do you need a fast memory card?
- Thread starter topcat07
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Check the specs of your camera and look at how fast the camera writes to the card. This is the minimum write speed you would need. When advertising, memory cards often show their read speed, which is much much quicker. This isn't useful for taking photos but it is useful for transferring images to your computer.
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I've just found this that refers to the Nikon D7100. Although its based on the D7100 a lot of the information it contains is probably relevant to most cameras.
http://d7100.org/2013/03/sd-card-speed-comparison-for-nikon-d7100/
http://d7100.org/2013/03/sd-card-speed-comparison-for-nikon-d7100/
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Do you need it? No.
Will it improve the handling of your camera? Well yes, a bit.
So much focus is put on how quickly images get written to cards, but I have found that to be of little consequence for most shooting. I don't fill the buffer on my camera, or even get close, and yet I shoot things that are 'action' and often linked with fast cards. If you machine gun your shots, well then you need a fast card.
But I like a fast card anyway, as it makes reviewing images much quicker. No delay switching from image to image is a good thing, as is no delay zooming to 100%.
With my 5DIII I get a delay when browsing on the SD card which is limited to about 20mb/s wheras I get no delays on CF.
Will it improve the handling of your camera? Well yes, a bit.
So much focus is put on how quickly images get written to cards, but I have found that to be of little consequence for most shooting. I don't fill the buffer on my camera, or even get close, and yet I shoot things that are 'action' and often linked with fast cards. If you machine gun your shots, well then you need a fast card.
But I like a fast card anyway, as it makes reviewing images much quicker. No delay switching from image to image is a good thing, as is no delay zooming to 100%.
With my 5DIII I get a delay when browsing on the SD card which is limited to about 20mb/s wheras I get no delays on CF.
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A lot of people swear by fast cards. However, only a few seem to do any sort of comparison with slower cards to see if they really do benefit.
I found that, with my 7D, there was zero difference between a 60MB/s and a 1.5MB/s card in the number of raw images I could shoot before the buffer filled. And there was 1 second difference between a 60MB/s card and a 45MB/s card in the time it took to empty a full buffer. So there didn't seem much point in getting anything faster.
I found that, with my 7D, there was zero difference between a 60MB/s and a 1.5MB/s card in the number of raw images I could shoot before the buffer filled. And there was 1 second difference between a 60MB/s card and a 45MB/s card in the time it took to empty a full buffer. So there didn't seem much point in getting anything faster.
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well it goes like this for me, since i have had my 5DMIII i have taken loads of pictures of graffiti and i used a class 10 SD card, nothing fast and cheap to buy and its been fine, only time i noticed it was when using the HDR function, but friday i went to brands hatch and it was taking a while to wright the 13 shots i had taken to the SD and i had to wait to view them as well, not long but i did't want to wait. then i got a 800x 90mb/s CF card and those time are pretty non existent.
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To answer your question.Yes and No.
Yes if you must clear your buffer quickly, so you can try and fill it again. But no if all you do is take single shots of say static subjects.
I had a real slow 8Gb SD card , fine for 90% of my shooting. But, when the buffer on my D300s was full, this card took 4 minutes to clear that buffer. So, useless for when I was firing away at 7fps.
If you do say motorsport/action stuff at Max FPS then get a quick card.If you don't, then don't.
Yes if you must clear your buffer quickly, so you can try and fill it again. But no if all you do is take single shots of say static subjects.
I had a real slow 8Gb SD card , fine for 90% of my shooting. But, when the buffer on my D300s was full, this card took 4 minutes to clear that buffer. So, useless for when I was firing away at 7fps.
If you do say motorsport/action stuff at Max FPS then get a quick card.If you don't, then don't.