Yes, I feel rather stupid posting this question in the beginning of my third year, but I was a total newbie in photography when I started this project so show me a little mercy. : ) I was perusing Amazon today and looking to buy some bigger memory cards. In the past I’ve just grabbed them off the shelf based upon what size I wanted, but as I was reading reviews on Amazon, I noticed that there are other things I should be considering like class and speed. Can someone enlighten me as to how this affects my photos? Do I need a fast card if I’m not shooting video? Does the class of the card affect the quality of the photo?
You will need a fast card if you shoot sports.
Mostly because you will shoot a burst of raw photos.
And that would require more speed than the film shooting.
I don't think the class of card will affect your image quality, video and burst shooting can be affected though. There is also the transfer speed to keep in mind, faster cards have much quicker transfer rates when downloading them to your computer.
If you just use your camera for standard shooting then I wouldn't bother going for a super flashy card, but still get a semi decent sandisk one.
@lisjam1 the card does not affect the photo. The card affects the speed in which the photo is recorded. And if your card is from a poor brand, your photos might not get recorded.
To lose a photo is priceless. The isn't enough money to spend on backup and good memory cards.
@gabrielklee@domstarr thanks for the information. I always buy reliable brands, but I just wanted to make sure there wasn't something else I should be considering.
Here's another question: do you replace cards as they get older? Are they more prone to failure the more they are used?
@lisjam1 I've not had to replace any of mine, min are compact flash though which seem a little sturdier and lead me to believe they are probably a bit more reliable.
You'll usually find small errors happening as a memory card leads up to failure, longer transfer times/delays on saving the photo, errors in formatting etc. Once you start to encounter any errors I would just replace the card, as Gabriel said you don't want to lose any valuable images!
A class 10 card is helpful if you shoot RAW or in burst mode. The only card that has ever failed on me was the most expensive one I ever bought - a Sandisk extreme class 6, but that was after 3 years of non-stop use. I replaced it with a class 10 Sandisk, but I have also used cheaper cards and have never had a problem with any of the cheap ones.
I just missed an entire set of shots at the beach over the holiday. I was rapid firing to catch the waves. My camera was still reading and transferring, but I didn't wait. I lost about 18 jpgs and their raw. I now know what all that means...........................@lisjam1
The the speed class of an SD card is primarily a measure of what quality of video you can record on the card (Class 2 = Standard Definition, Class 4 and 6 = High Definition and Class 10 = Full HD). If you don't have a fast enough card for video you will probably drop frames and video will be "choppy" or even useless.
For still photography the speed class isn't that important. It will just take a bit longer to write the image on a slower card (your camera usually have a buffer where it stores images waiting to be written to the card) and a bit longer before your camera is ready to take another shot.
Memory cards are cheap so you might as well buy the fastest card you can afford, just don't pay more to get a class 10 card if you never record or plan to record Full HD video.
The best answer - I feel - to that question is 'a small one'
True, good quality ones are less likely to fail - but the important word there is LESS - I see friends shooting on massive cards that they only rarely get round to downloading/clearing/archiving
Good practice says use a card/clear a card after a short period of time - less chance of loss...
I've been using the own-brand ones from 7dayshop.com (for those of you that don't live in the UK - 7day is probably THE single biggest reason you should think about moving here - especailly if you shoot film too)
Never had any issues with their cards.
As for class of card? - well I see myself as a photographer, not a film maker - so it's not a major issue for me.
Another slightly quirky option is to do what a photographer I know does - he always shoots on 2gb cards, and once full he backs the card up to his HD's and stores the full card as part of his archive process.
With 2gb cards being a bout £2.50/$4.00 a piece not horrifically expensive a way to go - especially as he grew up on film like me - so will take his time to take 20 or 30 shots, not rattle off 500 in the hope of getting one good one...
I"m glad you asked this question. Now I understand why my burst mode seems so slow and here I was blaming my camera when it's the wrong speed card. I'm so glad I belong to this community --- learn something new everyday.
Can i just butt in since you're all discussing 'bout memory cards...i never save my pictures---(honestly)---so is it okey to always delete, delete and delete images from just one card and then format it..(again and again)..?---am using a class 10 with 16gb but after 30 to 50 shots i deleted 'em all and start all over again to shoot new images--is that okey to do or will affect/damage the card or camera?
So, I have some experience - and know absolutely that you should choose to "format" the card from your camera's menu as the cleanest way to start fresh with the card each time. Deleting leaves some remnants of files on your card. ALSO: I believe the one card I had trouble with was one of the Sandisk Extreme cards like Danny mentions above. Finally, one time my Lexar 32gb card showed all my pictures in camera, but in uploading to the computer, they couldn't be found by the card reader. I paid about $15 for the Lexar rescue software and it did the trick in reading the hidden files and finding all the photos that I thought were lost to me. And since, that card has never malfunctioned again. But it certainly can be a slippery slope! I have two 16gb cards that I trade between as well. Lisa, I think the most important thing you'll notice is as mentioned by so many here, it's the writing of data to the card and the uploading of files from the card where you will see the biggest difference when you get the cards with faster speeds.
@jodimuli This used to be my normal procedure...shoot, download and format. (I've got a bit sloppy lately) I've never had a card fail using this procedure.
@swilde --thank u--just worried that i'll break my camera by doing this..and glad to hear the card will not fail either :)----i dunno,i just love to shoot,download,delete and not really serious 'bout saving my stuff--i dislike old photographs,i mean,( like my high school younger days) nostalgic memories,etc--they depressed me-...haha!!
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Mostly because you will shoot a burst of raw photos.
And that would require more speed than the film shooting.
If you just use your camera for standard shooting then I wouldn't bother going for a super flashy card, but still get a semi decent sandisk one.
To lose a photo is priceless. The isn't enough money to spend on backup and good memory cards.
Here's another question: do you replace cards as they get older? Are they more prone to failure the more they are used?
In fact, no card i ever owned had problems.
So, i cannot tell. If i had any problems i might replace them, but it wasn't necessary.
You'll usually find small errors happening as a memory card leads up to failure, longer transfer times/delays on saving the photo, errors in formatting etc. Once you start to encounter any errors I would just replace the card, as Gabriel said you don't want to lose any valuable images!
For still photography the speed class isn't that important. It will just take a bit longer to write the image on a slower card (your camera usually have a buffer where it stores images waiting to be written to the card) and a bit longer before your camera is ready to take another shot.
Memory cards are cheap so you might as well buy the fastest card you can afford, just don't pay more to get a class 10 card if you never record or plan to record Full HD video.
True, good quality ones are less likely to fail - but the important word there is LESS - I see friends shooting on massive cards that they only rarely get round to downloading/clearing/archiving
Good practice says use a card/clear a card after a short period of time - less chance of loss...
I've been using the own-brand ones from 7dayshop.com (for those of you that don't live in the UK - 7day is probably THE single biggest reason you should think about moving here - especailly if you shoot film too)
Never had any issues with their cards.
As for class of card? - well I see myself as a photographer, not a film maker - so it's not a major issue for me.
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Feeling Blue - My 365
With 2gb cards being a bout £2.50/$4.00 a piece not horrifically expensive a way to go - especially as he grew up on film like me - so will take his time to take 20 or 30 shots, not rattle off 500 in the hope of getting one good one...
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Feeling Blue - My 365