Can anyone explain the importance of a good memory card?

Ballistics · Jul 27, 2011

I placed an order for a Sandisk Extreme 30mb/s 8gb card because I am using my wifes class 2 memory card. I paid $20 for it so if the hype is bogus, I wont really mind because its only a few dollars more than the classes below it. But why do people preach the need of a class 10 card? Will I notice a difference? When I had my D5100, I shot HD video 10-15 minutes at a time and I didn't notice any problems. Is it real or just a gimmick?

Kerbouchard · Jul 27, 2011

Continuous shooting, helping to clear a buffer, reliability, faster transfer time to a computer, reliability, and possibly a bit more reliability.

480sparky · Jul 27, 2011

If you don't NEED the higher class cards, there's no reason to pay for one. It all depends on what your needs are.

If you shoot 2-3 frames then move on, then a class 4 or lower will be just fine. But if you like to hold the shutter down until your buffer fills and still want to keep shooting, you should pony up for a higher class card.

Ballistics · Jul 27, 2011

How about picture quality? Is there a difference there?

Kerbouchard · Jul 28, 2011

Ballistics said:
How about picture quality? Is there a difference there?

No. Digital data is digital data, regardless of the storage medium. A floppy disk, a CD, a DVD, a harddrive, a cheap memory card, an expensive memory card all store the same 1's and 0's. As long as the media is intact, there is no difference in picture quality.

joealcantar · Jul 28, 2011

Peace of mind.

Derrel · Jul 28, 2011

Go to Rob Galbraith's web site and look at the CF/SD card database and its introductory article for some reliable information. The database is located here Rob Galbraith DPI: CF/SD Performance Database

The storage card's write-to speed is important when using "some" cameras that write large files, and which have rather modest write time, like the Fuji S5 Pro d-slr for one,specific example. That is a camera that demands a card with a fast write time, in order to clear its buffer within a reasonable amount of time. When that camera was new, the 30 Megabyte per second SanDisk 8-gigabyte cards were dreadfully expensive, and were some of the absolute best cards tested in the S5 Pro, in terms of write-to speed. Now that file sizes and F.P.S. numbers are both wayyyyyy up there, there is even more of a need for faster and faster cards, at least for people who have cameras that can utilize the faster speeds. If one's camera generates no more than 30 megabytes per second, then a 30 MB/sec card is fine; but what about a pro-level d-slr that generates upwards of 160 megabytes per second?

Ballistics · Jul 28, 2011

Great post derrel thanks for the insight. Thank you kerbouchard and 480 as well.

So it wasn't a bad thing that I picked up the card Im guessing. Just more card than I need.

480sparky · Jul 28, 2011

Ballistics said:
............Just more card than I need.

Remember shopping for back-to-school clothes when you were a kid...........with Mom? She'd always get stuff two sizes too big, right? Stick two fingers into your waistband and give it yank or pull on the shirt sleeve to see how droopy it was, commenting, "Room to grow!"

Same thing w/photo gear.

Village Idiot · Jul 28, 2011

Ballistics said:
Great post derrel thanks for the insight. Thank you kerbouchard and 480 as well.

So it wasn't a bad thing that I picked up the card Im guessing. Just more card than I need.

Also, buy from a place you know and trust. B&H and Adorama are good stores. Amazon allows 3rd party sellers that sell counterfeit memory cards that are much slower than advertised.

Speeds are also important for video. Cards that are slower than recommended will cause lags or improper recording.

The easiest thing to do it to check your manual and find out what kind of card is appropriate.

Dao · Jul 28, 2011

First, all my Sandisk Extreme III CF cards (bought 3 years ago) shipped with a data recovery software, which is nice (although I have not need to use it yet). Which may be another reason why it costs a little more.

And Flash cards are not created equal even if they belongs the same class (i.e. Class 6 in SD/MicroSD memory card)
I have a rooted Nook color reader, and it support microSD. Originally, I have a Adata 8gb class 6 memory card that works well with storing regular data or music files. However, when I put the Android ROM on it and boot the Nook with it, it worked but gave read error once in awhile especially if there were a lot of read/write activities. i.e. Playing Angry Birds

And I found that other people has the same issue with their AData or some other brands card as well. They believe the card cannot keep up with the read/write activities. So I end up purchased the Transend 8GB class 6 microSD card (few bucks more) and it works like a champ. They both class 6 microSD cards, but the Transend for some reason out perform the AData.

But then again, I am not sure if it will affect video recording in HD mode since my camera do not support video.

Ballistics · Jul 28, 2011

Village Idiot said:
Ballistics said:

Great post derrel thanks for the insight. Thank you kerbouchard and 480 as well.

So it wasn't a bad thing that I picked up the card Im guessing. Just more card than I need.

Click to expand...

Also, buy from a place you know and trust. B&H and Adorama are good stores. Amazon allows 3rd party sellers that sell counterfeit memory cards that are much slower than advertised.

Speeds are also important for video. Cards that are slower than recommended will cause lags or improper recording.

The easiest thing to do it to check your manual and find out what kind of card is appropriate.

I have the D7000, while I havent looked at the manual for a recommended card, I have seen many users on this forum recommend the Sandisk extreme. I also bought the card from beachcamera ebay store which from what I have read, beach camera is reputable.