Memory Cards?

[jim84]

My input when it comes to SD cards:

1.NEVER buy these from a store like Best Buy / Target / Walmart, unless they've got some kind of unusual sale. Their prices are way out of line on items like this and usb cords for example.

2.I'm not an expert, but I don't think there is really a lot of difference in brands? Just check for the best deal you can get, this includes but is not limited to a)the price, b)the reviews of the card, c)the specs (class and capacity of the card, class 10 is better then 6, 32gb is better then 16gb), and d)warranty. Some cards will have a lifetime warranty*. Some warranties will be 1 year, some 5, have a look.

If you can get a good price on a card with life time warranty, and it has good reviews, that seems to be the way to go.

I would check out ncix.com, they've had the best prices I've seen in general.

*Lifetime warranty does not necessarily always come in handy when you need it, the technology could be outdated by time the card fails. The company could be out of business. In that instance sticking with a larger brand would mean there may be a higher chance they're still in business.

 

[shents]

Hello!

I am looking to purchase my first DSLR and I was thinking of going with a D3100 for starters.. I was wondering which kind of memory card I should get? I know absolutely nothing about DSLR cameras or memory cards or anything like that :thumbdown: I had a point & shoot camera a few years ago and the memory card ate all of my pictures since, I've just been using my iPhone but.. that's not even a real camera so can anyone give me an idea or two of kinds that you guys use and which are more reliable? Thanks for reading!

hey I have just got the d5100 and i had this very same question, I was advised to get a sd card or sdhc

There seems to be diff types I opted for a sdhc class 10

the class is usually 4,6 etc this basically is the transfer speed, 10 being fastest

I had a few helpful replies, some not!

All the best, I got one cheap online some were really expensive

I have to wait for it to arrive now to start!! so excited

 

[KmH]

The card speed is the read speed, or in other words the upload to your computer speed.

The camera buffer performance is the limiting factor for writing to a flash memory card.

For doing video, Nikon recommends at least Class 6.

 

[shents]

The card speed is the read speed, or in other words the upload to your computer speed.

The camera buffer performance is the limiting factor for writing to a flash memory card.

For doing video, Nikon recommends at least Class 6.

That one sentance would have been so helpful to my question forum post earlier keith instead you told me to check my manuel, I had to google it myself

 

[pab]

These are what I bought a few of. They are like $90.00 at best buy, but I show them amazons price and they match it. $40.00

[h=1]SanDisk Extreme Pro 16 GB[/h]

 

[jim84]

These are what I bought a few of. They are like $90.00 at best buy, but I show them amazons price and they match it. $40.00

SanDisk Extreme Pro 16 GB

Here's a class 10 16gb sd card for $12, 5 year warranty. Patriot Signature LX Series 16GB SDHC Flash Memory Card Class 10
or a class 10 32gb card 5 year warranty for $22 http://ncix.com/products/?sku=51210&vpn=PSF32GSDHC10&manufacture=Patriot&promoid=1033

Granted, these are holiday sale prices, they still beat the big stores.

You can really get hosed on these things if you just go to the big box stores. $90, major rip off.

 

[Mike_E]

In the future you might consider that just because your card "ate" you files doesn't mean that they're gone. Most of the time you can recover your photos with recovery software.

 

[Vautrin]

Bear with me.

Imagine PVC drain pipe that's 1 ft across, with water coming through it.

Take a PVC drain pipe that's 0.5 ft across, and attach it to the pipe. Notice the water now flows slower.

Now take a a PVC drain pipe that's 2 ft across, and attach it to original pipe. The water does not flow any faster because it's entering a 2ft pipe from a 1ft pipe.

This is how memory cards work. If you buy the super fast amazingly extreme memory card it's not going to mean a thing if it's faster than your camera.

So don't get sucked into buying the fastest card possible!

Also, some "generic" manufacturers are made on the same lines as the big boys. Sandisk will want, say, to sell cards to bottom basement consumers, so they'll have an off brand name they manufacture.

I can tell you from experience I always buy cheap memory cards, and most of the time it's no problem. Also, I can tell you for a fact that while the card I bought 7 years ago will noticeably slow write times for my camera, I can't tell the difference in speed between a Transcend, and a Sandisk.

For the D3100 you don't need the best card out there, whereas you definitely would for a D800. Check to see the specs before buying! A lot of shops would just love to sell you a super fast card you just don't need!

 

[KmH]

The pipes make a good analogy. :thumbup:

People tend to wholeheartedly buy into the bigger must be better mentality.

 

[jim84]

I would say if you are just going in and paying whatever high price the big stores are asking, then you may be limited to smaller, lower class cards. I'm not suggesting a card with a write speed higher than that of the camera will help. I don't know the write speed of the various cameras. If you shop around though, the price difference between a 16gb and a 32gb card is not all that much (examples I provided above there was $10). This really isn't an expensive part of the camera system.

 

[Mike_E]

Faster cards are handy if you're downloading them with a USB 3.0 reader though.

 

[thomas30]

With all these people agreeing about how unreliable memory cards are, I wonder why having two card slots and being able to do write on both at the same time isnt a standard feature of cameras.

I am agree with you. It must be a standard feature to keep memory cards healthy.

 

[jrizal]

2.I'm not an expert, but I don't think there is really a lot of difference in brands? Just check for the best deal you can get, this includes but is not limited to a)the price, b)the reviews of the card, c)the specs (class and capacity of the card, class 10 is better then 6, 32gb is better then 16gb), and d)warranty. Some cards will have a lifetime warranty*. Some warranties will be 1 year, some 5, have a look.

I used think that brands do not really matter as I have several more than five years old Class 6 and Class 4 SDHC no-name cards and they all work well up until now. But Polaroid SDHC Class 10 cards seem to be picky. It works fine with Canon but not so much with Nikon. They often have the lockout error. SD cards AFAIK in order to display the SD logo must conform to the SD consortium so that there would be 100% compatibility. Maybe it's just bum cards that I got or Nikon itself. But from now on, I'll stick to the better known brands. After all, I don't buy SD cards on a daily basis. And as for personal experience, the probability of me losing an SD card is higher than having a bum unit. So for me, a little "investment" is still worth it.

 

[apvm]

I have the D3100 and the following works fine with it:

Adata Class 10 8GB
Mushkin Class 10 8GB
Silicon Power Class 10 8GB
Silicon Power Class 10 32GB
Patriot LX Class 10 32GB

Note that the Mushkin Class 10 8Gb although works fine with my D3100 but it wouldn't work with a D7000.