Sd card types

Donk1166

Donk1166

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I've got a standard 16Gb card for my D5100. Does the type of card (extreme, high performance etc) really make much difference?
 
The higher performance ones work faster. Meaning you can take more photos per second. With a slower performance card the images will take longer to save therefore you can not take them as quick.
 
Isn't just slower to record onto the card? I thought the camera still took the photos it just took the card longer to catch up
 
That's why I'm curious. I don't take a lot of photography at multiple frames so if that's the only downside I won't invest in an Extreme model

I have to be careful as my wife is keeping an eye on how much my new 'hobby' is costing me!!
 
A faster card just means it doesn't take the card as long to catch up when taking multiple shots. If its class 10 or uc1 you will be fine. I have a 45mbps card and a standard class 10 and the difference is minimal. I expect the camera can't take advantage of the majority of the extra speed.
 
Dont think it makes much difference on the d5100.

As far as I know - only the D7000 supports the new UHS-1 speed.
 
When shooting in burst mode, the camera puts the images onto a buffer, which is very fast. You will get your full frame rate until buffer is full. The camera needs to empty the buffer onto flash to take the next shot (I.e make room for it on the buffer). The faster the SD card, the faster the camera can write to it, and the longer you can shoot at full frame rate.

With a d5100, Shooting in raw, using a scan disk extreme III card, I get about a dozen shots at 4fps before it slows to about 1fps. If I shot in jpeg, I get 100shots at 4fps (as the file size is smaller). I always shoot in raw!
 
Donk1166 said:
That's why I'm curious. I don't take a lot of photography at multiple frames so if that's the only downside I won't invest in an Extreme model

I have to be careful as my wife is keeping an eye on how much my new 'hobby' is costing me!!
Click to expand...

Dont think there is much price difference between them if you shop around - always go for the fastest card you can get - if you upgrade the camera at a later date it can take full advantage of it.
 
Sphinx said:
Dont think it makes much difference on the d5100.

As far as I know - only the D7000 supports the new UHS-1 speed.
Click to expand...

"The official burst test using a Toshiba 8GB UHS-1 SDHC are:

JPEG (all resolution and compression settings): 100
RAW: 16
RAW+ JPEG (Large size, Fine compression): 10"

Found several sources for UBS-1 support on google, so looks like the D5100 does support it.
 
Sorry - D5100 does support it - I was thinking of the D5000. doh.

However, both cameras (d5100/d7000) seem to max out at 30MB/s - so you wont benefit by buying a 95mb/s one.

sandisk 45Mb/s seem to good value at the moment.
 
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spacester said:
When shooting in burst mode, the camera puts the images onto a buffer, which is very fast. You will get your full frame rate until buffer is full. The camera needs to empty the buffer onto flash to take the next shot (I.e make room for it on the buffer). The faster the SD card, the faster the camera can write to it, and the longer you can shoot at full frame rate.

With a d5100, Shooting in raw, using a scan disk extreme III card, I get about a dozen shots at 4fps before it slows to about 1fps. If I shot in jpeg, I get 100shots at 4fps (as the file size is smaller). I always shoot in raw!
Click to expand...

I'm only a beginner so don't shoot in Raw. The higher frame rate is handy as I do sport & pet shoots.

Just found a 16Gb Extreme for £11.70, seems good value so I've ordered it.

Thanks for the advice
 
It really does depend on how you use your camera.
In post #5 you say "I don't take a lot of photography at multiple frames" but in post #13 you say "The higher frame rate is handy as I do sport & pet shoots" so you are contradicting yourself a bit there :)

I never take burst shots and use the cheapest cards I can get (£4 for 8GB cheap). These cards work perfectly fine for me.
 
Sphinx said:
However, both cameras (d5100/d7000) seem to max out at 30MB/s - so you wont benefit by buying a 95mb/s one.
Click to expand...

This is the limitation that should determine what grade/speed of card you buy. Once you hit the writing speed of the cameras electronics a faster card will make absolutely no improvement in writing speed or number of shots you can take before the buffer fills up.
 
Ernesto, yes I got a bit confused. It does happen occasionally. I'll have to be more careful on here or I'll get corrected all the time!

I'll probably find I don't see the difference but at least I'll have a spare card!!
 
Apologies for coming across a bit 'correcty' but it was an important point to help decide which card is required. Along with the camera speed point that Steve raised.
 
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