Suggested SD Card

[nantnee]

From a rookie's perspective, I think one thing that some people (including myself admittedly at first) were confused with is MBps and Mbps. Bytes and bits.

The 150 only records at max bitrates of 21-24Mbps which very easily falls under Class 4 cards (caps at 32Mbps) which the manual states. The new JVC GY-HM100U records as high as 35Mbps and won't take anything less than class 6. I'm sure most of you know this already, but maybe somebody doesn't.

As taken from wikipedia:

"SDHC cards will often also advertise a maximum speed (such as 133x or 150x) in addition to this minimum Speed Class Rating. See section speeds above for a further explanation. One critical difference between the Speed Class and the maximum speed ratings is the ability of the host device to query the SD card for the speed class and determine the best location to store data that meets the performance required. "Maximum speed" ratings are quoted by the manufacturers but unverified by any independent evaluation process."

I don't really think the max speed rate (150x) really means anything to Panasonic when they developed the camera. Class 4 and class 6 both work.
Take care.

Ya, the Mbps and MBps confused me at first and i still dont fully get it. But from what I under stand, having a faster card isnt only good for shooting, but also increases transfer speeds to the computer. 150x does sounds cool though =)

 

[Green Hornet]

The standard is a minimum standard whereas

Class 4 has a MINIMUM speed of 4 MB/s
Class 6 has a MINIMUM speed of 6 MB/s

So why would one pick a class 4 over a class 6 cards when they are not far off in price?

I am surprised this thread has made this many posts.

 

[Brad_C]

The standard is a minimum standard whereas

Class 4 has a MINIMUM speed of 4 MB/s
Class 6 has a MINIMUM speed of 6 MB/s

So why would one pick a class 4 over a class 6 cards when they are not far off in price?

I am surprised this thread has made this many posts.

Indeed. Class 6 should be looked at before class 4, but if people have existing class 4 SDHC cards, they will work fine. If you are buying new...then class 6 is a no brainer. IMO, 16gb cards are the only way to go at this point as 32gb cards are still overpriced. Give it some time and they'll come down to where they should be.

 

[booggerg2]

The standard is a minimum standard whereas

Class 4 has a MINIMUM speed of 4 MB/s
Class 6 has a MINIMUM speed of 6 MB/s

So why would one pick a class 4 over a class 6 cards when they are not far off in price?

I am surprised this thread has made this many posts.

People just like to argue about media. This is the solid-state era's version of the proverbial discussion about tape brand/lubrication..

 

[Jim H]

Ya, the Mbps and MBps confused me at first and i still dont fully get it. But from what I under stand, having a faster card isnt only good for shooting, but also increases transfer speeds to the computer. 150x does sounds cool though =)

Just to reiterate for those who haven't heard it before:

8 bits = 1 byte. Extending this out, 8 megabits = 1 megabyte. Therefore, a class 4 card, which does 4 megaBYTES a second at a minimum (hence the name), does 32 megabits per second minimum. And, of course, the HMC150s PH mode tops at 24 megabits a second with audio.

Hope that is helpful.

On another note, my class 6 transcend cards transfer at over 15 megabytes a second, way over the class 6 minimum.

 

[DaFireMedic]

So why would one pick a class 4 over a class 6 cards when they are not far off in price?

When I bought my 32g Class 4 Card ($79 a little over a month ago), the closest 32g Class 6 card I could find was double the cost. That's why I bought the Class 4 card, and somehow it works as well as the Transcend 16g class 6 cards that I bought in terms of transfer speed from card reader to computer.

 

[Jordan Berry]

I bought the regular Sandisk 8gb SDHC card and the rated 30mb/s Sandisk 7gb SDHC card.

I ran a test on both cards... these are the results...

(Using a panasonic SDHC card reader Mark gave me )