• DSLR Video

  SD Card questions

  Posted by Patrick Simpson on September 27, 2010 at 3:48 am

  I know this info is out there but I’m having a hard time finding it.

  I apparently need Class 6 SD cards to shoot video on a DSLR, is that the only spec I should look for? Or is Class 10 better? (I’m looking at a DSLR that uses SD cards.) Is Transcend a good brand?

  Also, what is the data rate of the HD footage shot on a Canon DSLR? In other words, how much footage can an 8gb card hold, for example?

  Errol Lazare replied 15 years, 7 months ago 6 Members · 7 Replies
• 7 Replies

• 

  Michael Sacci

  September 27, 2010 at 4:08 am

  Transcend class 10 maybe the best value out there. I have Toshiba Class 4 that seemed to be okay but for paying gigs I would not risk it, I would use at least class 6. The tricky thing is that not all cards are the same with regards to real write speeds.
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  Pete Burger

  September 27, 2010 at 10:23 am

  You can write about 25min of video on an 8GB card. Notice that files can’t be lager than 4GB, so you can write two files of about 12 minutes on that card.
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  Stephen Smith

  September 27, 2010 at 7:26 pm

  Yes, you want class 6 or better. I bought a San Disk and a brand I’ve never heard of. The brand I’ve never heard of needs to be re-formatted. Imagine if you lost everything before you where able to transfer it. I guess what I’m saying is don’t cheap out on the brand.

  Stephen Smith
  Utah Video Productions

  Check out my Motion Training DVD

  Check out my Motion Tutorials
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  Patrick Simpson

  September 27, 2010 at 9:42 pm

  Is Transcend a cheap brand?
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  Michael Locke

  September 28, 2010 at 1:05 am

  Hi Patrick, check out robgalbraith.com: under the CF/SD category is the”Card-to Computer; SD/SDHC Readers” article. It’s really thorough. What I got out of it was whether you need the speed shooting, you get much faster download times (especially if you have to offload to shoot). SanDisk Extremes seem to me the choice, but card size does matter. Good luck…ML
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  Michael Sacci

  September 28, 2010 at 2:16 am

  No it is inexpensive but it is not a cheap brand. It is highly recommended by some of the biggest players in the DSLR video world.
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  Errol Lazare

  October 10, 2010 at 4:52 pm

  I remember being overwhelmed at the beginning with which cards to use.
  I am finally happy with what i have:

  I use the Sandisk 60mb/s extreme card and it has worked perfect for me. No camera buffering like I got on the cheaper card (buffering basically stopped my recording because the card couldn’t handle the info recorded)(kingston 133x cards)Not fun.

  I use the 32gig verison of the Sandisk and even bought a sandisk FW800 CF card reader. It transfers 32gigs to my internal hard drive in 12-minutes. Definitely recommend it.

  I bought everything at BHphotovideo.com

  Did give you a little more insite?

  Cheers,
  Errol

  Errol X. Lazare
  EXL Films
  http://www.exlfilms.com

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