Problem with 4GB SD cards on the K10D

[andrew_ng7]

Currently I use several cards on my K10D. Primarily a 2GB SanDisk Ultra II but I

also use 2 x 4SD Transcend 150x cards. Now I've read numerous times that a card

shouldn't be formatted in a PC then used in a digital camera, rather it should

be formatted with the camera's file system.

 

My current problem is that my laptop will only read the Ultra II when formatted

with the camera. Both Transcends show up as not being formatted at all. When I

check the properties of the card, it reports the card is RAW. The odd thing is

that my mini USB SD card reader key can read the two Transcends just fine.

 

I have tried formatting the cards via my laptop and shot some pictures and the

card is still in the RAW file setting but the cards are readable. The Ultra II

reads that it is in FAT.

 

Should I trust the PC formatting and continue this way? One thing I do notice is

that the 4GB cards can only be formatted to FAT32 where as when I format the

Ultra II on the laptop, it can be formatted to FAT. Is the problem due to the

fact that WinXPpro cannot format a 4gb drive/card to FAT? I would then presume

the camera cannot use that format neither thus the RAW format.

[renatoa]

XP can format a 4G card as FAT16 and, AFAIK is the only and recommended way to use such card.

You can do it using the Format from Disk Manager, not from Explorer.

[andrew_ng7]

I cannot seem to locate the SD card with disk manager.

 

For the time being, I will just format the card using the k10d's format system and use my USB card reader to pull images off. It's just a pain when on the road to require one more, albeit small, device to carry.

 

Thanks.

[alan_chan4]

Could it be the nb reader didn't support 4GB SD or any SDHC?

[andrew_ng7]

It supports 4gb cards just not when formatted by the camera. I can also format them to the default winxp fat32 and use them fine. This is how I originally used the 4GB Transcend cards with my PDA. I have not gotten into using SDHC's yet.

 

I've heard that the 150x cards are still fast than a class 6. Is this true?

[godfrey]

You should only use SDHC cards for capacities greater than 4G with the K10D.

 

SD cards up to 2G work fine, larger capacities are unpredictable.

 

Godfrey

[trw]

4GB SDHC cards (A-Data brand) work for me with K10D, Mac (10.4.10), and Linux (Ubuntu).

[andrew_ng7]

I know that SDHC will work but are they really better than a regular 150x SD card?

 

By price point I can get a 4GB 150x Transcends/OCZ card for $73.99/$74.99 but get a 4GB SDHC class 6 OCZ for $49.99.

 

Is a class 6 speed comparable to the 150x? Why are the SDHC so cheap now? Maybe I should do the switch to SDHC.

[miserere_mei]

If I remember correctly, Class 6 means that the card can be read at 6MB/sec; write speed will vary, but is always lower. A 150x card has a read speed of 22.5MB/sec, but write speed may be as low as 10MB/sec, depending on the card.

 

I'm quoting from memory, so you should confirm these numbers are accurate.

 

I have a Class 6 4GB SDHC that I use with my K10D; it is more than fast enough and I have not noticed any difference when compared to a 150x 1GB SD card I also own.

[renatoa]

You remember correct but the speed is the write speed, not the read.

And classes are used for SDHC, for which using speed measurement based on x seems not correct.

 

"SDHC cards have SD Speed Class Ratings defined by the SD Association. The SD Speed Class Ratings specify the following minimum sustained write speed on to empty SDHC cards"

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital_card#SDHC

[jeff_drew4]

Winders XP is a hoot! I wrestled a 4GB media file into my PC and it only took about 6hours! What really was upsetting after the sweat equity of file transfer, I could not burn it to DVD also because of the 2GB limit! I was politely advised to upgrade to Vista. . . . or I got out my Mac and dealt with it muy pronto! I also just took a whack at the new OpenSuSe 10.3! What a terrific Linux setup! I think XP PRO may be my last WinOS! In the venue of SD cards, I have found Sandisk Ultras to be nearly perfect! Brand-X choices occasionally were problematic . . .

[martin_green2]

4GB cards are a crap shoot unless they are SDHC, and if they are SDHC they are probably unreadable in your laptop or PC unless you use an SDHC compatible external reader. The SD standard only goes up to 2GB, but for a while quite a few far-eastern manufacturers tweaked the standard by messing with cluster size, etc, and managed to squeeze 4GB out of them IF your device or reader's firmware could make sense of it. The problem is that since it is outside the SD standard, each manufacturer came up with their own tweaks, and your 4GB NON-SDHC card MAY or MAY NOT work with your reader. SDHC 4GB cards are standards based, so as long as you have an SDHC compliant reader AND CAMERA you should be good to go.

 

As for your laptop... my Compaq Presario 4025CA purchased in 2005 was only good for 1GB SD card when I got it. As I migrated to 2GB cards for my cameras I managed to find a firmware update for the integrated reader that worked, but when I started using 4GB SD cards in a few devices, I was out of luck unless I used an outboard reader. Eventually TI released 4GB firmware for my laptop reader, but it still can't read SDHC cards. I had to buy a Kingston USB card reader for SDHC (I currently use an 8GB card for my *istDS.) I'm hopeful TI will eventually release SDHC firmware for older integrated readers, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

Speaking of cameras... out of the box my *istDS could only do 1GB SD, but an early update added 2GB. A later update did 4GB SD, but some time ago they went full SDHC with no hardware changes needed. As I said, I currently use an 8GB SDHC card.

 

My excellent little Casio P&S that I carry everywhere seemed to be able to read 2GB SD cards fine (but not 4GB SD,) showing twice the image capacity of a 1GB card, but I recently discovered that it actually can't write past the 1GB threshold. Although it says it still has room for hundreds more JPGs, attempts to shoot more than 1GB of photos keeps reporting a card error. Luckily, the images in the first half of the card are still accessible when this happens. I haven't been able to find a firmware update for the Casio so I just went out and bought a few cheap 1GB cards.

 

So, to summarize... up to 1GB SD cards should work in everything. 2GB SD cards should work in most cameras and laptops with CURRENT firmware since it is still within the SD spec. 4GB SD (NON SDHC) are hit and miss, depending on the card, the device, or the reader. 2GB and up SDHC will only work in SDHC compatible cameras or readers, but since this is the new standard, should work in any device with SDHC compatibility.

 

YMMV.