Which Card?

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malachy

New member
Hi
This is my most frustrating area as a photographer, equipment is generally the last thing on my mind, the photograph (what I'm seeing) is all.
HOWEVER a constant worry is the memory card, I have boxes full of CF's which have never let me down, from one's costing 1/10 of others with no difference in performance.
I'm about to need some SD Cards and it also looks a minefield. The price range/choice is even wider here.
I'm looking at
Lexar Professional SDXC vs Sandisk Extreme SDHC both 32G both same price
Why I spend so much time looking at these escapes me.
Please if you have deliberated and have an answer let me know
Thanks
 
R

Rexer John

Senior Member
My cards are 16GB, I wont go bigger because I don't wan't all my pictures on one card in case it fails.
Sometimes pictures can be retrieved from a failed card but not always.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

I don't know where you are from but I'm in UK and can get two class 10, 16GB sandisk extremes for just £19. At Currys >>link here<<.


You could get them for less on the internet but there are a lot of copies.
SD cards are so cheap now that I'm happy to pay that bit extra to buy from a reputable high street store.
 
§

§am

Senior Member
What camera have you got?
Look for at least a Class 10 card, but depending on the body, try and get a UHS-1 compatiable one.

My D5100 supports UHS-1 cards which are rated at a minimum 50MB/s write.
The Sandisk Extremes are rated at at least 45MB/s if you use in a Class 10 device, but they are also UHS-1 cards, so they can in theory support the higher write speed :)
 
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PapaST

Senior Member
I first try to look at what Nikon has listed as an approved card. I checked the D7000 approved cards and the Sandisk is there but the Lexar Professional SDXC card lists a "dash". Will the Lexar still work??? I'm guessing it would.

With video I would go for a 32GB card and use your second slot for redundancy. Write speeds are critical so I would purchase the fastest card feasible. Use the card and see how it performs under heavy stress tests. Use a program that tests the write speeds and compare that number to how it performs in the real world. That will tell you whether the speed is good or if you need to step up.

I try to buy from reputable companies with hopes that I'm not buying a fake. I don't really have loyalty to any certain brand. Most of my cards are Sandisk Extreme's and Transcend class 10. All serve me well.
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
malachy said:
Hi
This is my most frustrating area as a photographer, equipment is generally the last thing on my mind, the photograph (what I'm seeing) is all.
HOWEVER a constant worry is the memory card, I have boxes full of CF's which have never let me down, from one's costing 1/10 of others with no difference in performance.
I'm about to need some SD Cards and it also looks a minefield. The price range/choice is even wider here.
I'm looking at
Lexar Professional SDXC vs Sandisk Extreme SDHC both 32G both same price
Why I spend so much time looking at these escapes me.
Please if you have deliberated and have an answer let me know
Thanks
Click to expand...
I'm sure everyone has their favorite but I don't think you can go wrong with SanDisk Ultra or SanDisk Extreme (the latter being their fastest) and there's really no reason not to be using Class 10. Over time I've come to appreciate the consistent quality of SanDisk products generally speaking and their SD cards are my personal choice.

My Advice: If I couldn't use SanDisk I'd go with Transcend but Lexar is also well respected, really, this is just another iteration of the "Ford vs. Chevy" argument. Find a brand that works well for you, buy as many as you think you'll need, plus two spares, and then forget about it.
 
C

capitaltpt

Senior Member
If you only plan to take one or two shots at a time, then either is just fine. If you do a lot of burst shooting, then a faster card will clear the buffer quicker. For video stick with at least 35MB/s to avoid any write erros.
 
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piperbarb

Senior Member
I have always had excellent results from SanDisk cards. That is the only brand I use. I use them in my cameras, phone, and tablet. I have never had one fail on me.... yet. I use 16 GB cards in my D3000 and 32 GB class 10 cards in my D7000. I have not had any buffer problems, but then I do not do a lot of continuous shot photos.
 
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