What SD Cards Do You Use?
- Thread starter newz
- Start date
Necktie Boy
Well-known member
First, SD card don't last forever. My buddy used to go through compact flash cards like water. His crews used them 7/24 and recorded 10 hours a day.
You should treat them with care. Keep the contacts clean. When not using them, keep them in the case. Format the cards in the camera. If problems are arising, format then with formatting software for cards.(I think SanDisk has software on their site)
You didn't mention what problems you are having. My other buddy had digital drops out. We figured out that dirty contacts was the problem. He makes sure that they are in the cases when not being used. After 3 years, he is seeing some problems. He will just replace them.
As for cards, I usually used SanDisk since most venders recommend them. For the JVC, I think you only really need Class 6, but everyone I know with JVC cameras, use Class 10 with no problems. The faster, the better.
What problems are you seeing?
You should treat them with care. Keep the contacts clean. When not using them, keep them in the case. Format the cards in the camera. If problems are arising, format then with formatting software for cards.(I think SanDisk has software on their site)
You didn't mention what problems you are having. My other buddy had digital drops out. We figured out that dirty contacts was the problem. He makes sure that they are in the cases when not being used. After 3 years, he is seeing some problems. He will just replace them.
As for cards, I usually used SanDisk since most venders recommend them. For the JVC, I think you only really need Class 6, but everyone I know with JVC cameras, use Class 10 with no problems. The faster, the better.
What problems are you seeing?
MidwestPhotog
Member
I've had good luck with Lexar and Sandisk, but I'd echo Necktie and treat them like tape stock. I try to keep track of how old my cards are, and when they eventually start getting me errors, I'll use that as a rule of thumb. Honestly, if you can get a year and a half of daily shooting out of your cards, I'd call that a win and plan to replace them every year or so. And if you can rotate them out so you're buying a few cards every 6 months, it shouldn't make a big dent.
When I was a chief, we used PNY cards in NX-5Us, and between the little write protect switch breaking off, and reporters losing cards, I don't think many even made it to a year and a half. I ended up slapping clear fingernail polish on the write protect switches before assigning them, since nobody shot enough to fill 2 cards in a day, and once that tiny piece of plastic snaps off, your camera will refuse to shoot anything.
When I was a chief, we used PNY cards in NX-5Us, and between the little write protect switch breaking off, and reporters losing cards, I don't think many even made it to a year and a half. I ended up slapping clear fingernail polish on the write protect switches before assigning them, since nobody shot enough to fill 2 cards in a day, and once that tiny piece of plastic snaps off, your camera will refuse to shoot anything.
There's a thread going on, on I believe DVX, about people having problems recently with SanDisk SD cards having the write protect tab breaking off and cards separating/coming apart. If the manufacturer has a list of recommended cards, I'd stick with cards that are on it.
Necktie Boy
Well-known member
R&G,
Haven't seen the thread, but two of of Pony cards broke at the corners. Replaced for free.
My buddy had two SanDisk replaced for broken corners. One piece got stuck in the slot of his camera. It took took out the slot. Lucky, there was a dead camera, and swapped card slots.
I think it comes form usage. My cards had a few years on them.
Haven't seen the thread, but two of of Pony cards broke at the corners. Replaced for free.
My buddy had two SanDisk replaced for broken corners. One piece got stuck in the slot of his camera. It took took out the slot. Lucky, there was a dead camera, and swapped card slots.
I think it comes form usage. My cards had a few years on them.
jeremycohn
Well-known member
We shoot on XDCAM EX but use the SxS to SD adapter, and I go through a lot of SD cards.
A lot of people say they're all the same but I've had the best luck with SanDisk Extreme cards. They've survived going through the laundry by accident and don't split in half quite as easily as some of the cheaper cards.
I did have a SanDisk card last week that became useless when the write protect tab fell off. They're almost disposable these days.
A lot of people say they're all the same but I've had the best luck with SanDisk Extreme cards. They've survived going through the laundry by accident and don't split in half quite as easily as some of the cheaper cards.
I did have a SanDisk card last week that became useless when the write protect tab fell off. They're almost disposable these days.
svp
Well-known member
I've been using the same 16GB and 32GB SanDisk Extreme Pro SD Cards for 5 years now and have never had a problem. Granted, I don't use them every single day but pretty often. The Sony NX5U says in the manual to perform what is called a "Media Empty" of the cards instead of just deleting clips or formatting the card. Sony explains that simply deleting clips or formatting the cards leaves file fragments on the card that, over time, cause serious issues and errors. A "Media Empty" is basically a thorough and complete delete and format of the card to remove these fragments. By doing this, I've never had a problem.
When I worked in Dallas, the station gave me two SxS adapters with SD cards in them. Photogs reguarly had issues with SD cards. What I found was if I removed the card from the adapter and put it in my PC and did a complete reformat every two weeks to completely wipe all fragments from the card, I didn't have the problems others had. Again, its better to go in and delete all clips rather than use the reformat option in the camera to erase your cards. The reformat in the camera leaves fragments that cause issues over time. I do the same thing with P2 cards and have never had a card fail on me yet.
When I worked in Dallas, the station gave me two SxS adapters with SD cards in them. Photogs reguarly had issues with SD cards. What I found was if I removed the card from the adapter and put it in my PC and did a complete reformat every two weeks to completely wipe all fragments from the card, I didn't have the problems others had. Again, its better to go in and delete all clips rather than use the reformat option in the camera to erase your cards. The reformat in the camera leaves fragments that cause issues over time. I do the same thing with P2 cards and have never had a card fail on me yet.
MidwestPhotog
Member
@SVP, oh my goodness; I definitely second the 'don't delete individual clips' message. I had some reporters on nx-5Us delete individual clips from their cards (despite specific directions to only ever do complete card formats) and end up with thumbnails that didn't match what was actually on the card. I think in the Sony file structure, they're in totally different folders. There's nothing like opening playback on your camera and seeing shots of a house fire, but popping your card into a computer and seeing nothing but press conference.
canuckcam
Well-known member
I'd second the Sandisk Extreme series. The build quality is much better than the majority of the cards out there. The cheaper cards split open along the joining seam which then of course, the write protect tab drops out (in my case, INSIDE the camera!) ... as well, the separating teeth between the contacts on the card are also the first things to break.
And FWIW, don't go on the "Class" of card. They are the minimum spec and the qualification is simply if the card during testing had, at any time, write data at that that speed. You want a card that can sustain a fast write speed because over time, the data is written in fragments, not sequentially like tape. The controller on the card is supposed to spread out the wear evenly on all the memory cells. This means that as you use the card, it theoretically slows down (probably ever so slightly) as data gets spread out and the controller needs to find each one. Now, I've never noticed this in real life but then again I also don't use the cheapest SD cards. And just to confuse you further, the UHS rating only refers to writing speed on UHS-supported devices.
The only cards that have been reliable and perform consistently are the professional level cards from Sandisk and Lexar. Ask the still photogs what they use... they're probably harder on the cards and switch them more often than we do.
Oh yeah - the Sandisk Extreme cards are able to survive multiple trips through the washer.
And FWIW, don't go on the "Class" of card. They are the minimum spec and the qualification is simply if the card during testing had, at any time, write data at that that speed. You want a card that can sustain a fast write speed because over time, the data is written in fragments, not sequentially like tape. The controller on the card is supposed to spread out the wear evenly on all the memory cells. This means that as you use the card, it theoretically slows down (probably ever so slightly) as data gets spread out and the controller needs to find each one. Now, I've never noticed this in real life but then again I also don't use the cheapest SD cards. And just to confuse you further, the UHS rating only refers to writing speed on UHS-supported devices.
The only cards that have been reliable and perform consistently are the professional level cards from Sandisk and Lexar. Ask the still photogs what they use... they're probably harder on the cards and switch them more often than we do.
Oh yeah - the Sandisk Extreme cards are able to survive multiple trips through the washer.
Focused
Well-known member
Ifs it's not to late to add a comment...
I have used Transcend CF and SD cards for a long time without any errors. Years. Some cards are getting 5+ years on them actually. They need to retire now that I think about it. Have never had a card "break" either. A few months ago I began switching over to SanDisk Extreme for higher write speeds.
Last week I was on a two day shoot for a show Pilot and a card I have used before (transcend 64GB) just blew up all over the place. Any clip over 45 seconds was corrupt. That includes an intervention, follow up interviews and some parting B-roll. Perfect timing for that first bad card. Couldn't even recognize the files in the camera.
I was the B camera so there is still footage in the A camera. Producers took the card to someone that might be able to rebuild the files. Still waiting to hear back. Grrrrr.
I have used Transcend CF and SD cards for a long time without any errors. Years. Some cards are getting 5+ years on them actually. They need to retire now that I think about it. Have never had a card "break" either. A few months ago I began switching over to SanDisk Extreme for higher write speeds.
Last week I was on a two day shoot for a show Pilot and a card I have used before (transcend 64GB) just blew up all over the place. Any clip over 45 seconds was corrupt. That includes an intervention, follow up interviews and some parting B-roll. Perfect timing for that first bad card. Couldn't even recognize the files in the camera.
I was the B camera so there is still footage in the A camera. Producers took the card to someone that might be able to rebuild the files. Still waiting to hear back. Grrrrr.
csusandman
Well-known member
Just cracked open my card case to see what I'm lugging around: I've got 7 cards in a mix of Lexar Platinum II (Class 10), PNY Pro (Class 10) and Edge (Class 8).
The Edge cards are original cards that were handed out when we got our JVC's umpteen years ago. I've gone through 10 of those since, but still have 3 or 4 of the original cards that haven't quite disintegrated yet. The Lexar and PNY's have held up well... so far. But I'm very protective and paranoid about my gear too. "If you take care of your tools, they'll take care of you."
The Edge cards are original cards that were handed out when we got our JVC's umpteen years ago. I've gone through 10 of those since, but still have 3 or 4 of the original cards that haven't quite disintegrated yet. The Lexar and PNY's have held up well... so far. But I'm very protective and paranoid about my gear too. "If you take care of your tools, they'll take care of you."
lisamontour
Member
I am a newbie but I use a Sandisk 8 GB SDHC card. It stores pictures and video pretty well. The only problem I've ever had with it is my old desktop wouldn't read it without a card reader, while my laptop reads it just fine. I like that I can organize my files into folders on the SD card.
marstaton4
Well-known member
Knock on wood I've never had any memory issues. For good measure I frequently also roll with a nanoflash, but I primarily shoot on a PMW-350 with MxR adapters and Sandisk Extreme 64gb cards.
In over 7 years of working in a P2 newsroom I can only remember 2 instances of having any memory issues, and that was recently with new gear. One was a 64gb f series card that had some strange errors that the camera wouldn't repair and the other was an issue with a write protect tab not being completely engaged on a microP2 card. These were other people shooting and trying to ingest so I can't say with any real certainty what happened. The old P2 cards and HVX200's were bulletproof. I fished one out of a dirty storm drain and that card still works fine 3 years later.
In over 7 years of working in a P2 newsroom I can only remember 2 instances of having any memory issues, and that was recently with new gear. One was a 64gb f series card that had some strange errors that the camera wouldn't repair and the other was an issue with a write protect tab not being completely engaged on a microP2 card. These were other people shooting and trying to ingest so I can't say with any real certainty what happened. The old P2 cards and HVX200's were bulletproof. I fished one out of a dirty storm drain and that card still works fine 3 years later.
canuckcam
Well-known member
I was shown a first-generation P2 card when they first came out and it was literally four SD-card sized flash memory modules with a RAID controller in RAID 1 configuration. So I can see how if even one module in each pair/set completely fails, that the P2/SxS card as a whole will still work. This especially given the performance of flash memory now.
Paul Anderegg
Member
I've had 2 SanDisk Extreme cards physically fall apart on me. One had a triangular edge by the contacts peel off inside my HM790. The other had a triangular edge by the contacts peel off inside my Macbook, rendering the SD slot unusable. My station says it will cost $500 to make the Macbook slot work again. Being issued Sony SD cards now. They don't fall apart, but 5-10% of the time when you insert them in the HM790, the record tab slides to the lock position, and you cannot record.
Paul
Paul