so would get corrupted. I'm pretty sure it was the cards since I've replaced them and haven't seen the issue. I purchased 2 Lexar CF and 2 Lexar SD cards for my D300s. So far so good.

Typically though any class6 card will do fine. Even though class6 does encompass 8 different speed ratings. I use Transcend SD cards as well. class6 8gb for $15. Never had an issue with them.

I havent seen 8gb that cheap anywhere...and for the class 6 speed to boot!

Where is this at?
 
They always mess a good thing up! Prices went up....lol...

Thats still a steal of a price for 8gb. I have the 8gb in my 10.2 mp p/s (kodak 340) which will allow like 5000 pictures or something crazy like that. I guess I'll just buy another one at those cheap prices so I dont have to swap memory cards.

After today, im pretty sure on the camera im buying....it does not begin with a C.....so you can probably figure it out.

I appreciate all the info that helped me at least make a somewhat informed decision...although like many of you have said, I really could not have made a wrong purchase. The thing that made me pick the Nikon (ok... i have decided) d60 over the canon xs/xsi was simply price. I agree, after reading about both they perform at a very similiar level. So what would be the point in paying more for the Canon?
 
No, no... Sony.

Or is it Pentax?

Wait, Olympus!

:lol:

Enjoy your Nikon D60, it's an awesome camera... you'll love it!
 
I purchased two 8GB SanDisk III SD cards when I purchased my D90 and when my D90 approached 150,000 clicks I also started getting random shots on the cards would just be flat gray. maybe out of 500 shots 5 or so would get corrupted. I'm pretty sure it was the cards since I've replaced them and haven't seen the issue. I purchased 2 Lexar CF and 2 Lexar SD cards for my D300s. So far so good.

Typically though any class6 card will do fine. Even though class6 does encompass 8 different speed ratings. I use Transcend SD cards as well. class6 8gb for $15. Never had an issue with them.

Maybe its your camera? Im not sure but ive heard that u need to get some stuff worked on after that many shots. Like re-calibrated and what not.

On another note I have a 16gig CF card thats in that HDUM or whatever its called class and it was 70 bucks and it was the best 70 bucks I ever spent. I can shoot a lot of RAW in succesion without the camera "locking" up on me. High rez Jpegs is even better i can shoot something rediculous like 90 or so before i have to stop. Not bad when IF you need it.
 

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