SD card for M8

[mark_theken]

<p>I recently bought a used Leica M8. It has been upgraded by Leica to the new shutter with the top speed of 1/4000 and with the modified frame lines.<br>

Can anyone tell me or direct me to a site that lists compatible SD cards?<br>

I bought a San Disk SDHC 4GB card and would like to know if it should work properly.<br>

It is not an ultra or exreme version of the San Disk card.</p>

[michael s.]

<p>Hey, Mark -</p>

<p>Don't have the M8, but I found this on Leica's site:</p>

<p><em>"The choice of SD and SDHC cards in the market is already very big and is constantly growing.<br /> Therefore, Leica Camera AG is not able to do comprehensive compatibility- and quality testing with<br /> all available cards in the market. We recommend “Extreme III” or “Professional” from the leading<br /> brands such as “SanDisk” or “Lexar”. Using other card types, will not damage camera or card, but<br /> as especially “no name” cards do not respect the full SD or SDHC standards, Leica Camera AG<br /> cannot warranty full function with those cards."</em></p>

<p>Found by clicking around here:</p>

<p>http://us.leica-camera.com/photography/m_system/m8/</p>

<p>My sense is that the recommendation to use "Extreme" is based upon the faster write speed, which may or may not be important to your style of shooting. My hunch is that the <em>less Extreme</em> cards like yours are not less compatible, they're just slower. But I'll let M8 owners comment on their experiences.</p>

<p>[Personal note: I've had 2 sd cards fail or malfunction. Both were so-called "leading brand" cards.]</p>

<p>Hope you're well.</p>

[mark_vail2]

<p>You will find that writing time if shooting in RAW (and or RAW + JPEG) is quite slow if you are shooting fast single shots (never mind continuous shooting - which I've never even tried).<br>

Having said that I would recommend the faster cards (the Extreme III with the M8 has been fine for me).<br>

Good luck.</p>

[ulrich_brandl]

<p>Mark,<br>

there is a list of compatible SD cards on Leica's website that can be accessed only after registration. That list, however, reflects the state of 2006 or early 2007 and is not too useful today. The compatibility with SDHC cards depends on the firmware version, the actual 2.004 version has no problems with SDHC. You only might, as already mentioned, see some speed differences.</p>