Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: SD Card read/write speed

  1. #1
    rpcrowe's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Southern California, USA
    Posts
    17,399
    Real Name
    Richard

    SD Card read/write speed

    I will need to watch this video a couple of times before I totally understand it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlWhvc-UCOA

    He matches a cheap ($17 USD) Trenscend Card Reader performance with that of a more expensive ($79 SD) Prograde Card Reader using two speeds of SD Cards.

    The Prograde Card Reader seemed to do a lot better than the Transcend. I wonder how my Lexar Caed Reader (which I think that Manfred also uses) would stack up against te Prograde Reader...

    Of course speed is really only important if you are working with large numbers of files or with video (especially 4K video). And, of course, all cameras cannot take advantage of the fastest SD Cards available.

    What do you think folks???

  2. #2
    AlwaysOnAuto's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Orange County CA USA
    Posts
    1,535

    Re: SD Card read/write speed

    Speed is only relative to how much time you have available. I'm retired and there's no one holding a stop watch on me when I'm playing with the camera and computer so it really doesn't matter to me. My wife on the other hand can get impatient at times.
    BTW, my card reader usually is transferring at 20mb/s so I'm really slow.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Southern California, USA
    Posts
    249
    Real Name
    Daniel

    Re: SD Card read/write speed

    I've acquired a few extra memory cards so I don't have to worry about download times. I can pop out a card, put in the new one, start formatting the new card, put full card into external HD, press the download button, get back to shooting. My external harddrive that I take with me it 2TB, so I never have to worry about not enough space at that day.

    When I get home everything get backed up to BOTH of my 10TB externals over night.

  4. #4
    Moderator Manfred M's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    22,148
    Real Name
    Manfred Mueller

    Re: SD Card read/write speed

    It really does depend on the type of shooting one does.

    There are times I have come back with 20 - 30 GB of data on my card and have limited time to download and review it, so a faster card and reader can be important to me. Shooting events = taking lots of pictures. I do look at the trade-off between card speed and cost, so generally buy cards that are 1 or more likely two steps below "top of the line".

    As I am not someone who spends a lot of time doing burst shots, I very rarely run into problems filling the camera's buffer and writing to the card. My issue tends to be getting the data out of the card and onto the machine. I expect I will be upgrading my computer in the next year or two and will replace my card reader at that time. Right now I'm only using USB 3.1 ports and that is okay for now.

    People who shoot for a living, where time is money are going to opt for faster cards than amateurs.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    SE Queensland
    Posts
    679
    Real Name
    Richard

    Re: SD Card read/write speed

    The really important place you need write speed in in your camera! If you shoot 4K video (something I rarely do) then the faster the better. When downloading to my PC speed is of little interest, I can have a coffee if I am bored waiting.

    My new EM-1.2 can shoot really fast burst mode and when writing jpeg + RAW it can take several seconds to clear the buffer using slow SD cards.

    But I just bought a 64GB SandisK Extreme PRO 170MB/Sec SDXC UHS-1 card. It cost me AU$35 - why would I buy a slower cheaper card to save a few dollars?

  6. #6
    dje's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Brisbane Australia
    Posts
    4,636
    Real Name
    Dave Ellis

    Re: SD Card read/write speed

    Quote Originally Posted by DickyOZ View Post

    But I just bought a 64GB SandisK Extreme PRO 170MB/Sec SDXC UHS-1 card. It cost me AU$35 - why would I buy a slower cheaper card to save a few dollars?
    Where did you get it Richard, I must get one or two!

    Dave

  7. #7
    rpcrowe's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Southern California, USA
    Posts
    17,399
    Real Name
    Richard

    Re: SD Card read/write speed

    The only occasion in which a faster download time would be very important to me is when I am traveling. My standard workflow is at the end of the day, download the images that I have shot for the day and copy them to a pair of small physical size but rather large capacity external hard drives. I carry one and my wife carries the other as an insurance policy against loss of the days images.

    However, when I have either shot well into the evening or attended a theater or some other activity, I am often quite tired and the faster I can get rid of the chore of downloading my images the better it is for me so I can turn in and get some sleep!

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    SE Queensland
    Posts
    679
    Real Name
    Richard

    Re: SD Card read/write speed

    Quote Originally Posted by dje View Post
    Where did you get it Richard, I must get one or two!

    Dave
    UMart have them:
    https://www.umart.com.au/SanDisk-64G...-W_49336G.html

  9. #9
    dje's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Brisbane Australia
    Posts
    4,636
    Real Name
    Dave Ellis

    Re: SD Card read/write speed

    Quote Originally Posted by DickyOZ View Post
    Thanks Richard. UMart is a good store, I get most of my computer stuff there. I wouldn't have looked there for SD cards though!

    Dave

  10. #10

    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    amsterdam, netherlands
    Posts
    3,182
    Real Name
    George

    Re: SD Card read/write speed

    Anyone knows the read/write speed of his camera?

    George

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •