I know nothing about SD cards. Which are suited to the AF100?

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I bought some Panasonic Gold cards yesterday, and the sales clerk almost went into convulsions as he tried to get me to buy cards that were ¼ of the price. He kept trying to get me to explain why I would choose one Class 10 card over another that did essentially the same thing at a way cheaper price point. My continual repeating of Trust in Panasonic didn't do the trick - so he turned to my wife in a divide and conquer move… didn't work.

I'm not sure which will be worse; the memory of all those "why are P2 cards so expensive?" threads, or the coming onslaught of "why did my discount SDHC card loose all my footage" threads?

As I look at them sitting here on my desk though I still feel some unease at using mass market media to store footage that I make a living from… Have to believe it'll be fine, and in a few months I'll never give it another thought.
 
That is pretty funny that a sales guy would to such means, but I too have been there. You have to wonder if they are getting some kick-back from the other manufacturer or what. I mean they are a sales guy, don't they get paid for selling stuff regardless of which manufacturer? I now avoid the entire argument with them and just order on line. And yes, they are rarely in stock at our company store, so I have to pay real world prices for them. ;-)
 
Sandisk or Panasonic? Really?

I'm tempted to pick up of few of these:

http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/SP...rd---rdsdhc32g-lig10--80000E28-1282778708.jsp

I've never had any problems with Ridata cards for still photography. Video is really a different animal? I suppose it's silly to be cheap on cards but are they really worth almost 4x the price? Has anyone actually lost footage with "mid-range" cards. I too would never go with the ultra cheap no name cards but Ridata has never let me down.

Help! I'm about to decide. LOL

Thanks
 
derbrocks09 said:
Sandisk or Panasonic? Really?
I've never had any problems with Ridata cards for still photography. Video is really a different animal? I
Help! I'm about to decide. LOL
Click to expand...

The primary difference between a card being used for stills and one being used for video is that the still camera can select where to record if it runs into a bad sector. In video it just shoves it onto the card and all cards are not created equal. With stills I have never filled a card before I offloaded, in video you likely will, again and again. The cheap ones may have less than perfect areas on them and that makes them look reliable for a couple of uses and then, bam, the next time they don't work. and we all know when that is, when you need it the most. Don't skimp on cards, buy the best you can afford, you are putting your best effort on it.

Best,

Jan
 
From personal experience............Panasonic (I've only used Sandisk for still and it also works great). Using an Adata Card I lost a full day worth of footage that was impossible to recover, the card was fried and fell apart (literally...)
don't go the cheap quote if you really want to make money.....
 
Jan_Crittenden said:
The primary difference between a card being used for stills and one being used for video is that the still camera can select where to record if it runs into a bad sector. In video it just shoves it onto the card and all cards are not created equal. With stills I have never filled a card before I offloaded, in video you likely will, again and again. The cheap ones may have less than perfect areas on them and that makes them look reliable for a couple of uses and then, bam, the next time they don't work. and we all know when that is, when you need it the most. Don't skimp on cards, buy the best you can afford, you are putting your best effort on it.

Best,

Jan
Click to expand...


OK You've convinced me. :)

Thanks for the great advice Jan!
 
Yes, great explanation. Gracias.

FWIW, I know that I was really struggling about the lack of P2 on this camera. Although I am still a little freaked out about it, the fact that I am paying about 70 bucks for 16GB of space is softening the blow a little.

I'll never worry about whether a specific gig should require me to buy more cards again. :)
 
I've had great success with the Transcend cards. When I bought my 150 I bought 2 of the gold Panasonic cards and both went bad within a month.... Didn't loose any footage but they were highly unstable and unreliable. I know it's not across the board, but even the good cards can be a bit wonky... Panasonic was decent about getting me replacement cards and or a refund so it's cool.... Just relize that you should test them in the field to make sure they are good..


Also, handle with care too as they really don't like a lot of handling on the contacts and rubbing the back metal part is not a good thing as a PA did that on one of my shoots... thank goodness I caught it before we shot with the card....
 
Personally, rather than wishing for P2, I'm looking forward to using an external recorder. For less than the price of a few P2 cards I'll get redundant copies on inexpensive media.
 
Regarding cards for the AF100:

If you're planning on using Variable Frame Rate footage, you need at least a Class 6 card. If shooting normal 1080/60i, 24p, or 30p, or shooting 720p, then all you need is Class 4.

My personal choice in cards are the Lexar Professional, SanDisk Extreme, and Panasonic Gold (note: not the Panasonic Silver or Blue, but the Gold ones). The Gold are Class 10, but that's not why; they make a big deal in their marketing about how their Super Intelligent Controller makes the cards so much more reliable, and reliability is my A-#1 concern (moreso than speed, moreso than cost).

I know there are folks who will disagree with me, but I cannot think of any more foolish move than trying to save a couple of bucks on your recording media. It's just insanity to me. Everything you do -- all your hard work, all your actors and sets and costumes, all your lighting and grip and crew, all of everything that you do -- all comes down to the footage you record on those cards. If the card chokes -- how can saving $10 possibly be worth that?

Get the very best cards you possibly can, regardless of what they cost. Cheaping out on media is, IMO, profoundly foolish. I know there are folks that will say I'm "falling for marketing" but -- even if I am, I don't care. It's pennies in the grand scheme of things, whereas if it helps avoid a disaster, it's the cheapest and most valuable insurance I can think of. I wish it were P2 just for this reason alone, but if it's not P2, I'm at least going to expend every effort and every necessary dollar to get the most reliable cards that I can possibly find. And so far, for me, that means Panasonic Gold, SanDisk Extreme, and Lexar Professional.

Last words on this subject -- DON'T GO BUYING CHEAPO CARDS OFF EBAY. Just google "counterfeit CF card" or "knockoff SD card" to see why. There are absolutely unscrupulous sellers out there who are printing up their own packaging and making fake/counterfeit cards. Only buy cards from authorized resellers.
 
Dear Mr. Green,

Based on the SDHC card saga over at the HMC150 forum -- I suggest an article about recording media made a "sticky" to this AF-100 forum. Without something like this (or even with it) -- we're looking at two more years of people recommending Transcend cards in this forum. And, two more years of people blaming the AF-100 for Transcend card failures.

Thank you.
 
If people only take one piece of advice from this site, this should be it. Further, this wisdom extends to your archive media - don't cheap out on hard drives and shiny discs either.
 
I've been using SanDisk Extreme CFs and SDHCs. I've had bad experiences with Transcend SD cards, read/write failures and mechanical failures. They replaced the cards under warranty, but so what when it kept happening.
 
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