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Best SD Card

manhattanboymanhattanboy Posts: 1,003Member
edited March 2014 in General Discussions
Has anyone found anything better than the SanDisk Extreme Pro SD cards to help clear the pitiful buffer on Nikon's consumer cameras?
Has anyone tried the new UHS-II cards and seen if there is even a marginal improvement? I cannot find any data anywhere on the newer cards being tested.
I am looking for something like this, but with the newer cards:

image

Thanks!
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Comments

  • PB_PMPB_PM Posts: 4,494Member
    Since no Nikon DSLR's have UHS-II SD card slots, I doubt you'd see any real improvement.
    If I take a good photo it's not my camera's fault.
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  • ChasCSChasCS Posts: 309Member
    I have been using Lexar Professional SD memory cards, with out any problems.
    They deliver fast enough rates for my uses.
    Chas
    D800, AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR, B+W Clear MRC 77mm, AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR, Sigma DG UV 77mm,
    SB-910~WG-AS3, SB-50, ME-1, Lexar Professional 600x 64GB SDXC UHS-I 90MB/s* x2, 400x 32GB SDHC UHS-I 60MB/s* x1
    Vanguard ALTA PRO 263AT, GH-300T, SBH-250, SBH-100, PH-22 Panhead
    Lowepro S&F Deluxe Technical Belt and Harness ~ Pouch 60 AW 50 AW & 10, S&F Toploader 70 AW, Lens Case 11 x 26cm
    FE, NIKKOR 2-20mm f/1.8, OPTEX UV 52mm, Vivitar Zoom 285, Kodacolor VR 1000 CF 135-24 EXP DX 35mm, rePlay XD1080

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  • TaoTeJaredTaoTeJared Posts: 1,306Member
    That is pretty neat! I have never seen anything like it before. Unfortunately with so many cards out there, even a tester would have to spend $1,000 on cards to test.

    Just a FYI note: If you have Active D-Lighting on that will slow your FPS down.

    For me I take the average Raw/Jpeg file size from my camera, multiply that by the manufactures FPS to find the speed of the card to get.
    D800 w/o grip
    4 x 13mb (jpeg) = 52mb
    4 x 27 (raw) = 108mb
    With grip
    6 x 13 = 78mb
    6 x 27 = 162mb

    It seems most testers find that the cards actually run 80-90% of write stated speed. (Note most manufactures post "read" speeds not write speeds. If you run across this and can not find the write speed, I have found it is usually 60% of the read speed.) I always assume that any card will actually run at 80% of stated speed. So a 95mb will run at 76mb/s.

    So by that standard for the camera to perform optimally I would need a card that can do 78mb/s for jpeg or 162mb/s for Raw.

    Personally I shoot mostly Sandisk Pro cards, ProMaster Professional, and recently Komputerbay. (All can be found on Amazon and many "speed tests" are in the "images" for the listings.)
    The ProMaster Professional is what a local shop sells and they have always said they will take a used card back if it fails or I hate it. 3 years running, and they have not received one back from me. A bit slower than Sandisk Extreeme Pros though, but really not bad. I just won't use them for faster shooting. Price seems to be 60% or Sandisk or Lexar.
    Komputerbay is one I found before my trip this last Christmas and I am quite blown away with them - they are faster than my Sandisk Extreeme Pro cards and about 80% cheaper! Their customer service seems to be really good, and they are interested in feedback. In all my years buying stuff from Amazon they are the only company that has kept in touch and wanting to know any issues, opinions or anything else that they could offer. I will say that I had one of their better SD cards not work in an old Canon point and shoot (worked my in D800 fine.) Not sure the issue there, could be the old generation of Canon that is 6 years+ old. I have seen reviews that some duds get through QC but considering the communication they seem to want to have, I would venture they would replace it quickly. If your budget is tight, they are worth a look. I have moved them into my "go to" daily card over the Sandisks.
    D800, D300, D50(ir converted), FujiX100, Canon G11, Olympus TG2. Nikon lenses - 24mm 2.8, 35mm 1.8, (5 in all)50mm, 60mm, 85mm 1.8, 105vr, 105 f2.5, 180mm 2.8, 70-200vr1, 24-120vr f4. Tokina 12-24mm, 16-28mm, 28-70mm (angenieux design), 300mm f2.8. Sigma 15mm fisheye. Voigtlander R2 (olive) & R2a, Voigt 35mm 2.5, Zeiss 50mm f/2, Leica 90mm f/4. I know I missed something...
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  • Vipmediastar_JZVipmediastar_JZ Posts: 1,708Member
    edited March 2014
    I usually use Sandisk. At one point i had the lexar pro version if im not mistaken it was a 5 pack deal and 3/5 stopped working. I called lexar and they were willing to replace them but I figured I would stick to Sandisk and didn't want to have future issues. The lever for write and protect was flimsy and the cards later became unreadable. I still have one good card but its just for decoration now.
    Post edited by Vipmediastar_JZ on
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  • PB_PMPB_PM Posts: 4,494Member
    edited March 2014
    I have a good mix of mostly Lexar and Sandisk, but also some Patriot, and A-DATA cards, both in SDHC, microSDHC and CF flavours. I haven't had any of them fail in the last 5 years. The only card that ever had corruption problems was a 4GB Sandisk Extreme III 30mb/s edition and that only happened once (It is the oldest card I have, and it is still used in a D700).

    Generally speaking most of the brands work without problems 95% of the time, and there are only few companies that actual make memory for these devices anyway; Sandisk, A-DATA, and Panasonic for example.
    Post edited by PB_PM on
    If I take a good photo it's not my camera's fault.
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  • ChasCSChasCS Posts: 309Member
    edited March 2014
    Nikon used to have their own memory cards, some of the most expensive cards going at the time...

    I've trusted and followed this chart, for my D800, as at one point, it seemed pretty accurate.
    http://d800.org/nikon-d800-recommended-sd-and-compactflash-media-cards/

    I don't know if it's been updated anytime recently.

    Chas
    Post edited by ChasCS on
    D800, AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR, B+W Clear MRC 77mm, AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR, Sigma DG UV 77mm,
    SB-910~WG-AS3, SB-50, ME-1, Lexar Professional 600x 64GB SDXC UHS-I 90MB/s* x2, 400x 32GB SDHC UHS-I 60MB/s* x1
    Vanguard ALTA PRO 263AT, GH-300T, SBH-250, SBH-100, PH-22 Panhead
    Lowepro S&F Deluxe Technical Belt and Harness ~ Pouch 60 AW 50 AW & 10, S&F Toploader 70 AW, Lens Case 11 x 26cm
    FE, NIKKOR 2-20mm f/1.8, OPTEX UV 52mm, Vivitar Zoom 285, Kodacolor VR 1000 CF 135-24 EXP DX 35mm, rePlay XD1080

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  • ThomasHortonThomasHorton Posts: 323Member
    Perhaps the "best" SD card is the one that makes you slow down a little. :P
    Gear: Camera obscura with an optical device which transmits and refracts light.
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