are there any "professional" sd cards?

sideside

sideside

Member
Just upgraded from a DVX, and I'm worried about my data just "floating" there in static ram sd cards, at least with tapes you KNEW your data was there.

I've had LOTS of usb sticks and sd cards just decide to die in the past (im a computer tech) and having a wedding that I can't re-shoot on one makes me uneasy.

what brand of SDHC does everyone use? does anyone know if there is a "professional" brand built to a higher standard that your average card?

TIA!:thumbsup:
 
I've heard reports on this forum of every major brand, including Panasonic and the SanDisk extremes failing. Granted, I only heard one from each of those contrasted with a dozen or more from cheap brands like A-Data, but if data security is of paramount importance to you, you might want to consider the HPX-170. Frankly I've never lost any data, and I think most people on this forum haven't, either. Who knows what the actual failure rate is. But from time to time we keep getting reports of someone who's lost half a wedding and needs to recover it (some succeed, others don't).

Personally I wish Panasonic would give us redundant SD slots and be done with it (the chance of two dying are so much smaller), but I'm not holding my breath.

That all said, SanDisk Extreme and Panasonic are the two most expensive brands I'm aware of and from what I've read they seem to be the more reliable. I've only used Patriot and Transcend cards.

Hopefully others can chime in with their experiences, too. Good luck. :)
 
I've been using 3 Transcend a Delkin (all 16GB) on a regular basis, and the only problem I've ever had is one of the Transcend cards cracked and appears 'write protected' in the camera, but my SD reader sees it just fine. Some Super Glue will fix that when I get around to it.

An A-Data 16GB I have gives me a repeatable error on the 150, but checks out fine on a PC, so that stays away from my kit.

There are apps (HD Tune Pro comes to mind) that will do several passes of writes to the entire card, makes sure every memory bit works. I think two or three writes like this, if it passes, then the card isn't faulty.

Then put it in the 150 and fill the card with a few recordings. Do a quick review (in-camera) and if things look good, I would say any failure in the card is just the Fates of the Gods.

SDHC makers would need to provide some real hard numbers to convince me to spend triple or more on a 'pro' card. "100x more reliable than regular SDHC cards" won't do it.

When I change locations (say from the office interview to a factory floor for b-roll) I change cards. This way if something _ever_ happened, it would only be one spot that I need to re-shoot. I also backup everything at the end of a shoot day, to my netbook and an external HDD I keep on my person at all times.
 
I only use Panasonic and Sandisk extreme cards. 7 Panasonic and 1 Sandisk.

I didn't lost any footage at this time.
 
IMO the top brands are the Panasonic Gold, SanDisk Extreme, and Lexar Gold (in no particular order). And even then, they're only tops if you get a genuine one -- there's plenty of fake/knockoff cards being sold on ebay. Buy a genuine card from an authorized retailer and you should be pretty safe.
 
I use both the Panasonic Gold and SanDisk Extreme III's.... never had a problem with either.
 
have had a kingston for more than a year now. never failed on me. it would probably die anytime in the future but i dont think its anytime soon... :)
 
Check out www.mxmexpress.com as they test and list cards for use in EX cameras with adapters. ATP Promax get a very good rap, so I've just ordered one to replace two A-Data cards that have failed me, (luckily with no data loss).

Cheers,

Vaughan
 
I got the feared "Check Card" message with a Delkin, data lost forever (Thankfully nothing important). Since then I got some SanDisk Extremes, and followed a procedure recommended by someone at B&H, which is to format the card in the camera 6-7 times. Apparently most failures happen within the first few formats, so that if it passes the test, it's more likely to be reliable. But I'm still scared everytime I shoot with my 150, and wonder if I should've sprung for the 170 instead.
 
I'm going with some 16GB Toshiba Class 10 cards... seems good so far.

The first important shooting will be on the upcoming weekend - so i hope everything runs fine :)
 
TheDingo said:
I've been using Patriot cards for more than a year now with no problems at all.

About 4 months ago I switched to Patriot IRIS cards, which are made for professional video work, and have a 5 year warranty.

Patriot Iris 32GB Secure Digital High-Capacity (SDHC) Flash Card : $85
Click to expand...


hmm did you read the reviews of that card?
half the people there are saying the card corupeted there data or flat out didnt work.

i think canon did it right when there Mpeg2 based HD codec for dv tapes
 
Well i'm back now from the shooting... a wedding.

I used as earlier mentioned "Toshiba 16GB SDHC Cards Class 10" (the white ones...)

I had 4 of these cards - formatted all inside of the camera before shooting.

Shooting was fine - no problems with these cards.


The only downside i found: The transfer rate to my Pc is very slow but that could be my USB-Port or old SDHC adapter... :)
 
I use Patriot cards with very good luck so far, only failure was due to one cards case chipping after some pretty heavy use this last year.
 
sideside said:
hmm did you read the reviews of that card?
half the people there are saying the card corupeted there data or flat out didnt work.
Click to expand...

Yes, I've read the NewEgg reviews, but I think most of these problems are related to people using consumer cams.

I own four 32 GB Patriot IRIS and six 16 GB Patriot "Blue" Class 6 SDHC cards, and I haven't experienced any problems myself using my HMC-150, Canon HG21, or a friend's Canon 7D / T2i cameras.

sideside said:
i think canon did it right when there Mpeg2 based HD codec for dv tapes
Click to expand...

Yes, for people using Final Cut Pro or older computers, the Canon CODEC makes a lot of sense. ( AVCHD video requires newer software and a powerful CPU to decompress quickly )
 
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ATP Promax. Class 10.

On par with Sandisk Extreme though at a tad slower read speed (22.5 MB/s vs 33 MB/s).

Both are resin encapsulated and have an extreme temp and g-shock rating.

ATP Promax are lower in price than the Sandisk's.

I've had "regular" cards crack on me so now it's industrial rated or nothing!

SIP_SD.jpg


SIP_four_adv.jpg


Vaughan, I feel your pain. Had a 32GB A-Data gold die on me in the middle of a live shoot. Had to send it in to A-data for data retrieval. Then the replacement card cracked from inserting into camera.
 
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I've been doing most of my shooting with the SanDisk Extreme III (8gb) with no problems. I also have one Panasonic 16gb that was a rebate offer when I bought the camera, also no problems.

Like what was said earlier, I always change cards when changing venues. The Ceremony is on one card and then I switch. I also keep all of my cards in a hard metal case that is carried on me at all times. A, so I don't lose them and B, so they don't get damaged.

I archive using Toast 10 right to DVDs when I get to the studio and then Log and Transfer into FCP. It takes some time over USB, but I also haven't upgraded to the latest FCP yet.
 
Danny1280 said:
I got the feared "Check Card" message with a Delkin, data lost forever (Thankfully nothing important). Since then I got some SanDisk Extremes, and followed a procedure recommended by someone at B&H, which is to format the card in the camera 6-7 times. Apparently most failures happen within the first few formats, so that if it passes the test, it's more likely to be reliable. But I'm still scared everytime I shoot with my 150, and wonder if I should've sprung for the 170 instead.
Click to expand...

Ditto here. Two failures with Delkin. First failure they retrieved the data. Second failure happened last week. I hope they can retrieve this. I will never use Delkin again.
 
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