What SD card should I get?

[sallysue66]

I have a Nikon D3000 and I need a new memory card. The one I have is a cheapie and it takes a while for my pictures to save. What should I look for and expect to pay? I mainly take the usual family pics and DD's soccer games. Thanks.

 

[Markie Mouse]

You want to make sure it's a class 10 card. They have a 16GB(class 10-30MB/s speed) on sale at Best Buy for $35. Another thing to think about is capacity vs convenience. By that I mean you can go big and get a 32GB card but think about how long it would take to get 5700 pics off you camera, or even scroll through them in playback mode. If that's not a big drawback, they have a class 10 32GB for $97. I use the Sandisk Extreme Pro 16GB class 10 UHS class 1 45MB/s for my cam but it's a bit pricy, and I only own it because of employee discount.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

You don't need a class 10 card for your camera. You don't have video on the Nikon D3000 so you could use any class card (class 6's are usually recommended for cameras with video).

http://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/16543/~/approved-sd-cards-for-d3000

Personally, I use class 6 cards on my non-video 10 mp cameras. I have used class 4's with no adverse affects. As far as size, that is a personal decision as far as what mode you shoot in and how many images you want in your camera at a given time (See above webpage for Nikon recommended sizes). I shoot JPEG and Raw and use 8gb cards. That gives me about 367 images per card, which I find sufficient. In the past year, I purchased a 16mp camera and 8mb cards only give me about 162 images per card. This I find restrictive and am moving to 16mb cards for that camera. My 10mp camera, if shot in the JPEG mode, will give me 1,615 images.

As far as brand, Sandisk is one of the largest manufacturers and has a fairly good reputation with a lifetime warranty. Their cards tend to be faster than what they advertise. I use them and Kingston, which I found to be good cards. There are many manufacturers, but I like to stay with those two. Others may be able to recommend other manufacturers.

I have attached the above webpage from Nikon for your camera.

 

[reimero]

As mentioned above, class 10 is really only important for HD video, and it also helps if you're doing large, rapid bursts. For normal photography, class 4 or class 6 will be fine.

I do find that there is a significant difference among brands, though. Sandisk is very good. They're a little more expensive than other brands, but they've also been among the most reliable. Lexar can be hit or miss: I bought a 32GB class 10 that gave all sorts of bad write errors, but was replaced under warranty, and the replacement is great. (The parent company to Lexar makes excellent computer memory, and the replacement experience left me positively disposed toward them.) A lot of people seem to like Transcend, but I know very little about them other than that they're much less expensive than Sandisk.

Personally, I've got a 4GB class 4 Sandisk and a 32GB class 10 Lexar (purchased on sale). The Sandisk just plain works, but burst mode is a little slow. As mentioned above, I had to do a warranty replacement on the Lexar, but the new card is great and there's a noticeable improvement in burst mode. Personally, I'd say go with Sandisk at class 6+, and I'd suggest getting more cards at lower capacity (less lost data if the card goes bad.)

In terms of money, right now it looks like 16GB is the "sweet spot," i.e. 16GB is generally less expensive than 2x8GB, but 2x16 is (slightly) less than 32. Factoring in sales, 16 and 32 are pretty close in terms of price per gig.

 

[sallysue66]

Thanks all. The info really helps. I'm thinking of switching from saving as JPEG to RAW because I want to learn some post processing but I don't want a ton of images on a card to worry about so the 16 or 2 8's sound best for me.

The point about video leads me to another question. I just bought a Kodak Sport under water camera with HD video for snorkeling. This was a $79 camera so do I need a class 10 for it to get good video?

 

[reimero]

If you want to ensure good video, get a class 10. Class 6 will be OK for short clips, but if you're doing minutes at a time, you want class 10.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

Thanks all. The info really helps. I'm thinking of switching from saving as JPEG to RAW because I want to learn some post processing but I don't want a ton of images on a card to worry about so the 16 or 2 8's sound best for me.

The point about video leads me to another question. I just bought a Kodak Sport under water camera with HD video for snorkeling. This was a $79 camera so do I need a class 10 for it to get good video?

Check the manual that came with your camera. They usually list the recommended card speed.

 

[cosine4]

If you shop around you can get class 10 16GB cards for less than $25, IMO it's a no brainer as it is not that much more to get the faster cards. Even if the camera isn't capable of those speeds, maybe your next camera will be.

 

[sallysue66]

If you shop around you can get class 10 16GB cards for less than $25, IMO it's a no brainer as it is not that much more to get the faster cards. Even if the camera isn't capable of those speeds, maybe your next camera will be.

Great point. thanks.