SD card speeds for DSLR

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heavenlywild

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#84849 9-Jun-2011 11:02

Hi guys,

I need a SD card that is fast enough to handle RAW photos from my DSLR camera, as well as 1080p videos.

There are class numbers and also "extreme" versions of SD cards.

What is the really needed in terms of speed/class? No point spending more than I need.

Thanks in advance.

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timmmay

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#479260 9-Jun-2011 11:41

Have a read of this

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007

ResponseMediaNZ

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#479262 9-Jun-2011 11:43

What Camera are you using?

Personally with my Canon 60D i have gone for class10 SD's for RAW & Video and have not had any issues with them as yet.

heavenlywild

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#479265 9-Jun-2011 11:45

underwatervrg: What Camera are you using?

Personally with my Canon 60D i have gone for class10 SD's for RAW & Video and have not had any issues with them as yet.

That's exactly the camera I have.

So do you believe brand makes any difference?

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maxeon

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#479268 9-Jun-2011 11:51

I am using a SanDisk brand that i bought from PB tech in penrose which is a Class 10 and it works perfect. The recommended on the website is class 6, so i guess class 10 any brand is a over kill ? Depends on the camera model though, i am on Nikon d90

ResponseMediaNZ

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#479271 9-Jun-2011 11:55

Not that I have found, (can be proven Wrong)

I have gone with A-Data Class10 as I can get them at a great price.

Shooting on RAW @ highspeed Multishot (Shoot Motorsport) - I get about 12ish Shots before i need to stop and wait for them to be written.

Also 8gb gives be about 260 photos on Full RAW.

Hope that helps

Bung

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#479272 9-Jun-2011 11:55

Another consideration is speed of off loading the card to your pc

timmmay

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#479273 9-Jun-2011 11:57

The brand of card makes a difference to reliability. Basically, cheaper is usually lower quality.

Sandisk is a reliable brand, i've been a pro photographer for 7 years and Sandisk never failed me. Cheap transcend cards have failed, but their higher end cards are excellent. My Mum had a cheap dick smith card fail about a week after she bought it.

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heavenlywild

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#479275 9-Jun-2011 11:58

underwatervrg: Not that I have found, (can be proven Wrong)

I have gone with A-Data Class10 as I can get them at a great price.

Shooting on RAW @ highspeed Multishot (Shoot Motorsport) - I get about 12ish Shots before i need to stop and wait for them to be written.

Also 8gb gives be about 260 photos on Full RAW.

Hope that helps

When you have stop for it to be written (doing multishots), how long is the wait? Are we walking 15 seconds or just 5 seconds?

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Batman

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#479278 9-Jun-2011 12:05

i have a canon 600D and a class 4 is 100% fine. i shoot RAW and 1080p everyday.

ResponseMediaNZ

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#479279 9-Jun-2011 12:09

heavenlywild:
underwatervrg: Not that I have found, (can be proven Wrong)

I have gone with A-Data Class10 as I can get them at a great price.

Shooting on RAW @ highspeed Multishot (Shoot Motorsport) - I get about 12ish Shots before i need to stop and wait for them to be written.

Also 8gb gives be about 260 photos on Full RAW.

Hope that helps

When you have stop for it to be written (doing multishots), how long is the wait? Are we walking 15 seconds or just 5 seconds?

Between 5-15seconds depending really have not fully tested it

Oblivian

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#479294 9-Jun-2011 12:34

I'm using CFs in my 40d, so slightly different, but I aim for 9-11MB write speeds (camera does 6)

dpreview.com indepth testing will tell you their average write speed etc. And the burst saving is often a result of the camera buffer AND write speed to the card.

My Extreme II 8G (I use Extreme IIIs in the 4G) I can fill mine in about 18 before it starts to take 2-3 seconds to clear the buffer again and keep snapping.

But then again.. bursting can be seen as cheating ;) spray n pray as its called.

... and yes. I'm guilty of it too. Just in spurts of 2-3 instead of filling buffer

fostercrif

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#479326 9-Jun-2011 13:39

I have a canon 500d and I use Lexar class 4 8gb cards. Raw and multiburst shooting is fine. Have had some issues when recording video on 1080p setting after15_20 seconds shooting. No problem on 720p setting.
Looking at getting a class 10 A-data card 16gb as they have become quite affordable.