What speed SDHC needed?

[Llamaman]

I'm about to buy my first DSLR - it's a Nikon D5000 which is: 12.3MP sensor / 4 fps / 720p video.

What speed SDHC card do I need to buy? I can see that Sandisk make an "Ultra" variant at 15Mb/s, and an "Extreme" variant of 20Mb/s or 30Mb/s.

Is the 15Mb/s enough for burst (JPEG only probably) shooting/video or should I go for the Extreme option? There's quite a price difference when you get to 16Gb capacity.

 

[johnnypanic]

SD cards have a speed rating. At the very least, go for class 4, but ideally you'll want class 6. Or push the boat out and go for class 10.

The higher the class rating, the greater the write speed, so the burst cache will be written to the card quicker.

I always use RAW files, which I recommend you to do, and have never had an issue with class 6 on both my Nikon D40 and D90.

Currently have a class 10, but only because I got it for a good price.

Also, it's better to have 2 4gb cards than 1 8gb. Less change of losing everything if the card fails.

 

[Nawty]

You need to check the maximum write speed of the camera - no point in paying for a super-duper quick card if the camera can't make use of it.

 

[Llamaman]

Thanks. The Ultra is Class 4 and the Extreme is Class 6. Guess I'll need to factor in a bit of extra cost