Patriot LX Memory

[John Peterson]

This memory has been working flawlessly in my EX1. I am using their 16GB and 32GB SDHC cards with the current firmware (1.20) installed. Very reasonably priced as well.

Example: 16GB Today: $27.99 delivered.

Newegg.com - Patriot LX 16GB Secure Digital High-Capacity (SDHC) Flash Card Model PSF16GSDHC10

No errors at all.

John

[Larry Kelly]

I just bought a 32 gig stick as an emergency backup incase I needed more memory in the field last week. Turns out I didn't need it. When I tested it, it lasted about 5 minutes at 720P 24 over cranked to 60fps. v.1.20 EX1 when I got a media error but didn't loose any footage. Then I set the over crank back to 48fps and it filled the rest of the card without issue. Testing methods were camera set up on TV screen with constant movement in content. I think I may return it as you would think that a class 10 card should handle full over crank?

Anyone else run tests on over crank with this card?

Larry

[John Peterson]

OK,

I must admit I don't overcrank because I hate the look of it. 90% of the EX series videos on Vimeo seem to use overcrank and therefore not very creative IMO.

However, according to MXM Express, they have tested these cards and claim "Full S&Q recording from 1-60fps capabilities."

MxM Express SDHC Cards

John

[Marcus Durham]

The Patriot card has been fully tested by MxM but remember that you are pushing a standard EX1 to do 60fps overcranked. 50 is just about the limit for reliable operation. The limitation isn't the SDHC cards or adaptors but the camera itself. An EX1R will have no such issues.

Tested though the Patriot cards are, be sure you are happy to shoot onto "budget" media. I just get the impression that people don't really understand the difference between premium cards and cheaper cards and just adopt a "it works" attitude. Budget manufacturers are liable to shift production to whatever factory is cheapest whereas a premium manufacturer such as ATP only produce their cards in a single facility.

Given just how many times you can re-use the cards, the saving is so tiny its just not worth bothering with IMO.

As a ballpark, an ATP 16gb card is approx £55. If I use that card 100 times, that's 55p per use. Or just under half the cost of a standard Sony Premium DV tape (which I rarely used anyway as I preferred the Sony DVCAM stock).

In short people seem to get freaked out by the up front cost of premium SDHC and forget just how much they used to spend on tape. I ordered up a 32gb Sandisk Extreme for my Sony VG10 a couple of weeks back and the price did seem eye watering until I reminded myself that the cost was not much more than I'd have paid for a box of 10 DVCAM's. Suddenly it seemed like great value.

[John Peterson]

I hear what you are saying Marcus, but I would really like to see something quantitative to support what seems "logical". Electronic wristwatches come to mind. Massive differences in prices based almost entirely on the external appearance when they are all about the same internally.

John

[Marcus Durham]

Originally Posted by John Peterson

I hear what you are saying Marcus, but I would really like to see something quantitative to support what seems "logical". Electronic wristwatches come to mind. Massive differences in prices based almost entirely on the external appearance when they are all about the same internally.

John

What we do know is the Patriot cards are one of the slower cards recommended for EX1 use. Still fast enough mind, just less overhead. They are basically the minimum card you should be looking at. The ATP cards are faster and have proven to be solid work horses for me over the last 18 months. The Sandisk Extreme cards are the fastest however they don't make the same claims about durability that ATP do.

The speed difference is easily tested. All the cards are fast enough but then it depends on your view on overheads and how fast you want to get the data off the card. With a Sandisk being approx a third faster than a Patriot when transferring your footage this may be important to you.

Then there's the fact the ATP cards are more resistant to environmental conditions as they are advertised as being waterproof, temperature resistant and static resistant. Now I don't intend getting my cards wet but EX1's do get hot and I believe I had one Transcend card zapped by static (luckily only lost a few seconds).

It's quite telling that when I last looked at various card options ATP were the only people publishing detailed specs about their cards including details about the mean time between failures, how long data would be kept on the card and how many write cycles the card would endure before failing. ATP's main SDHC business appears to be selling their cards for industrial applications rather than consumer use where such details are important.

[John Peterson]

I just ordered another 32GB Patriot Card from Newegg:

Newegg.com - Patriot LX 32GB Secure Digital High-Capacity (SDHC) Flash Card Model PSF32GSDHC10

$52.99 with Free Shipping, No Tax, and a $10 Rebate bringing the final cost down to $42.99 delivered.

Patriot Memory has always paid their rebates faster than most. I looked at my last rebate from them.
I sent in the rebate on 11/29/10 and received it on 12/30/10. That was only a month.

That in stark contrast to the OCZ rebate which I received yesterday 2/07/11 that I sent in on 11/22/10. Or the Gigabyte rebate that I sent in on 11/18/10 and didn't receive until 1/21/11.

John