I have six Patriot LX Series Class 10 32GB cards that I've been using for a couple of years with my Sony NX5u. I've recorded hundreds of hours on these cards and they have performed flawlessly. They're about $30 each at NewEgg.

I just got three 64GB class 10 SDXC cards for $50 each last month when woot.com was running a sale on them. SDXC is a newer standard that I understand is superseding SDHC. SDXC readers will read SDHC cards, but SDHC readers will not neccessaarily read SDXC cards. Anyway, the 64GB SDXC cards work flawlessly in my Nikon DSLR but not in any other SDHC hardware I own so I have to read them in the camera with a USB cable. You might want to check and see if your camera will support this format. 128GB SDXC cards are $165 at B&H.

"Do any of you have either pros or cons for the cards you are using? Do I need one capable of 30mbs with my Canon Vixia to use the best quality or is Class10 enough?"Just to add my 2¢ here.

1) For most AVCHD cameras, Class 4 is sufficient for capture - check your manual. The real advantage to going with higher transfer speeds is moving the files to your computer.
2) I'm with Laurence here. I have a bunch if the Centon SDHC/SXHC Class 10 cards purchased from http://www.woot.com. They only come up once every couple of months, so you need to keep checking. The Centon cards are very inexpensive and I've yet to have a failure with them - obviously YMMV.
3) I needed to upgrade the firmware in my Canon Vixia HG21 to accept Class 10 SDHC cards.

...Jerry

We've been using Delkin 16 GB cards exclusively since getting out first HMC150 camera about 2-3 years ago. I think we have 12 of these cards now and regularly use 4 - 6 on any given shoot. We had one failure early on, a DOA, and the company replaced it immediately.
For audio devices we use Lexar 8 GB.
The only recommendation I can give is to stay away from the ADATA brand.

I'm using Transcend class 10s in my JVC HM-750s for over a year now and no problems at all.

Mike

vidmus,
Thanks. I was leaning toward either Sandisk or Tanscend. My cameras USB connections seems to be faster than most USB2.

Dave T2

NicolSD,

My camera says Class 4 is sufficient, but my highest quality recording is 24mbps so I am confused on how a class 4 can record at this rate.

Thanks
Dave T2

John,

Yeah I looked at the Patriot series as well, can't find too many reviews on them.

Thanks
Dave T2

Laurence,
My camera does take SDXC cards, but I am trying to not spend that much money on a card yet.

I haven't really figured out how much memory is optimal for my use.
Dave T2

Jerry,

My cam recommends class 4 or higher, but the highest record rate is 24mbps. Can a class 4 handle this? Do you get a buffer overrun if the card can't do it, or does the camera throttle the bitrate back?

this is a Vixia HF M40.

Dave T2

David McKnight,

I don't think I have come across any Delkin brand cards in my shopping. I will avoid Adata on your recommendation.

Dave T2

Mike, that is good to hear.

Thanks
Dave T2

"My cam recommends class 4 or higher, but the highest record rate is 24mbps. Can a class 4 handle this? Do you get a buffer overrun if the card can't do it, or does the camera throttle the bitrate back?"Class 4 = 4MBps x 8 bits/Byte = 32Mbps

Frankly, I've only used Class 6 & 10 SDHC cards. However, I've never read a report of a (bitrate) problem with Class 4 cards, and I seriously doubt that Canon would specify Class 4 if they were unreliable.

...Jerry

A camera recording at a 24Mb/s rate is recording at a 3MB/s rate (8 bits to a byte).

According to this, a 2, 4, or 6 class SDHC card has a guaranteed fragmented write rate of 2, 4, or 6 MB/s, so you're covered with a Class 4 or 6 card.

Curiously, a class 10 card guarantees a 10MB/s write rate only if the card is non-fragmented and the write is sequential. So I guess those little things are bumping up against the current limits. It was only a few years ago that we worried about hard drives delivering a write rate high enough to handle DV's 4 MB/s rate.

I just purchased an Adata card:( what is wrong with them?

Jerry,


Oops, this where I get my MBps and Mbps confused. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Dave T2

Riredale,

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Dave T2

What I have run into with slower cards is that every so often there will be a visible data glitch that will ruin the image for about a tenth of a second (due to the long GOP). Class 10 is not uncommon anymore and usually not much more expensive. I would highly recommend going with class 10.

Also, there is a huge amount of variation between card makes even for the same class ratings. I had some supposedly fast Kingston CF cards that were too slow to record HD video while the much cheaper Transcend cards with the same rating worked perfectly. A downloaded memory speed checking program confirmed that the Transcend cards were indeed three or four times faster in spite of having the same circled number.

There is a pretty good deal on class 10 64GB SDXC cards here.

mvpvideos2007 re: ADATA, our dealer included one with one of our cameras and it failed intermittenly (I didn't know it was the card until I did some extensive testing). It was an 8GB and I was using it in a Marantz audio device. It would record up to a certain point and then stop recording and shut the device off completely. It did this every time once I tested a full overnight recording. I did further research on (I believe) dvxuser.com and found lots of folks had issues with these cards. This was in 2009 IIRC.

Marantz tech support suggested Lexar for their recorders and I've had 2 8GB cards for that and a Tascam recorder ever since along with the dozen or so Delkins for cameras.

Your mileage on ADATA these days may vary but I won't touch 'em.

If you're interested we've bought Delkin from both buy.com and I believe B&H. Do a google search for shopping and several reputable dealers will come up.

I usually buy whatever is cheap. The only problem I've had is with Kingston Memory cards and that was simply that they weren't fast enough (even though according to the specs they were). No failures. This is probably obvious, but make sure you format them in whatever device you are using.

I have been using Patriot PSF32GSDHC10 32GB SDHC Class 10 cards. They are cheap and flawless. I use them inside of an express card holder in my EX1.

John