Two SD Card Questions

[unangelino]

<p>First, are any of you brand conscious or do you simply but what's cheap/on sale?<br>

Second, does rated <em><strong>speed</strong> </em> matter or is it simply marketing?<br>

Thanks!<br>

Paul</p>

[dbcooper]

<p>My cards are all Sandisk, but there are other brands that are good. I started out with that brand, and got several a while ago when they were running some rebates, which they weaseled out of paying. I've had no problems whatsoever out of any of the cards, but they won't get my business again. YMMV. Their included recovery software works great, BTW.</p>

<p>Checking a few online reviews at photo websites ought to give you a feel for who's got quality memory cards. Bear in mind that any brand can make a clunker. Some brands just make more of 'em than others.</p>

<p>The memory card speed ratings are real. However, any speed advantage depends on whether your camera can take advantage of it when writing to memory (check the camera's manual and/or the camera manufacturer's website), how you're downloading the images (i.e. cabling straight to the camera, using a card reader, the data transfer capability of the card reader, how the card reader is hooked to the computer [uSB, FireWire], etc.), and so forth.</p>

[cametacamera]

<p>IMO speed is a moot point for still capture... however it will become important again when cameras start coming with HD video capture. Buy the minimum you need... it WILL be cheaper next week when you need more.<br>

Have fun!</p>

[dbcooper]

<p>It isn't really a <em>moot</em> point - card write speed can matter greatly if one shoots quickly or at high frame rates, especially if the camera/shooting mode generates large-ish files. If the camera can write to memory quickly, a slow card becomes the 'bottleneck', potentially bogging down the frame rate or even momentarily stopping the camera from shooting if the write buffer fills up because the card is too slow (or too small).</p>

<p>But OTOH, if that isn't really a consideration, any slower card that's compatible with a given camera will work fine and save money.</p>

[bobcossar]

<p>Maybe I'll change the question just a wee bit.....I have often wondered if some brands/price points are MADE any better than the premium ones?</p>

[cooltpmd]

<p>I use cheapy and brand names.</p>

<p>I have never had a major issue with either (no corruption or lost photos). there is a HUGE difference in speed that will effect how fast you can take pictures (if you a snapping serial photos) and how fast they transfer into the computer.</p>

<p>If you are patient, the cheap cards are more than adequate.</p>

[rob_wall]

<p>I bought some Sandisk Extreme III 16 GB cards and then had the pains of hell fire trying to get them to pay the ($200) rebate. Rebates can be such a waste of time.</p>

[unangelino]

<p>Thanks, gents, for the replies.</p>

[elliot1]

<p>I guess the decision as to whether to be brand conscious and use a trusted name brand or a cheap generic depends on the importance of the photos you are taking. While I don't know the failure rate of one brand to another, all my pictures are important to me. I have taken hundreds of thousands of digital images and only had 1 memory card fail. It was one time too many, causing me grief, expense and cost me a good client.</p>

<p>With rebate, name brand cards bought from reputable stores can be as affordable as the cheap cards regular prices. Photo.net's partner Adorama often has brand name cards on sale with big rebates. FWIW I have bought many SansDisk CF cards with rebates and received every one of them in a timely manner.</p>

[will_daniel1]

<p>Paul,</p>

<p>I have two Nikons and a high-end Kodak point-&-shoot, and for each camera I use what the manufacturer recommends. I'm kind of funny that way, having learned valuable lessons about blank CD/DVD media and what works best with which hardware. So, check your owner's manual to see what the recommendations are -- there will be several -- and go from there. SanDisk and Lexar will likely be listed, and both are great brands. I use a Kodak card in the Kodak camera. You can find deals everywhere on the top brands, especially in places like OfficeMax, Staples and Office Depot. Check the Sunday paper for ads. Reliability is key, and could be a good reason for not using off-brand, low-priced cards.</p>

<p>Yes, speed matters, but it may not be so noticeable that you want to invest the difference in price for the high-speed models. I'm getting along fine without the premium speed. Like the man said above, your mileage may vary.</p>

<p>Will</p>

[unangelino]

<p>I was surprised that I couldn't find any reports showing reliability comparisons. Such tests would surely be easy to do and very useful. If there was a statistically irrelevant difference (and I am not predicting that there wouldn't be) between the cheapies and the name brands it would be good information to have. Also, it would be great to see a comparison of read/write times for various image sizes and cameras. Anyone know of such a report? Thanks again.</p>