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Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Kingston Unveils SDHC/SDXC UHS-I Speed Class 3 Cards for 4K Video Capture

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Kingston SDXC UHS-I U3 64GB Memory Card

To go along with the new Panasonic GH4 4K camera that will be announced later tonight / early tomorrow, Kingston is first out of the gate with its official announcement of a new SDHC/SDXC UHS-I Speed Class 3 card in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities. The new Speed Class 3 card guarantees minimun write speeds of 30MB/s.

The minimum write speed of these cards translates to roughly 240Mbps, which fits well within the max on-board data rate of the Panasonic GH4’s 4K capture at 100Mbps for its IPB .mov/.mp4 4K capture and 200Mbps for its ALL-Intra .mov and .mp4 HD capture. Additionally, the new Kingston card provides max speeds of 90MB/s read and 80MB/s write.

Pricing isn’t all that bad either, considering the performance they offer. The 16GB cards run around $40 street and the 64GB cards are around $105 street. Check them out here on Amazon.com.

 

Lexar Professional Workflow HR1 4-Bay Card Reader Hub Released

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Lexar Professional Workflow HR1 Hub

Lexar has a smart new card reader hub that allows you to have an easy, desktop solution for the variety of card readers we use today. The Lexar Professional Workflow HR1 connects to your computer via USB 3.0 and has 4 bays that accept Lexar SD, XQD and CF card readers.

The card readers can be used when docked in the hub or as standalone card readers when you are on the go via USB 3.0 connections. When docked, the readers can be accessed simultaneous for a massive media import session. Of course, you can also switch them out depending on what your specific card type uses are at the moment.

The hub retails for $79.99. The SD and CF card readers retail for $29.99. The XQD card reader retails for $44.99. You can find them all here at B&H Photo.

Don’t Buy Anything Less Than a Class 10 SD Card

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No More Slow Memory Cards

I’ve seen a lot of deals lately on Class 4 and Class 6 SD cards mixed in with deals on Class 10 SD cards.  The price difference between these classes of SD cards is now nominal and, as a result, there’s really  no reason you should buy a Class 4 SD card anymore.

The prevalence of this problem came to light recently when a friend brought his Canon 60D to me, stating that it wouldn’t record video for more than a couple of seconds.  My gut told me to check the SD card first thing.  And, sure enough, he had an old SanDisk Ultra Class 4 SDHC card in it.  I swapped it out with one of my SanDisk Class 10 SDHC cards and it worked like a charm.

He ordered a new Class 10 SDHC card that day.  His 60D has captured video just fine ever since.

If you don’t already know, the Class-ratings on SD cards relate to a minimum write speed. When recording HD video, you need a minimum-sustained write speed in order to dump the data off the camera and onto the card.  In many cameras today, Class 4 (4MB/s) and Class 6 (6MB/s) cards just can’t handle the data transfers.

Class 10 cards are currently the fastest rated for minimum write speeds available and will handle video capture for most, if not all, current HD video DSLRs and camcorders today.

If you want to know more about SD card speed ratings and classifications, check out my article on Demystifying SD Cards.

If you want an easy recommendation, go with SanDisk Extreme Class 10 SD cards.

CompactFlash Assoc. Unveils XQD Memory Cards

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XQD Memory Card

The CompactFlash Association announced a new XQD standard for CF cards.  The new standard is based on the PCIe standard and should offer 125MB/s data transfer speeds out of the gate – with much faster possibilities later down the line.

Speed isn’t the only thing that has changed though.  The XQD cards (I’m guessing that’s what we’ll call them… but couldn’t we have stuck to only 2 letters?) are a completely different physical format, which means they won’t work in any current camera. [Read more…]

Kingston USB 3.0 Memory Card Reader

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Kingston Media Reader USB 3.0

Kingston has joined the ranks of USRobotics and Lexar with its launch of a new USB 3.0 memory card reader that transfers data among CF, SD, microSD, and Memory Stick formats.  The new card reader should be available soon at an initial retail price of $45.00. Check availability on Amazon.com.

For those unfamiliar with USB 3.0, it’s much faster than USB 2.0 and even FireWire. [Read more…]

SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-I SD Card in the Nikon D7000

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The Nikon D7000 is the first DSLR to take advantage of the new UHS-I SD card specification.  Unfortunately though, it doesn’t appear to take full advantage of that speed potential.  The Nikon D7000’s buffer seems to cap at 10 frames during continuous high speed shooting no matter which SD card is inserted.

I got my hands on the latest SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-I SDHC cards, which are due out in March, to see just how well they worked in this first-generation UHS-I camera.

While the difference between the SanDisk Extreme and Extreme Pro SD cards is marginal in the D7000, there is still an obvious difference.  After capturing the full complement of 10 frames at the D7000’s max frame rate of 6fps, the D7000 delivered the following results with each of the cards. [Read more…]

Demystifying SD Cards

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SanDisk 64GB SDXC

This article was sparked by a recent conversation I had with some folks at SanDisk.  We were talking about the numerous types and ratings of SD cards and how there are lots of questions from users about the acronyms, labels and speed ratings associated with SD cards.

In this article, we’re going to look at the different types of SD cards, along their speed class designation, and why these are important for you and your camera.  By the end of this article, you should have a better understanding of what works in your camera and why.  Moreover, you should be able to choose the right SD card for your camera and the way you want to use it.

[Read more…]