The Spoonpluggers Forum

This is a question regarding sd or micro cards for a video camera. 

There are so many to choose from I'm getting dizzy. There are all kinds, what should I buy?

My camera will handle a 64gb card but I see everything from the San Disk Extreme 45mb/s', that seem kind of pricy, then you have the Ultra 30mb/s',  what does that mean, download speed? Then there are other cards that don't list a download speed, what are their speeds, pros and cons and how much does it matter? 

Then the micro cards are cheaper, are they okay to use? Please Help!
Thanks!

Jerry
For HD quality video you need a class 10. I would go with the 64g class 10. Just google 64g class 10 sd card and pick one with good reviews. Should be able to get one under $50

Jerry, Recording using video cameras is a balancing act. Like old vhs tapes, you had sp, slp, and elp. (I think that's right) Each step down gave you more time to record, but the quality of the recording went down as well. If your going to be using the best quality setting that you camcorder can shoot at, your going to be using a ton of memory on your card, i.e. you need a larger card. If your going to compromise and choose a lesser quality setting on your camcorder for longer shooting times, you want to have the best quality card that you can use to offset the quality setting that you choose on your camcorder. Example: If your using a lower quality card and a lower quality setting on your camcorder, your quality of video is going to suffer. For some people this may be ok, for others it's not acceptable. It all depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

I would follow Bink's advice and choose the highest memory/quality card that you can get for HD recording and then make your decision as to what quality setting you want to put your camcorder at.

Jim Duplex might be able to offer some advice on what quality settings he uses. Good luck with your decision. Kevin

The class and ratings Jerry and Bink referred to is the data transfer speeds when recording video, essentially how fast your can write the video data to the SD card. Like Bink says, go with Class 10.

I want to say thanks to Consigliere for his post after mine. I went back and read my post and my vhs analogy was in reference to the quality setting on the camcorder and not in reference to the quality of the card/data transfer speed. (I got confused after reading my own post) The point I was trying to make was that if your going to use the best quality setting on your camcorder, (Larger File) make sure you have a very large capacity SD Mini Card, i.e. lots of memory. This was one of the things I meant by good quality card. I apologize for the confusion and mixing my terms. I should have had some caffeine before trying to think this early.

Also, one thing I have personally experienced, and this is also what I meant by high quality cards in my first post, when purchasing "generic" non brand name cards, even if they record/transfer data fast enough like the class 10, the quality isn't as good. I'm sure this isn't the case for all "generic" cards but it was for the cheapies I purchased.

I think Bink's advice is sound: get the class 10 for the faster data transfer speeds and read the reviews. I rely heavily on reviews for technical stuff like this. Kevin

Thanks guys for the info!
To this point I have bought all class 10's.

 So the 45/s', 30/s' or 15/s' means "transferring data speed".
2 questions, does that mean once the scene has been shoot and you wish to transfer it to the computer or does this also have to do with the actual shooting speed? I understand the settings part using more space on the highest quality over a longer recording time but that's about it, please be patient ha ha. 

Im assuming the 45 is one of the faster ones because of the price being higher and they accually tell you what it is......  Like I asked in the 1st question, what are the transfer speeds of the ones that don't tell you, is there a minimum? And are the micros just as good as the full size cards, memory size being equal?

What cards are you using?
I appreciate all the info!

Jerry, After the 45, 30 or 15 you will see mb or mbs which stands for megabytes per second so the answer to your first question is yes, it stands for minimum data transfer speeds.

The class 10 means that it will transfer at a minimum rate of 10 mb per second both ways.

If you have a card that will transfer the video onto the card at a certain rate, the card should also transfer it to a computer or whatever device you are transferring it to at the same rate or faster. One thing to keep in mind is that the device you are transferring your data to can slow down the process. I have a Intel I-7 Quadcore processor for my desktop. It is a computer built for large video files, etc. It took 7 minutes to transfer data to it that took my Intel Centrino-Duo over 45 minutes to complete the transfer.

Find out how much data your highest setting/best quality recording setting on your camcorder uses and then make sure you choose a card that will easily exceed that.

45mb is a higher transfer rate than 30mb, and your right, the price does go up with larger size.

My camcorder uses the SD cards and not the mini-Sd cards. Look in the front of your manual and find out which ones yours uses before you put out a bunch of money. The mini SD Cards are expensive. If it uses both the mini and the regular size SD cards, I would choose one of each and make the SD card your primary and the mini-SD card secondary. I find the mini's to be a pain in the butt. Maybe that's just me. Kevin

Thanks,

Jerry,

I’m not a tech guy but I can tell you what works for me. I look for GB size, price, and what will it work in my camera, which is not high end. I use a 32 GB MicroSD card from PATRIOT and a 4 GB MicroSD card from ADATA; don’t know the Class. The last SDHC card I purchased for my Humminbird was a Class 4 from ADATA. I buy from TigerDirect/CompUSA since they carry a multitude of products which are accompanied by reviews from purchasers. In the past, I’ve found that trying to figure out all the technical alternatives was just beyond my scope of knowledge. Price and positive reviews helped me make a choice.

Jim

Jerry,

I've been working with some new cameras. The SD cards need to be class 10 for HD quality. Brett just lost 4 hours of video this past weekend so spend on the higher end of the spectrum.

Another thing to keep in mind is not all cameras can take above certain size chip (gigabytes) find out what is the maximum size card your camera can accept. Unfortunately most of the time the camera will act a bit wonky. The camera won't just use what it can and ignore the rest.

Lastly, before going out on the water put the blank SD card into the camera and have the camera format the disk. The biggest reason is so you can test that the camera can use the card. You want to know about and deal with failures before you get on the water. Not after you've learned you've lost the video showing a double with 50"s.

I'm beached until my truck is fixed so this weekend I'm working with the camera system mounting, shot angles, even editing software. I think about the lost opportunities to film and I want to have it all worked out before I get on the water.

I can't wait to see your videos Jerry.