SD cards for my Pentax

[sarah24]

I currently use Sandisk Ultra II 2GB cards. I am not sure if they are a fast enough card for my K200D (can't seem to find the write specs anywhere) or possibly don't need that fast a card. I would like to pick up a couple more cards before our trip to the World.

Any suggestions/recommendations?
Thanks for the help!

 

[WVDisGeek]

Sorry, accidentally posted under my wife's screen name!

 

[Groucho]

My main card in my K20D is a Transcend 8gb class 6 card. I believe it writes at somewhere around 14-16m/sec, versus the Sandisk which is no more than 10 (if that.) Class 6 cards have to write at least 6m/sec... I also have a PQI 8gb class 6 card which is astounding slow, it seems to take forever to write out the files. To the point where I'm considering letting it "trickle down" to my wife's camera and I'll pick up another Transcend.

NewEgg often has the card for around $30. It's currently $29.50 + $6 shipping, it's sometimes on sale for even cheaper.

I'd definitely go with one of those over the Sandisk.

 

[WVDisGeek]

Thanks Groucho!
The Sandisk cards have been very reliable in the past and I think the 10m/sec is about right from the specs. My concern is am I spending more $ than necessary for a faster card than the K200D really needs? Would a class 4 card be sufficient? The K200D only shoots at 2.7 frames/sec.

$30 for a 8GB card is a pretty sweet price though! May be too good to resist!

 

[Steve's Girl]

I know sandisk has the write speeds on their website. I like sandisk simply because I have never had one go bad on me. Can't say that for any other brand of card I have owned. I know for my camera, Nikon D80, the Ultra II card is as fast as my camera can write. But I do have a couple Extreme III cards because they were on a really good sale and they download to the computer really fast.

 

[Groucho]

Sandisk cards certainly go bad, several people here have experienced it first-hand... though when buying any card, I'd want to make sure that it had a lifetime warranty.

IMHO much of the extra cost is for the "Sandisk" name itself. Extreme 3 cards are quite fast (claimed 20m/sec write speed) but pretty pricey. Although not as much as they used to be... but they're still a good 2x more than the competition.

WVDisgeek, the nice thing about the Transcend is that you're really not paying extra, that's about as cheap as you can get an 8gb card. Even the "Ultra II" Sandisk 8gb card is a lot more - 2x as much at NewEgg.

The continuous shooting speed is only part of it, you want a fast write speed to make the camera more responsive, for example it affects how quickly you can review your photos after taking them, etc.

 

[WVDisGeek]

Thanks for the suggestions/opinions.

Like any electronic item, I know a SanDisk card can fail and I am sure they have.

I do like the idea of speeding up the download to the computer. With several hundred shots, it does take awhile.

I will be sure to check out NewEgg when pricing new cards.