SDHC / SDXC Memory

[umuima]

So I'll probably getting the new 550D, excepting any unforeseen blunders in the model, and I'm confused with all of the memory options.

Can anyone shed some light on what would be an ideal memory card to shoot VIDEO with on the 550D? I've checked out the new SDXC cards, apparently they are coming out this month too, but $600 for 64gb card is pretty expensive...

 

[shaocaholica]

SDXC is to break the 32GB limit on currect SDHC cards. SDXC specification says 2TB is the max so perhaps this standard will be around for a bit. Just a bit.

I think you have to figure out what your needs are. the 550D is limited to 12min/4GB clips at 1080P. So on a 32GB SDHC card, you can fit 8x12min clips at 1080p. Maybe more if you disable audio (can someone verify this?). Thats 96mins total. 192min for a 64GB SDXC card and a whopping 24min on a 8GB card.

Write speed is probably going to be an issue so stick with the faster cards. I think others here can shed some light on which cards are too slow and which are OK.

You only have 2 factors to consider. Size and speed.

 

[umuima]

Thanks for the info.
I was also reading about "Class"

There's like class 4, class 6, class 10, etc. I was wondering how these affect compatibilities.

And yeah, what's a good speed?

 

[shaocaholica]

Thanks for the info.
I was also reading about "Class"

There's like class 4, class 6, class 10, etc. I was wondering how these affect compatibilities.

And yeah, what's a good speed?

I'm pretty sure class won't affect compatibility at all, especially for a bleeding edge camera like the 550D. Sometimes the card maker will use the class system, sometimes they will use the older system (133x, 266x, 300x, etc) and sometimes they will use the actual speed units like 10mb/s.

According to my math, if the 550D video is anything like the 7D, it will need at a minimum 6mb/s speed.

That corresponds to Class-6 or 40x. However, thats the minimum and you should try to give yourself some headroom in case the rating is over stated. Some times the manufacturer will list both the read and write speeds or some weird combination. Just be careful when reading the specifications and note that the write speed is what counts and will always be the slower than the read speed.

Just a quick search I turned up this 32GB card which should work well for video on the 550D:

http://www.adorama.com/VESDHCC632GB.html

There may be cards which are under-rated as well.