# Does a memory card make a difference



## BRIANxJDM (Apr 30, 2010)

Someone once told me that the memory card makes a different for your pictures, is that true? If so what memory card do you guys recommend.


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## Goontz (Apr 30, 2010)

No. The media does not affect how your pictures look at all. Now, some cards are faster than others and you'll see this noted as the "class" of a card (2, 4, 6, 10). The higher the class, the faster that card can transfer data, which could come into plan when shooting at high fps as the camera buffer backs up, but more so when transferring pictures to the computer. Personally, I always stick with name brand memory and would recommend at least class 4.

Secure Digital - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## BRIANxJDM (Apr 30, 2010)

I was at Wal Mart the other day and they had the Scan Disk 4G for like 15 bucks, is that good to get, or should I get the ones with like 133x and what not.


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## ababysean (Apr 30, 2010)

when i bought my nikond3000 9 days ago, they also sold me a 30 dollar ultra 8 gig mem card.  I needed a new one, the largest at home I have was 1 gig... so I got it. 
I don't think there is a bit of difference, but I am a way newbie, and when I put the 1 gig in my camera I can take 200 something pictures, with the 8 gig I can take over 2000... haha so


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## BRIANxJDM (Apr 30, 2010)

it was this SanDisk | 4GB SDHC Memory Card | SDSDB-4096-A11 | B&H Photo Video


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## BRIANxJDM (Apr 30, 2010)

Well I am in school right now but as you know that i have a D3000.


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## ababysean (Apr 30, 2010)

I see you have the same camera as I do...
Class 4, I think is what I got, it was sandisk ultra something or another and it is onsale at best buy 8gb for 30 dollars
If you have a sams club membership the same one is 20 dollars.. i wish I saw that before I opened the other one from best buy.


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## BRIANxJDM (Apr 30, 2010)

Cool, I can borrow my Aunts card, does Sam's also sell other camera accessory?


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## ababysean (Apr 30, 2010)

how long have you had your camera and where did you get it from?
I'm asking because I bought mine 9 days ago from best buy for 499 dollars, today I went back to get a lens and I was able to upgrade to the package with the 55-200 lens plus a 100 dollar camera bag for 150 dollars more!  That made my DAY!

I'm not sure if they have other stuff or not, I just looked at the camera and the card...


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## Boomn4x4 (Apr 30, 2010)

BRIANxJDM said:


> Someone once told me that the memory card makes a different for your pictures, is that true? If so what memory card do you guys recommend.


 
No, your camera will write a series of 1's and 0's to the memory card.  A 1 will always be a 1 and a 0 will always be a 0.

The media card that you write it is irrelevant in terms of picture quality 

Where the quality of the memory card may come in hand is read/write speed.  Higher quality cards can read and write fast alowing you to take continus shots faster, and you can review them faster.  Higher quality cards are also typically made of higher quality materials that are less prone to corruption and accidental deletion.


(for the record, this also holds true for video.  Picture quality is not influenced by the type of cabling you use... a cheap digital cable is just as good (video quality wise) as an expensive cable).


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## BRIANxJDM (Apr 30, 2010)

as of tomorrow it will be 2 weeks. I bought my D3000 from Samys.


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## ghache (Apr 30, 2010)

I did the test with a Lexar 133x pro class 6 4gig , a kingston class 10 4gig and a cheap class 6 4 gig.

the only difference i noticed it was when shooting burst of 4-5 pictures and over. the cheap one couldnt keep up. all other card were fine because of the writting speed being higher. 

there is no difference at all in image quality.


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## D-B-J (Apr 30, 2010)

SanDisk | 8GB Ultra CompactFlash | SDCFH-008G-A11 | B&H Photo

What class is this one? I cannot seem to find where it lists that information.


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## Goontz (Apr 30, 2010)

That's the equivalent of a Class 30 in terms of SD Cards (30MB/s, 200x). That's also CompactFlash, which is different than SD (Secure Digital).


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## ababysean (Apr 30, 2010)

D-B-J said:


> SanDisk | 8GB Ultra CompactFlash | SDCFH-008G-A11 | B&H Photo
> 
> What class is this one? I cannot seem to find where it lists that information.



Isnt this a totally different card???


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## Goontz (Apr 30, 2010)

ababysean said:


> D-B-J said:
> 
> 
> > SanDisk | 8GB Ultra CompactFlash | SDCFH-008G-A11 | B&H Photo
> ...


Yes, but also what DBJ's D200 uses.


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## TylerF (Apr 30, 2010)

the sandisk ultra and extreme will improve the recovery time of the camera and the transfer speed to the computer. i use a normal sd cards. nothing fancy and they work fine. best buy has 8gb sandisk for 24.99. cheaper than the 4gb at the moment


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## tom beard (Apr 30, 2010)

I have a SanDisk 2GB card, and looked through my D-90 manual.  Both the card and the manual makes no mention of what "class" it is.  I haven't shot any continuous (4+FPS)yet, and am shooting in JPEG Fine.  Never the less, I'm confused as to how to find out what class it is, and if it makes any difference if it's higher quality card.  Is this really important to know (for an amature) or should I just forget it?

Tom Beard


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## Goontz (Apr 30, 2010)

tom beard said:


> I have a SanDisk 2GB card, and looked through my D-90 manual.  Both the card and the manual makes no mention of what "class" it is.  I haven't shot any continuous (4+FPS)yet, and am shooting in JPEG Fine.  Never the less, I'm confused as to how to find out what class it is, and if it makes any difference if it's higher quality card.  Is this really important to know (for an amature) or should I just forget it?
> 
> Tom Beard


If you don't notice it slowing you down, don't worry about it.


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## cnutco (Apr 30, 2010)

I have a couple 8gb @ 30MB/s.  I had also thought about getting a slow and larger card to save money.  I stuck with the faster card as I thought I need them for sports.

To the best of my knowlege, they will last a long time.  So, I feel good with spending a little more.


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## Goontz (Apr 30, 2010)

cnutco said:


> I have a couple 8gb @ 30MB/s.  I had also thought about getting a slow and larger card to save money.  I stuck with the faster card as I thought I need them for sports.
> 
> To the best of my knowlege, they will last a long time.  So, I feel good with spending a little more.


You have CF in your D90? :scratch:


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## BRIANxJDM (Apr 30, 2010)

I want a good decent 4 or 8 G memory card


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## ajkramer87 (Apr 30, 2010)

Goontz said:


> cnutco said:
> 
> 
> > I have a couple 8gb @ 30MB/s. I had also thought about getting a slow and larger card to save money. I stuck with the faster card as I thought I need them for sports.
> ...


 
SanDisk | 8GB Extreme SDHC Memory Card | SDSDX3-008G-A31 | B&H

Id say he is using these not CF.


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## BRIANxJDM (Apr 30, 2010)

My price range is no more then 50 bucks because i am still saving up for a flash, what do you guys recommend?


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## Goontz (Apr 30, 2010)

ajkramer87 said:


> SanDisk | 8GB Extreme SDHC Memory Card |  SDSDX3-008G-A31 | B&H
> 
> Id say he is using these not CF.


Interesting. I have to wonder if it's really class 10, which should be  10MB/s, or some sneaky marketing technique. What's that asterisk mean? Sorry, but AFAIK, SD just doesn't go that fast; at least not realistically.


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## Derrel (Apr 30, 2010)

Go to the Rob Galbraith web site, and check out the CF/SD Performance Database page. it has the performance characteristics of many cards,in specific camera models, listed in a very easy to read format.  Rob Galbraith DPI: CF/SD Performance Database

Use the pull-down menu to select your camera, and then the data comes up. Very valuable resource, with exact timings on card performance!


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## BRIANxJDM (Apr 30, 2010)

My camera is not at that price range to be up there ahha. After a year or so I do plan on upgrading my Camera Body though.


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## Goontz (Apr 30, 2010)

BRIANxJDM said:


> My price range is no more then 50 bucks because i am still saving up for a flash, what do you guys recommend?


Get yourself a name brand card, at least Class 4, Class 6 if you can afford it. You really won't notice the difference (most likely), so long as you don't get a complete trash card, and you'll come *way* under that price range. Spend all your money somewhere other than the memory card.


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## BRIANxJDM (Apr 30, 2010)

Goontz said:


> BRIANxJDM said:
> 
> 
> > My price range is no more then 50 bucks because i am still saving up for a flash, what do you guys recommend?
> ...



Money ain't a thing but I just don't want to spend to much on a memory card.


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## Vinny (Apr 30, 2010)

If you're not going to use the camera for continuous shooting then any card will do. If you want to be a little "safe" get a faster card. I bought a PNY 8 Gb card at Best Buy for $25.00, it's a class 4 card. I took a series of shots at "low continuous" on my D90 with a Jpeg fine setting and it took about 2 seconds for the camera to stop loading onto the card after taking 4 shots. If you shoot Jpeg normal it uses less memory (less loading time), if you shoot raw it will take more time. Remember the camera has a buffer as well so it can take shots even if you are not 100% loaded onto the card. Once the buffer is full, the camera will not take any more photos.

BTW, Amazon has a Transcend 8 Gb class 6 for a great price. Here's the link: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-Class-Flash-Memory-TS8GSDHC6/dp/B000P9ZBFA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1272680282&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: Transcend 8 GB Class 6 SDHC Flash Memory Card TS8GSDHC6: Electronics[/ame]

Buy 1 for now but plan on getting at least a second.


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## BRIANxJDM (Apr 30, 2010)

My setting right now is on Fine Jpeg, my passion is car and nature photography, so what do you recommend?


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## Goontz (Apr 30, 2010)

Look here: Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Memory,Flash Memory,Secure Digital High-Capacity (SDHC)

Kingston, Transend, RiDATA, A-DATA, Patriot, Crucial, SanDisk: all are _great_ brands. Even if you don't know some of them for their memory cards, trust me, their name and quality are well know in computer memory (RAM). Get, at minimum, a Class 4, and you'll be happy. You can save a lot of money and be completely satisfied.


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## Vinny (Apr 30, 2010)

The link that Goontz gave has a patriot 8 Gb class 6 card for $20 + $3 shipping, the transcend card at Amamzon is about $22 - both are fast and cheap. You have a 2 Gb card now, with the 8Gb you should be set, 8 Gb on fine will give you about 1000 photos. You may not get into continuous shooting for a while and class 6 will be fast enough for now.


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## BRIANxJDM (Apr 30, 2010)

What's better class level or the mb levels?


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## Goontz (Apr 30, 2010)

MB = How _much _(or how _many_ pictures) you can store on a card. Class = how _fast_ the card can store and transfer data. In *my opinion*, the speed is more important.


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## Vinny (Apr 30, 2010)

You got the best of both with those 2 choices ... Camera can only take so many frames per second, class 6 stores 6 Mb/sec. 1000 photos are a lot of photos (Nikon claims a D90 battery can take about 850 photos per charge). 2 reasons to get a few memory cards - need more room and in case one gets buggy. Going on a weeks vacation may require you to use more than 1 card; having a spare will make a non functional card not ruin taking photos. Downloading 1000 photos is going to be a pain so theroretically you want to get them off the camera as quickly as possible.

If something matters more to you, then it's your decision. Personally I would not want to have 1 card of 32 Gb to hold 4000 photos and not have a backup in case the card fails.


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## eric-holmes (Apr 30, 2010)

Brian, I love how you have listed your memory card as part of your gear.


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## Goontz (Apr 30, 2010)

eric-holmes said:


> Brian, I love how you have listed your memory card as part of your gear.


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## Goontz (Apr 30, 2010)

Also, on that note, I do think you're putting _way_ too much thought and weight into your memory card decision, but I'm also trying to provide helpful links and informationn.


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## BRIANxJDM (Apr 30, 2010)

AHHA, well I just want to know which is the best choice to get, and someone did told me that a memory card does affect your picture/camera so I just want to make sure.


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## BRIANxJDM (Apr 30, 2010)

eric-holmes said:


> Brian, I love how you have listed your memory card as part of your gear.



Well it is part of the gear since thats where all the pictures goes after the capture LOL.


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## Goontz (Apr 30, 2010)

BRIANxJDM said:


> AHHA, well I just want to know which is the best choice to get, and someone did told me that a memory card does affect your picture/camera so I just want to make sure.



The only thing that it affects is how fast your camera can transfer to the card, or your card can transfer to the computer. Don't worry about it _too_ much! :thumbup:


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## BRIANxJDM (Apr 30, 2010)

Goontz said:


> BRIANxJDM said:
> 
> 
> > AHHA, well I just want to know which is the best choice to get, and someone did told me that a memory card does affect your picture/camera so I just want to make sure.
> ...



Alright, thanks man!


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## Vinny (Apr 30, 2010)

Memory cards do NOT affect your photos 99.9% of the time, they only affect your photos when they become unstable and they lose their memory. They only affect how many photos that can be stored and how fast they can be stored/transfered. If you take 1 photo a day every other day the slowest card will work and if you downloaded the photos once a week a 1 Gb card is all you need. But if you plan to shoot the action at the Indy 500 at the highest frames per second then you better get the fastest and highest Mb card you can get. These cards are just to hold your photos, all the manipulations are done either by your camera or by the software on your computer.


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## BRIANxJDM (Apr 30, 2010)

Mostly likey I will need more then 1 G because I do plan on going to car meet to take pictures/ coverage the show.


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## randpropz (May 1, 2010)

in my experience, using fast data transfer is the most important. Personally i use TOSHIBA 4GB for memory card, but beside that i also have SanDisk.


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## Rekd (May 1, 2010)

randpropz said:


> in my experience, using fast data transfer is the most important. Personally i use TOSHIBA 4GB for memory card, but beside that i also have SanDisk.



Bazinga!

You need to figure out how fast you'll be shooting and buy the card that can keep up. I shoot motorsports and have a camera that can do 8fps. With an 18mp camera I've had images come out at over 16 megs in size. 

A card that's considered "fast" can transfer like 30 megs per second (actually closer to 25), so that would limit my 8 fps camera to 3 fps of continuous shooting. The buffer in the camera will help, but you get the idea. If you're not shooting continuous you should be fine with a somewhat slower card.


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## cnutco (May 1, 2010)

Goontz said:


> cnutco said:
> 
> 
> > I have a couple 8gb @ 30MB/s.  I had also thought about getting a slow and larger card to save money.  I stuck with the faster card as I thought I need them for sports.
> ...


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## KmH (May 1, 2010)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital


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## BRIANxJDM (May 1, 2010)

I'm going to be going to my local Camera store to see what they have there. I think I'm going to settle for a class 6 or 8 8G


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