SD cards for DNG

<p>Hi everyone, <br>

Wondering what SD card is necessary for shooting in DNG at 12.2MP and 10.1MP. There are just so many these days of different speeds and sizes...all very confusing for me<br>

Thanks</p>

<p>I think it depends on how frequently you are prepared to access your computer to download and how many shots you are likely to take between downloads. The camera card is not the place to hold files IMO. My biggest card at the moment is a 1Gb but previously I operated with a couple of 512 cards for each of two similar cameras. The only time I was limited was when I went for an all day trip on an excursion train and was away from the computer for about four/five days of travelling. Battery power could be more important than storage if you review your shots for extended periods, I rarely use the LCD screen and am happy with a one second review on the EVF. If your camera only has an LCD I would think battery power would be your biggest concern. I'd suggest you get a 1Gb card and see how you go, what suits your needs, it is easy enough to change cards if you find you need a second or third.</p>

<p>Thanks for your reply. Your point is taken that it depends how many shots I take before having access to a computer. However, I'm struggling a bit with the write speeds between cards. A 12.2MP DNG file would be something like 13mb (am I right?), so presumably, I would need a reasonably fast card so that I'm not waiting around for the card to write. To make matters worse, it seems each company has their own way of expressing the speed of a card. </p>

<p>Just do something worthwhile while you are waiting...the card might not even be your slowest bottleneck. </p>

<p>I'd say 4 GB because a DVD+R holds only 4.7 GB, or 16 GB if you have BluRay, which holds 25 GB. I would get the fastest card available because DNG files are big compared to JPEG.</p>

<p>The largest SD card around is 2GB. Any larger and you have to go to SDHC. The form factor is the same and any computer today will support SDHC. However if you have an older camera, it may be a SD only camera. If it supports SDHC, those cards go up to 32GB.</p>

<p>If you are shooting still photos, any current model SD and SDHC card is fast enough for any camera. A slow card would only be noticeable when transferring files to your computer and then it may be your USB connection and not your SD card that is the bottleneck. Speed is an issue only if you are shooting video or do a lot of burst mode shooting. Then I would recommend getting a class 6 card.</p>

<p>The cards are cheap. A 2GB SD card is only 9$US and you can get 8GB SDHC cards for 20$US.</p>

<p>Danny Low</p>

> If you are shooting still photos, any current model SD and SDHC card is fast enough for any camera

 

This might not be true. For example in the Rob Galbraith database, look at Canon 450D results, which vary by card from 14.3 MB/s all the way down to 2.8 MB/s for RAW. DNG is similar in size requirements.

<p>IMO purchase a card with at least 10mb/sec transfer rate (i.e. Sandisk Ultra 2).<br>

20mb/sec would be better if your camera can take advantage of it. This would be a Sandisk Extreme 3 (see the Galbraith link above for other brands).<br>

The 450D mentioned above can take advantage of the faster cards but only makes 4 shots before it has to stop and think.<br>

If you need speed into your computer, Sandisk 4 cards (w/ Sandisk reader) offer the fastest computer transfer but I do not think current cameras can take advantage of their speed.<br>

Hope this helps.</p>

<p>F.P.</p>

<p>I wanted an SD card for my latest purchase, a notebook computer, and found the smallest SD card at one place was 4Gb, but they were out of stock, two weeks wait, at the next place the smallest was 2Gb ... so supply may determine what you buy.</p>