Memory Cards just a scam?

[shootermcgavin]

So I have a 4 rating and a 10 rating professional memory card. I thought I would be able to tell a difference because the price difference was pretty high, but they both seem to be slow writing to the computer, and they both seem to get backed up if snapping RAWs very fast. So when is it actually worth it to get the better card?

 

[Hickeydog]

What camera are you using?

 

[shootermcgavin]

60D, maybe it's not fast enough to require a better card

 

[Overread19 7]

Camera bodies will always have a writing limit which limits how fast they can write to a card; once you reach that limit with the card write speed you won't see any improved performance since the camera is working as hard as it can.

For transfer speed to the computer are you using the camera or a card reader? Typically cameras are slow to write to the computer whilst card readers are much faster.

 

[cgipson1]

Canon 60D is rated at a class 6 memory card.. anything faster is probably not going to improve things, as the camera hits it's limit.

Canon EOS 60D DSLR Camera Review - photo.net

 

[480sparky44 43]

I've tried all sorts of memory cards, and not one of them has improved my memory one bit. So, yeah... they're a huge scam.

That, and they are darn hard to swallow! Why do they have to be flat???? Make 'em cylindrical, or at least round!!!!!

 

[shootermcgavin]

Nice it would be great if they knew the 60D was rated to a 6 at the camera store. I do write to the computer by plugging it into the SD slot, but it's pretty slow much slower than a USB stick. So on a better body if I was shooting like 4-5 shots per second there wouldn't be a buffer and pause before it was done writing it to the card?

 

[cgipson1]

Nice it would be great if they knew the 60D was rated to a 6 at the camera store. I do write to the computer by plugging it into the SD slot, but it's pretty slow much slower than a USB stick. So on a better body if I was shooting like 4-5 shots per second there wouldn't be a buffer and pause before it was done writing it to the card?

the card speed should be in your manual.. it is not the store's responsibility to know your hardware! Not trying to be harsh... just sayin....

I do notice good bit of difference using a high speed card, vs. a low speed one. But usually only in high speed mode (CH). One of the reasons they use CF cards in pro bodies is that they are much faster than SD..

 

[KmH]

The card rating is a read speed, not a write speed.

NAND flash memory cards are much faster at reading than writing so it is the maximum read speed that is commonly advertised.

Flash memory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Scroll down to the section on "Transfer Rates", unless you want to learn more about flash memory by reading the entire entry.

In the camera, the camera's buffer is most often the limiting factor, not the memory card.

 

[cgipson1]

The card rating is a read speed, not a write speed.

NAND flash memory cards are much faster at reading than writing so it is the maximum read speed that is commonly advertised.

Flash memory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Scroll down to the section on "Transfer Rates", unless you want to learn more about flash memory by reading the entire entry.

In the camera, the camera's buffer is most often the limiting factor, not the memory card.

True... but a 10 will still write much faster than a 6.... they just advertise the read speed because it sounds faster. Advertising.

Class 10 - SanDisk Extreme® Pro CompactFlash® up to 90 MB/s* write speeds and UDMA-6 enabled. http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-32GB-...70AI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322018799&sr=8-1

Class 6 - Performance/speed: Up to 30 MB/sec read and write speeds Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extre...MY5I/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1322018896&sr=8-4

As Keith mentioned though.. the camera may not be able to take advantage of the extra speed.... depends on the camera and the buffer

 

[e.rose]

All I know is that when I FIRST got my camera I had a 2gig class... negative zero... I don't even know what it was, but it was SLOW.

Then I bought a 4 gig class 10 and suddenly I was no longer laggy.

 

[Overread19 7]

I've got a slower care in my collection from a fast buy when I ran out of card space whilst out and around and I can tell when I use it (which is rare) as my camera slows down, FPS drops off and this is on a 400D so we are not dealing with monster sized photos.

 

[Village Idiot]

Nice it would be great if they knew the 60D was rated to a 6 at the camera store. I do write to the computer by plugging it into the SD slot, but it's pretty slow much slower than a USB stick. So on a better body if I was shooting like 4-5 shots per second there wouldn't be a buffer and pause before it was done writing it to the card?

The shots always go to the buffer. Just look up specs on Google. But even if you're shooting 10fps with a 1D MKIV, the shots go to the buffer then are written to the card. There's only going to be a pause in shooting when you completely fill the buffer then at that point it's about 1 FPS on most cameras until you let it catch up and write to the card. Shooting JPGs will also allow more shots before the buffer is filled.

 

[Dao]

According to the testing done by XDA-developer members, those newer faster higher class (i.e. class 10) memory cards are slower than the some class 4 or 2 memory in random read and random write.

Not sure if how the camera write the images to the flash memory, if it is sequential write, higher class is better in general. If it is random write, then a Sandisk class 4 (or 2) is better.

i.e. Sandisk 32gig class2 random 4K write = 2.863 MB/s while Lexar 32gig class 10 random 4K write = 0.008 MB/s .

32GB microsd cards - xda-developers

 

[Garbz]

I do write to the computer by plugging it into the SD slot, but it's pretty slow much slower than a USB stick.

Computer memory card readers are just like the camera's own. They need to talk the appropriate way to get advantages in read speed, just like if you plug a SATA3 drive into a SATA 1.0 controller, or back in the old days a UDMA100 drive into a UDMA66 controller, or use the wrong cable etc.

All components of the system need to play along to get anywhere near the advertised speeds out of it.