What Kind of SD Card to Use with a DSLR?

[Mac Addiction]

Hey Everyone. I've been talking to several photographers, and I am about to go ahead and make my DSLR purchase. Just a quick question, does it matter what kind of SD card I use with my DSLR? I mean, can I just use a regular SD card or do I need an SD Card "extreme." Just need a little light on this because one person said that the camera cannot process your images with a "lower standard" SD Card.

Thank you for the replies in advance.

-Mac Addiction

 

[flosseR]

Actuallythe processing is done quickly, its the storing. that means the speed with which the camera writes to the card. Personally I use Class 10 SDHC cards from Lexar. Lexar, Transcend and Sandisk are the only ones I would go with for speed and reliability. Make sure you get the fastest card you can afford. Rather get a couple smaller sized ones but faster ones. So rather get 2 class 10 4GB cards instead of a class 8 8GB card.

Of course it also depends if your DSLR can write that fast out but at least your card won't be the bottleneck.

bottom line: get the fastest that you can afford and rather split up the size but increase the speed.

 

[mackmgg]

I have two. If I plan on shooting videos, or burst photos I have a PNY 16GB Class 10. For most shooting I use an Eye-Fi Geo X2. The ability to upload straight to my iPhone as I'm shooting then edit/share on-the-go is worth the slightly slower speeds (Class 6 vs Class 10) and capacity (Which isn't much of a problem once they're on my iPhone).

 

[h1r0ll3r]

Yeah, get the fastest one you can afford. Size is really up to you but 8GB/16GB is probably a good start. From personal experience, I'd stay away from bargain SD cards, i.e. cards from manufacturers you've never heard of or generic looking SD cards. They may be cheaper than SanDisk or PNY but their quality is really hit or miss. Mostly on the miss side.

 

[rusty2192]

I have had great luck with Transcend cards. I got all of mine from Amazon for dirt cheap. You can get a class 10 8GB for about $13 or 16 GB for $26. I have 4 of the 8 GB varieties that get swapped in and out of my DSLR, point and shoot, and held-held video camera.

Depending on what camera you have, you may be fine with a class 6. I have a class 6 16 GB card that I haven't noticed any slow down due to transfer speed on my T2i. But on Amazon, it's only an extra dollar or two to step up to class 10, so it would be crazy not to just get the fast one.

 

[mackmgg]

They may be cheaper than SanDisk or PNY but their quality is really hit or miss. Mostly on the miss side.

Especially considering PNY and SanDisk aren't too expensive anymore. I bought a 16GB PNY Extreme Class 10 on Amazon for only $25, which is around the same that a no name class 10 would be, and it works much better.

 

[tinman0]

Hey Everyone. I've been talking to several photographers, and I am about to go ahead and make my DSLR purchase. Just a quick question, does it matter what kind of SD card I use with my DSLR? I mean, can I just use a regular SD card or do I need an SD Card "extreme." Just need a little light on this because one person said that the camera cannot process your images with a "lower standard" SD Card.

The max speed of any card is regulated by the speed of the camera's bus. Put a fast card in a slow camera and the card will only be as fast as the camera.

So if you buy a card that outruns the camera's internal bus you have no benefit in buying the more expensive and faster card. (Apart from downloading the pictures from a card reader of course).

However.

Cards these days don't cost much, so might as well go for a decent branded but fast card.

====

If you use Ebay, go for a good Ebay seller, and when you get the card (in fact you should do this with all cards), mount it on your machine, and then copy files onto the card until it fills up. Make sure that if the card is a 16G card, that you have 16G of data on it. Many cards these days are scams. They will read as a 16G card, they will format 16G, but they might only take 1G of data.

 

[davidinva]

I have always used SanDisk, but recently purchased some PNY SDHC cards (4, 8, and 16 GB) and they work fine. I use both with my DSLR and my point-and-shoot.