Best SDHC Card to get?

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nervtubeproductions

Member
I got one the HMC-40 Kits from B&H that included an sdhc card. Unfortunately the one they gave me only records at 15/mbs. I know the camera can record up to 24mps which is what I'm going to want to shoot most of the time. I'm looking for either a 16gb or a 32gb card that is trustworthy and can shoot at this level. Do any of you have a card to recommend?
 
nervtubeproductions,

Are you saying the card you got from B&H was a class 2?

As I recall the card shown on their web pages is a class 4. You may want to contact them to say the card they shipped you was NOT THE CORRECT CARD.


Bob Diaz
 
I'll second Transcend 8 & 16GB cards. They're inexpensive and I've had no problems. Also PNY has worked well for me.
 
By definition a class 4 should be 4 (mega bytes/sec) x 8 bits to a byte = 32Mbps.

How do you get 15 Mbps?


Bob Diaz
 
RadioShack is selling SanDisk "VideoHD" Class 6 8gb cards until 11/21 for $29.99...they should be more than sufficient for your needs...8gb only, but buy 2 if you need the space....that's a good price....
 
Microcenter sells 16G class 6!!!!! cards for $30. I have used them with no problems. Be careful their 4, and 32GB cards are not class 6, the 8 and 16GB are.
 
When reading the notation watch out for the following:

M vs. m The upper case M says "Million" a lower case m says 1/1000 I don't think anyone is selling cards with 1/1000 bits or bytes per second.

B vs. b The upper case says Byte and the lower case says bits. There are 8 bits to a byte, so 4 MB per second would translate to 4 MBps x 8 bits = 32 Mbps.


Bob Diaz
 
Before you try to record any critical video, test the camera and card first:

Step 1: With the card in the camera, format the card from the camera's menu. Very important.

Step 2: Try recording a bunch of clips either 720/60p or 1080/30p. With later runs, try 720/30p, 720/24p, and 1080/24p. All of these modes are at the highest quality setting.

Step 3: Try to play back the clips from the camera. If you have a way to play the clips into an HDTV, so much the better.

Assuming the clips play back without any problems, re-do steps 1 --> 3 several times. Consider this a practice run to get used to the camera and the camera's features.

If there's a problem, it might be the card, but it also might be something done incorrectly. For example, failure to format the card in the camera, may cause problems.

I hope this helps,


Bob Diaz
 
BobDiaz said:
Before you try to record any critical video, test the camera and card first:

Step 1: With the card in the camera, format the card from the camera's menu. Very important.

Step 2: Try recording a bunch of clips either 720/60p or 1080/30p. With later runs, try 720/30p, 720/24p, and 1080/24p. All of these modes are at the highest quality setting.

Step 3: Try to play back the clips from the camera. If you have a way to play the clips into an HDTV, so much the better.

Assuming the clips play back without any problems, re-do steps 1 --> 3 several times. Consider this a practice run to get used to the camera and the camera's features.

If there's a problem, it might be the card, but it also might be something done incorrectly. For example, failure to format the card in the camera, may cause problems.

I hope this helps,


Bob Diaz
Click to expand...

Will you recommend shooting in sd card for wedding and event ...or in non repeated situation . We need to shoot with confidence. Are there any 100 % solution in sdhc format recording.
 
BobDiaz said:
Before you try to record any critical video, test the camera and card first:

Step 1: With the card in the camera, format the card from the camera's menu. Very important.

Step 2: Try recording a bunch of clips either 720/60p or 1080/30p. With later runs, try 720/30p, 720/24p, and 1080/24p. All of these modes are at the highest quality setting.

Step 3: Try to play back the clips from the camera. If you have a way to play the clips into an HDTV, so much the better.

Assuming the clips play back without any problems, re-do steps 1 --> 3 several times. Consider this a practice run to get used to the camera and the camera's features.

If there's a problem, it might be the card, but it also might be something done incorrectly. For example, failure to format the card in the camera, may cause problems.
Click to expand...

I agree with Bob's recommendations. I was able to find problems with a card by going through a process very similar to what he suggests: multiple runs at high bitrates being the key.
 
Mark Whalen said:
I agree with Bob's recommendations. I was able to find problems with a card by going through a process very similar to what he suggests: multiple runs at high bitrates being the key.
Click to expand...

its a great precaution to take . very good advice.
key question ...where is the confidence in the product.
For ex1, if the media is corrupted, you can recollect media.
I heard of sd card corrupted and it cant be read by any computer.
there goes your years of reputation in your work.
 
vocare said:
Will you recommend shooting in sd card for wedding and event ...or in non repeated situation . We need to shoot with confidence. Are there any 100 % solution in sdhc format recording.
Click to expand...

Nothing is 100% perfect and all technology is subject to potential failure. The trick is making sure you are in the 99.9+% range...

The issue of which card brands to purchase has been covered in the HMC150 section. I would never risk a potential failure with low cost/low quality cards.

The next step is to go through the three steps I listed above 10 times. If the card still works without a problem after 10 times of usage, the chances of a failure are reduced. Remember you use the card, download it, and reuse it again for other things. Oddly, more useage without problems increases the assurance that it will NOT fail. (OK, after 10,000 - 100,000 cycles it might fail, but for the next 1,000 cycles, the failure rate is VERY low.)

A number of people have posted that they like to use the 8GB cards. There are 2 factors that cause people to go for the 8GB cards: (1) This amount can be burned onto a 8.5GB DL DVD. (2) In the unlikely event of a failure, the other cards still hold something. However, a single 32GB card failure would result in nothing.

Have a limit of liability clause in the contract. This would state that the limit of payment in the event of failure would be the money they paid you. Without this, they could try to soak you for the cost of the wedding.



Bob Diaz
 
Had my first card errors today in the HMC40. Was using a Patriot 16GB class 6. Formatted card in camera first, then got an error. Went to playback mode and it repaired the clip. Then got another error and would no longer record to the card or view in playback mode. Put a Transcend in and went on with the day. Bums me out as I just ordered another Patriot card.
 
vocare said:
its a great precaution to take . very good advice.
key question ...where is the confidence in the product.
For ex1, if the media is corrupted, you can recollect media.
I heard of sd card corrupted and it cant be read by any computer.
there goes your years of reputation in your work.
Click to expand...

I want to point out, that with quality cards AND pre-testing the cards, the chances of failure are very low, but in the event of a failure, here's what is found n the user's manual:

moz-screenshot.png
In the event the SD Memory Card is removed while the SD Memory Card access lamp is flashing, or the battery or DC cable is disconnected during a recording or recording finalization process, a repair verification screen will appear the next time the power is turned on to allow errors to be repaired.

Select YES to begin repairing. When repairing is complete, “REPAIR FINISHED” will be displayed, and the camera will switch to the recording paused screen. Select NO to switch directly to the recording paused screen without repairing.

Memory cards cannot be repaired with the camera if NO is selected, but can still be repaired by using the AVCCAM Restorer∗ contents repair software.

An SD Memory Card on which an error occurred can be repaired by using either the camera that was used for the shooting, or the AVCCAM Restorer contents repair software.

A repair confirmation message may be displayed after inserting an SD Memory Card which has no error, but repair will not be performed even when
YES or NO is selected.

Repair may take up to 10 minutes or so depending on the places where the errors occurred on the card.
Click to expand...

So, recovery may be possible....


Bob Diaz
 
BobDiaz said:
I want to point out, that with quality cards AND pre-testing the cards, the chances of failure are very low, but in the event of a failure, here's what is found n the user's manual:



So, recovery may be possible....


Bob Diaz
Click to expand...


thanks for sharing. what if in the situation when there is card error message appear and the sd card cant be read on other computer. This happen to one of the videographer when he was in the mid of shoot. can imagine the panic expression on his face
 
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