SDHC substitute for SxS cards

[Erik Phairas]

Well it might be a good SQ card :) Got my UPS shipping confirmation, it will be here on the 8th.

[Steven Thomas]

True, unless the random or access time is to slow. You'll know soon.

[Erik Phairas]

Hey there is a 16GB SDHC CLASS 6 turbo ADATA card in town for 44 bucks. I will pick it up today and test it. If it fails I can take it back quickly.

Also there is a patriot 16gb card for 49 plus a 20 dollar rebate.

[Steven Thomas]

Erik,
I'm not sure if it will work. I picked up the 8GB ADATA class 6 version a while back. Its sustained write speeds were all over the place from 3.72MB/s to 10.68MB/s.
3.7MB/s write speed will definately cause a memory write error in the EX.


ADATA 8GB SDHC TURBO CLASS 6 (Crystal Disk Mark test):

Sustained data rate: Read: 18.64MB/s to 18.69MB/s Write: 3.72MB/s to 10.68MB/s
Random 512K file: Read: 17.96MB/s to 18.69MB/s Write: 2.70MB/s to 3.10MB/s
Random 4K file: Read: 3.57MB/s to 3.91MB/s Write: 0.033MB/s to 0.035MB/s

[Alex Raskin]

Since reliability and speed is a huge issue here, going with tried-and-true Sandisk cards is what I'd do.

If offload in the field is required, Sandisk 16Gb Extreme III 30MB/s.

If you can afford to just accumulate the cards and offload afterwards, or if for any other reason offload speed is not a factor, then get Sandisk 16Gb Ultra II 15MB/s. (latter I personally did not test but Steven did and liked, I think.)

Extreme is available here or here, and Ultra here or here.

That until other cards have a proven reliability record...

[Steven Thomas]

I hear you Alex.

I'm not sure how someone can not afford to buy a load of cards and offload later.

You could actually buy TWELVE 16GB Ultra II 15MB/s cards for the cost of ONE 16GB SxS.

[Alex Raskin]

Well, if possible, I'd still check and offload the footage in the field, just to make sure you actually got it.

[Steven Thomas]

Yes, you would not have to worry about copying it to another drive, but I imagine it may be smart to pop the SDHC in your laptop and verify the footage is OK.

[Alex Raskin]

...at which point you might as well offload it :)

But of course different people will have different workflows.

[Steven Thomas]

Yes, it really depends on what you're shooting.

If you're shooting a special event, you can only pray that all went well. It's not like you will have the event start over because you lossed your footage. Of course, this goes without saying.


No doubt you'd check your footage during set session work.

[Ola Christoffersson]

Originally Posted by Steven Thomas

Where did you order it?

It's been known that there are fake Ultra II SDHC cards out there, so be careful.
Also, is it the Ultra II 15MB/s version?

Check this out:
SanDisk Ultra II fakes - Google Search

You are the first to report an issue. It may be defective, or you bought a fake.

I absolutely trust the dealer. It is one of the largest on-line stores in scandinavia and definately has the real stuff. I only hope it is faulty... Any ideas on further tests?

[Steven Thomas]

It's obviously defective, or your Kensington is bad.

I can't make my SanDisk Ultra II 15MB/s or Extreme III 30MB/s fail in HQ modes.
I've been torturing these for over three weeks and can can not get them to fail.
In fact, I can't get them to fail running ovecrank at 40FPS which is around 8.3MB/s max.

HQ mode max is 5MB/s write speed.

Did you bother looking at links to images of real verses fake Ultra II?
Or, you just got a dud.

Run the Crystal Disk Mark utility for data rate test.

[Ola Christoffersson]

Thanks Steven. I have checked and as far as I can tell it is genuine. I have also run Crystal DMU. I monitored the metering and the results were fairly similar during on all five tests. These are the averages:

Read: 15.54, 15.13, 4.128
Write: 14.64, 3.59, 0.029

The problem does not seem to be write or read speed but more of a general stability problem. The strange thing is also that the camera tells me that media needs to be restored but it does not give me the option to do this. After recording and switching to playback mode I get an error. When I put the card into the computer Windows prompts me to format it...

My 8 GB Extreme III card still behaves perfectly so the adapter does not seem to be the problem. In fact I just recorded a more than 14 minutes long clip at 50/25 fps without errors (!).

Does anybody know of any other reliability tests that I can run? And also - can someone confirm that this exact card Sandisk Ultra II 16 GB works well in their setup?

[Steven Thomas]

A couple have already reported that the 16GB Ultra II 15MB/s SDHC does work fine without errors. Matt has reported using the 16GB Ultra II for 2.5 weeks with no errors using HQ modes.

The Digital Video Information Network - View Single Post - Media needs to be restored (PHU-60K)

When you watched the Crystal Disk Mark test run, it runs each test five times. When it finishes, the program only lists the average. You have to write down each test as the program runs. So you should have a total of 30 data points.

But based on your overall average, it's strange it failed. I'd return it for another.
Since the Extreme III works, it seems like the Ultra II card is defective.

[Zsolt Gordos]

Hi guys,

this thread is as confusing as useful it is. FYI you are doing a pioneering work here (kudos to Steven mostly) in order to make EX-s even more affordable and release them from the price trap of the SXS cards.

It would be great to see a comprehensive analytic approach undisturbed by sideways info. Best to follow what scientific research does:

Once promising data pop up in a lab, others copy the approach and re-test it. If the test results in same end points in a few other labs, the results can be taken final and can be labeled as proven. (here: Kensington 7in1 with Sandisk Ultra II and Extreme III tried and proven to work in SQ and HQ by many)

But:

some things are not yet clear or hidden within the ocean of posts

- does it make any sense using more expensive Sandisk Extreme vs Ultra ?? If it does, what is the benefit using Extreme? No one ever said that.
- it is also not clear what is the difference between the various size cards, is the 16Gb same as 8Gb in both Sandisk lines or there is a difference, or we can safely say that ALL Ultra and Extreme cards available today can safely be used?

Once these questions are answered, the investigation might move forward - having a sound proven basis on using SD cards (Kensington 7in1 with Sandisk Ultra II and Extreme III as golden standard)

Then,

I would take the Kensington and try other cards in it for reliability.

Another tester would test the proven working cards (Sandisk Ultra II and Extreme III) with other card readers.

Then probably there would be a weekly update on the results and a sticky with the tested and working configs.

I would separately test overcranking with proven reader and SD card combos and see what can I get. (my EX3 is ordered, not delivered yet - thats why I cannot contribute more, but I have 2 Kensingtons and 2 16Gb Ultras already...)

Sorry, my intention is not to hijack this thread, I just spent the last night with reading it - there is a buzz in my head, and I don't know more than Steven knew after 3 days testing of his Kensington 7in1 with Sandisk Ultra II and Extreme III.

It would be great to see clearly, thats all I try to achieve.

Thanks a bunch.