SD Cards

[Sandy Feet]

Hi Folks,
Well I finally got my upgrade from my D70 to a D7000 this afternoon and I need to go and buy SD cards tomorrow.
Wondering if there are any recommendations should I be buying SD, SDHC, SDXC ? Brand? etc

Thanks in advance guys and hopefully I'll get some new images up for critique soon
Rod

[Steffen]

Funny you should ask, I looked at this very question earlier this week myself and found this:

http://sportsphotoguy.com/nikon-d7000-raw-burst-test/

It turns out that as long as the card is rated 30MB/s it is about as good as it needs to be, beyond that there isn't much improvement. I looked at buying the SanDisk Extreme Pro SDHC 45 MB/sec cards before reading this but settled for the SanDisk Extreme HD Video 30 MB/sec. The 45MB/s card costs 50% more than the 30MB/s card without providing any noticeable speed increase.

Cheers
Steffen.

[ozimax]

I will be interested to see any feedback here. My 16GB SD card broke apart today.

[Remorhaz]

You'll want at least SDHC (both for the speed and size - SD cards are (theoretically) limited to 2GB (there were some 4GB weird ones which were a little unreliable)).

Whether you want to use the SDXC or UHC-1 cards (the D7000 is one of the few camera's which currently support them) is debatable.

I've got a few different cards and types but I guess I'm happiest with the Sandisk Extreme's (30MB/s) or Ultra II's - I bought a 16GB of the later when I bought my D90 and a 32GB of the former when I got my D7000.

[Mr Darcy]

I use a mix of Panasonic and Sandisk in my LX5. No complaints about either. I htink the Panasonic are slightly faster.
YOu also muight like to consider readers.
Here is Rob Galbraith's take:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/reader_report_multi_page.asp?cid=6007-9438

[biggerry]

My 16GB SD card broke apart today.

well I don't recommend that one then! whats the reason behind the breakup?

The general rule is buy the largest and fastest possible, that said I am certainly behind the times the fastest one I have is a sandisk extreme @ 20mb/s, I have found it adequate for the little video i do and it handles bursts pretty well, when compared to some of teh others I have, specifically a cheapy from kmart there is marked difference which is very noticeable on teh write speed in teh camera.

If I were to buy another I would go with Steffens advice and the 30 mb/s one, seems to be the sweet spot at the moment for price vs performance.

[aim54x]

From the coal face.....the Extreme and Extreme Pro are the same price with the Extreme HD Video slightly cheaper. I would shop around and get whatever suits your budget. Faster is better!

[ATJ]

Damn! I wish I'd seen this a couple of hours earlier. I just put an order in with B&H and it looks like I have ordered the wrong thing.

I had wanted to order 16 GB Extreme SDHC Class 10 Memory Card Kit but they are out of stock.
I instead ordered 16GB Ultra SDHC Memory Card 2 Pk B&H Kit. According to B&H (and the picture shown) it is Class 6 20Mb/s (which is good) but according to Sandisk it is only Class 4 15Mb/s.

I guess I see what gets delivered and if it isn't what is on the website they have to replace it.

[ozimax]

My 16GB SD card broke apart today.

well I don't recommend that one then! whats the reason behind the breakup?

Breakups are always hard to take...

Seriously, it is a "Patriot" 16GB class 6 SDHC card which I purchased from Fry's a couple of years ago (in California). It has just fallen apart, in two halves. I don't think I should risk glueing it. Oh well, it was an el cheapo, but to be fair, it has been in and out of countless cameras and devices.

[surenj]

I have a sandisk 30mb/s HD card and can only get about 15mb/s throughput from the USB (from multiple computers). Perhaps it's fake??

[radar]

got some Kingston 32Gb SDHC - class 10 for a good price on Catch of the Day. They get listed as recommended on Steffen's site he links to.

Have fun with the D7000, great camera.

[J.Davis]

Prices here are pretty good
http://www.mobileciti.com.au/sandisk-ex ... 8gb-30mb-s

[Sandy Feet]

Thanks for the response guys
Ended up with Sandisk Extreme 30MB/s 8GB x 2
Cost $50 each at Officeworks

so thinking a weekend of shooting is in order

Cheers
Rod

[aim54x]

I have a sandisk 30mb/s HD card and can only get about 15mb/s throughput from the USB (from multiple computers). Perhaps it's fake??

It could be your card reader......

[surenj]

Ended up with Sandisk Extreme 30MB/s 8GB x 2

Hi Rod, I'd like to hear your transfer speeds from these babies.

It could be your card reader......

I've tried it with three readers; one external, one on the laptop, one on the netbook; same result.

[surenj]

I instead ordered 16GB Ultra SDHC Memory Card 2 Pk B&H Kit.

Andrew, if you get the advertised speed from your cards (ie 20mb/s), then you'd still be ahead of me even though in theory my card is faster!

[aim54x]

Ended up with Sandisk Extreme 30MB/s 8GB x 2

Hi Rod, I'd like to hear your transfer speeds from these babies.

It could be your card reader......

I've tried it with three readers; one external, one on the laptop, one on the netbook; same result.

The point being, how fast are your card readers? Maybe you should try a card reader that is rated at 34mb/s (ie SanDisk ImageMate). I discovered the hard way that the inbuilt SD readers in a lot of laptops suck. We tried to ReadyBoost my sisters laptop using fast SD cards (ones that I get 20+ mb/s on transfer) but her laptop's inbuilt reader was not fast enough to allow for readyboost. Buying fast cards are a moot point if you dont have the hardware to support them.

[ATJ]

Buying fast cards are a moot point if you dont have the hardware to support them.

True, if by "hardware" you are including the camera. Transferring the images from the card to the computer slower than the card can support is tolerable. If the card can't keep up with the camera and how you want to use it, you will have a real problem.

[Steffen]

I agree, what matters is the performance in-camera. This can make the difference between getting or missing a shot. Slow performance in the computer or card reader just makes you wait a little longer when copying the images across.

Cheers
Steffen.

[aim54x]

Buying fast cards are a moot point if you dont have the hardware to support them.

True, if by "hardware" you are including the camera. Transferring the images from the card to the computer slower than the card can support is tolerable. If the card can't keep up with the camera and how you want to use it, you will have a real problem.

I definitely include the camera as part of the hardware! Our D300's are capable of 34-36mbps and therefore I have not purchased anything faster than the SanDisk Extreme Ducati and Extreme IV (both 45mbps) even though I needed more storage recently.

[Mr Darcy]

I definitely include the camera as part of the hardware! Our D300's are capable of 34-36mbps and therefore I have not purchased anything faster than the SanDisk Extreme Ducati and Extreme IV (both 45mbps) even though I needed more storage recently.

It may be worth considering the upgrade path. While your current camera may not handle higher speeds, your future camera might. Of course you may want greater capacity by then too.

[aim54x]

I definitely include the camera as part of the hardware! Our D300's are capable of 34-36mbps and therefore I have not purchased anything faster than the SanDisk Extreme Ducati and Extreme IV (both 45mbps) even though I needed more storage recently.

It may be worth considering the upgrade path. While your current camera may not handle higher speeds, your future camera might. Of course you may want greater capacity by then too.

Yes...but that will be when I go for more cards again.

[ATJ]

I instead ordered 16GB Ultra SDHC Memory Card 2 Pk B&H Kit. According to B&H (and the picture shown) it is Class 6 20Mb/s (which is good) but according to Sandisk it is only Class 4 15Mb/s.

They arrived today and they are labeled as SanDisk Ultra SDHC Class 6 20MB/s even though the SanDisk site doesn't mention them. The part number SDSDRH-016G-A11 matches the Class 4 15MB/s model. I wonder if they are fakes.

[surenj]

I wonder if they are fakes.

Let us know how fast they can transfer.

Also I am sure there is a way for Sandisk to verify authenticity using the serial number. I once emailed them about it and they replied. But I never followed up on it.

The point being, how fast are your card readers?

I am not sure how to determine this. The computer hardware documentation doesn't state the speed of the readers.

[aim54x]

I wonder if they are fakes.

Let us know how fast they can transfer.

Also I am sure there is a way for Sandisk to verify authenticity using the serial number. I once emailed them about it and they replied. But I never followed up on it.

The point being, how fast are your card readers?

I am not sure how to determine this. The computer hardware documentation doesn't state the speed of the readers.

I have in the past registered my SanDisk products online, this will verify (via serial number) the authenticity.

As for testing the speed of your readers.....I just go the other way...trying a known fast reader, and then cross referencing the reader in question with a known fast card. Windoze Virus and Windoze 7 will both show you what the transfer rate is whilst a transfer is occuring...not much help with a inbuillt card reader but it will let you test external readers and cards easily (albeit roughly)

[ATJ]

OK, I contacted SanDisk. I was informed that they "recently transformed Ultra SDHC Cards of class 4 with 15MB/S read and write speed to Ultra SDHC cards in class 6 with 20MB/S read and write speed". I also sent them pictures of one of the cards and was told it was authentic.

So, all good.