# Is there a difference in SD cards?



## pony (Jan 12, 2010)

Does it matter what type of SD card I buy?

Does "pro" or "platinum" or "gold" or "silver" or "extreme" or super duper really make any difference?
Is there any brand that you particularly like or dislike?
TIA


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## TJ K (Jan 12, 2010)

Well lets put it this way.. I wouldn't want to shoot an entire event and have my card fail on me. Generally you get what you pay for. Don't go too cheap but don't go and buy those 300 dollar or w.e. 64gb sandisks. I use a transcend SD card but Sandisk is also very good to use. Also I see a lot of people using lexar cards. GL
TJ


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## KmH (Jan 12, 2010)

pony said:


> Does it matter what type of SD card I buy?
> 
> Does "pro" or "platinum" or "gold" or "silver" or "extreme" or super duper really make any difference?
> Is there any brand that you particularly like or dislike?
> TIA


Yes.
Yes. Most camera users manuals list which brand & capacity cards have been tested and approved by the camera maker.

The trouble is, it's usually near the back of the users manual and way to many people never get that far into the manual, and never see the information. :lmao:


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## rallysman (Jan 12, 2010)

Speed is the biggest difference. Here's a couple Youtube videos from my SD780is. One is a cheap card (choppy video) and the other is an ExtremeIII
There is also a huge difference in transfer speed 

Click HD and let it load to see the difference. 

Slow card:





Fast card:





Notice the quick movements on the first video. I was intentionally trying to keep it from being choppy but in certain parts couldn't help it. I don't have many other examples because I went and bought a faster card shortly after seeing the poor performance from the fist one.


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## Layspeed (Jan 13, 2010)

TJ K said:


> Well lets put it this way.. I wouldn't want to shoot an entire event and have my card fail on me. Generally you get what you pay for. Don't go too cheap but don't go and buy those 300 dollar or w.e. 64gb sandisks. I use a transcend SD card but Sandisk is also very good to use. Also I see a lot of people using lexar cards. GL
> TJ



+1 I have a Transcend 8gb Class 6.  I was advised by a couple of photography friends that was more than sufficient.  They were not mistaken :lmao:  I will never keep 8gb worth of photos on my memory card.  The Class 6 is more than capable of writing photos continuously in burst mode.  I've personally tested it to about 30 photos and it kept up pretty well! :mrgreen:


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## Timothy (Jan 13, 2010)

if you put sd card into wiki then it will give you a decent description of the different ones, as has been said don't get he cheapest ones, or the most expensive ones, a decent size too, as layspeed said he isn't going to keep 8gb of photos on a card, 4 is usually a good size.

if you are shooting sports, or a lot of burt shots a higher class card is better but other than that a class 4 or medium card is decent


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## dearlybeloved (Jan 13, 2010)

from my experience with sd cards and other electronics is that a couple great quality 4gig cards is what i suggest because if your shooting an event with one 8gig card and your card dies on you then you are out all your pictures but if you have a couple 4 gigs then youll at least have one set of proofs.

 also, some cameras will tell you how many pictures you have left and i highly recommend not filling it to the brim if youre shooting RAW because it tell yous how many shots are left based on an average size of photos and sadly not all are the same size and it usually wont compensate for that in that number. so you could potentially corrupt the card and loose everything. thats my two cents.


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## Nyberg (Jan 13, 2010)

Intrestering thread  I have a 4gb card atm. I use to have a 8gb card tho. But one day when i was outside shooting i got some reeeeally great pictures but when i came home.. it was broken  
So now i keep 2 high quality 4gb cards in my bag  If one breaks, you can still shoot, and you wont lose so many pictures. There's always a risk


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## pony (Jan 13, 2010)

KmH said:


> Yes. Most camera users manuals list which brand & capacity cards have been tested and approved by the camera maker.
> 
> The trouble is, it's usually near the back of the users manual and way to many people never get that far into the manual, and never see the information. :lmao:



In my defense, I just got the camera...and the manual is about 6 times as large as the one that came with my other camera. I WILL get there 

Thank you all. I don't shoot sports or events and have never come close to filling my 8gb.
I will look into some 2 and 4 keeping in mind what you all have said.
Thanks again


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