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Thread ID: 76778 2007-02-15 08:42:00 Best brand SD Memory Lizard (2409) Press F1
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524948 2007-02-15 08:42:00 Which brand of SD flash memory (for a digital camera) is best? I'm looking for reliability and value-for-money. Will be looking at the high speed cards, as the digicam will also be taking movie clips...

Cheers

Lizard
Lizard (2409)
524949 2007-02-15 08:47:00 Avoid A-Data. I got one in December because it was high speed, cheap, and had a lifetime warranty. But it simply would not work and I tried two cameras. Now waiting on the distributor to provide a new unit (won't do a refund). A friend of mine says A-Data does not have such a good reputation.

Kingston and Transcend would be better but I am no expert. Whatever brand, get a good warranty, e.g. Lifetime.
Strommer (42)
524950 2007-02-15 17:38:00 Kingston and Transcend are the well known brands, well known for reliablity etc.
And try not to settle for anything less than a lifetime warranty, it just makes things so much easier.
Dannz (1668)
524951 2007-02-15 19:21:00 And use PriceSpy: http://www.pricespy.co.nz/

If you go to your local DSE the prices will be waaayy high.

There are also some good deals on TradeMe, such as:
www.trademe.co.nz
Transcend, $25 for 1 Gb ! Interesting that it did not meet the price, though. Only a 2 yr warranty.

Another thing to look for is "self correcting errors". I have seen this with some cards but cannot recall which. I have a 512 CF card of some dodgy brand (cannot locate it now) and once in awhile a photo will have an error, meaning it cannot be viewed at all on a PC, nor can it be printed, even though it looks OK on the camera's screen.
Strommer (42)
524952 2007-02-15 19:33:00 Lexar or Sandisk are the ones pro's or adv amateurs settle on.
If you want a fast one, have a look at Ascent, not sure about SD card but their CF everywhere I checked was around $150 for 2GB, I got it for $92. I was afraid the deal was too good they would email me afterwards :D

Gen speaking for the fast cards in USA a good store that many pple use for intl transactions and within the USA a 2GB fast card like 66x is like $55-60USD without delivery, so thats a good price to use.

I would say get around 60x speed good enough for SLR users and even some sport cameras unless you really need the marginal speed and the extreme climate ability of the better ones or the faster download speed off a USB2 / Firewire device.

I would be weary looking for mem cards online auctions as I got one off eBay and it turned out to be a fake however it only cost me like $25nz incl delivery, a fake 512MB Sandisk Ultra II.
Nomad (952)
524953 2007-02-15 19:37:00 I just bought a Transcend card.
Won't tell you the price as it was wholesale :D .

BTW you people talking about Lifetime warranties - you do know its the Products lifetime - not yours?
Most flash memory lifetime is 5 years.
pctek (84)
524954 2007-02-15 20:20:00 BTW you people talking about Lifetime warranties - you do know its the Products lifetime - not yours?
Most flash memory lifetime is 5 years.

Good point !

I never considered this. Mind you, 5 yrs from now a 1 Gb SD card - or whatever - will probably be way out of date. I have a 16 Mb CF card sitting next to the screen here, gathering dust. It came with my digcam, 3 yrs ago. And 5 yrs ago most of us were still using floppies...:p
Strommer (42)
524955 2007-02-15 20:25:00 The comments about Transcend are interesting. I bought a stick of Transcend DDR ram for my computer, and it was rubbish. Switched to GEIL and it was much better. Perhaps Transcend are better at the flash memory? Lizard (2409)
524956 2007-02-15 20:27:00 Another place well worth considering, www.flashcards.co.nz Good selection, good prices and great service. autechre (266)
524957 2007-02-15 20:49:00 Most flash memory lifetime is 5 years.

In a camera flash memory would last much longer than 5 years unless you throw it out when the camera goes faulty. If the camera has a physical shutter that would go first. Whether you would be bothered claiming on the warranty after 5 years for what would be a small, probably obsolete format card is another matter.
PaulD (232)
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