Is it ok to use a class 6 or 10, and also 16 or 32 gb CD card

[Guy Mcloughlin]

The HMC-150 works perfectly with a good quality SDHC class 6 or class 10 card. The cards I use and recommend are:

Patriot Iris Series 32 GB SDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card : $66

Patriot LX Series 32 GB Class 10 SDHC Flash Memory Card : $75

I’ve been using Patriot cards for the past 18 months with ZERO problems.

Make sure you format any card you buy in your camera before using it, and I would recommend periodically formatting your cards in your camera. Meaning if you shoot every day, I would format my cards in the camera at least once a month. If you shoot only a few times a week, then I would format your cards every 3-4 months. This ensures that the file-structure of your card is error free when you go to use it, and it may also spot card errors before they effect a shoot. ( I am assuming that the HMC-150 does at least a basic card check when formatting a card. I have no idea if this is actually the case )

[Dave Haynie]

The memory card speed is a potential only.. if the camera can use the extra speed, it’ll go faster (in some way), if not, it still works just dandy, but don’t pay extra for it.

I have an HMC40, which supports the same PH modes as the HMC150 (at least, 1080/60i, 1080/24p, 720/60p, and 720/30p at 21Mb/s average). These are just dandy recorded to a proper class 4 card. So you’re fine buying a Class 6 or Class 10 card from a reputable vendor. Hopefully, anyway. The camera won’t see any difference, but the cards will transfer faster to the PC if they’re of a higher class (technically, the Class only relates to write speed, but it’s pretty unlikely that a faster card would have a slower write speed).

I have used nothing but 16GB (Class 4,6) and 32GB (Class 4) cards with the HMC40 until last night. I was caught without an empty card (forget my card wallet), and I had to run to a drugstore to buy a couple of SD cards (ouch! not cheap!). They had Class 4 SanDisk… “great”, I sez to meself, they’re reliable (unlike many vendors, SanDisk actually makes the flash chips that go into their cards).

Tragically, not so great. The first card worked like a champ, the second seemed to be a Class 2 card in disguise… the HMC40 refused to run higher bitrates recording modes with the card, even before I pressed “record” (which tells me it’s reading the card’s ID and just rejecting it, which is at least useful information… I’m sure the HMC150 would do the same thing). Now I’m wondering if I got conterfeits at Walgreens…

But it’s well shown that some manufacturers are exaggerating their SD card performance, or just not testing well. You wouldn’t expect it from a better known company: SanDisk, Kingston, Transcend, etc. Some of the cheap no-name brands have been shown in tests to vary widely from their ratings. And there are actual counterfeits around, even occasionally from trusted vendors. I’ll have to research this recent SanDisk issue. Best best is a card with a return policy.

-Dave